What Is Biblical Meditation?
Meditation, very simply, is ruminating on, thinking over, and pondering God, his works, and his Word.
In Hebrew, the word for meditation literally means to mumble to oneself; speaking to oneself audibly or in one’s heart. But it is not a mindless activity or the repetition of a mantra. Biblically, to meditate means to ponder, consider, chew on, and mull over the word of God. Biblical meditation is full of content,... Continue Reading
Jesus Isn’t Afraid of Your Investigation
Jesus knows what He’s about. And He knows that what He offers is the only thing that truly satisfies.
Jesus is not afraid of your investigation. He’s not afraid to invite you in – to bring you close – because He knows who He is. And He knows what He is offering. There is no guile, no insecurity, no anger at those who are truly seeking. There is no insecurity in the Son... Continue Reading
You Have Time to Sit with God
Satan will try to make everything feel more urgent than sitting down to be with Jesus.
Have the cares of this world distracted you from sitting at the feet of Jesus? Have your fears left you feeling restless, insecure, unstable? The God of the universe is still speaking, right now, in his word. Hear his voice calling your name today, bidding you to come and enjoy the one necessary thing, the... Continue Reading
The Problem of Christian Passivity, Part One
The believers I challenged seemed to approach almost any clash of ideas with an attitude of passivity.
The best way to define what I mean by “Christianity passivity” is through an illustration. Imagine you are in a setting in which other Christians are present, and a secular person enters and begins to strenuously denounce Christianity. Suppose that, rather than attempting to make any defense of your faith, you allow the person to... Continue Reading
7 Characteristics of Good Bible Teachers
Teaching scripture is a spiritual gift, but it is also a skill.
Several things come into play that impacts the quality of teaching. The sound of your voice, your cadence, and even the way you dress. There are even more important aspects to teaching scripture than what I will cover below, such as having a clear understanding of the Bible, studying your topic diligently, and most importantly, being faithful to... Continue Reading
The Christian and Philosophy
Protestant theologians recognize that theology is queen of the disciplines and that philosophy is a handmaiden, an ancillary tool that the church may use in the task of doing theology.
For those who believe that we should excise all philosophy from theology do not realize that all of us use philosophical concepts and terms whether we realize it or not. He who believes he is free from philosophy is the likely unwitting adherent to the philosophical teaching of a defunct philosopher or theologian. Rather than run from natural... Continue Reading
Restore Us to Yourself That We May Be Restored
The consequences of breaking covenant with the Lord are dire. And yet, there is still hope for restoration.
The Israelites wondered whether God had rejected them. We may wonder the same. But in Jesus we have an emphatic, definitive answer. No. Because Jesus bore our sin, we are no longer subject to that same awful judgment that he suffered. Though we groan, we can look to Jesus, the Man of Sorrows. Because of him, our... Continue Reading
Does the Bible Limit Gender to Just Male and Female?
This whole attempt to force a non-binary interpretation into the Genesis creation account is anachronistic.
When God chose to remake the world, he only preserved males and females because those two exhausted the gender categories of both humans and animals. The reason behind this decision seems consistent with the reason found in the initial creation of Genesis: The gender binary was directly tied to procreation. Only a male and female... Continue Reading
One Spectacular Person
The "Admirable Conjunction" in Jesus Christ
All the fullness of God is found in this man Jesus. Full humanity and the fullness of deity. We marvel at his bigness and might and omni-relevance, and we melt at his grace and mercy and meekness, and all that comes together in one spectacular person. Not only do books change lives, but paragraphs... Continue Reading
God Scares Me to Death
God's sovereignty is both comforting and terrifying.
Keep turning toward him, whether that process is clumsy, awkward, brief, or a bit chilly. Your soul is close to the breaking point already. The one who now strikes fear in your heart is the only one who can assuage your fears and mend a soul in pieces. God is sovereign. He does as... Continue Reading
Pastors, Fight Against Fear of Man by Fighting for the Fear of the Lord
Ministry is a miserable place for a pastor who needs everyone’s approval.
Future pastor, local churches need unwavering leaders who fear the Lord. They don’t need you to meet their expectations, but they do need to see your hand tremble when you hold up your Bible. They need to know that you would rather have the whole room turn on you than utter one word that displeases... Continue Reading
The Paradox of Freedom
Freedom may not be what you think it is.
Political liberty is a tremendous social good. But it can only work when there is restraint on our appetites, and when we put limits to our cravings. Freedom, in the biblical understanding, is much different than what most folks think when discussing freedom. They believe that freedom means being able to do whatever you... Continue Reading
Why Harvard’s Atheist Chaplain Matters Less, and More, than You Think
Various centers of cultural power that may have previously reinforced many of our values have decidedly become indifferent or openly hostile.
The wide attention recently given to Epstein’s role is an important reminder to American Christians that whatever we may want to argue about the supposedly “good old days,” biblical Christian faith is a lot more marginal in American culture today than we sometimes want to admit. National and even international news has been all in a... Continue Reading
Judge Others as You Want to Be Judged
The measures we used to assess others will be used to assess us.
The day is coming soon when “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10)—great and small, rich and poor, well-known and unknown. And what will happen when we stand there? The rubric we raised against others will be raised against us. “Judge not.” Few words of Jesus are more familiar,... Continue Reading
What Should We Make of Paul’s Shipwreck Narrative?
The world’s salvation cannot be stopped.
Observations of the primary narrative tension and its accompanying resolution gave us hope that we could sift through the flood of details to discern the author’s main point in this chapter. When our church’s team of preachers decided to preach through Acts, I knew chapter 27 would be a doozy (notice how I cleverly ignored... Continue Reading
How to Read Scientific Papers Intelligently
Christians need to be wise when engaging with modern science.
Christians…should model humble engagement with scientific findings. Christians should not pretend that science is a perfect, objective, infallible source of truth. But they also shouldn’t have cynical attitude every time a scientific discovery is made. As an engineer, I read scientific papers quite frequently. I am convinced most people do not know how to... Continue Reading
The Holiness of God and the Sinfulness of Man
If we understand who God is, and catch a glimpse of His majesty, purity, and holiness, then we are instantly aware of the extent of our own corruption.
The portrait that we get in the Scriptures of man in his fallen condition is that he is utterly and thoroughly infected by sin in his whole person. In other words, sin is not an external blemish, but something that goes to the very core of our being. One word that crystallizes the essence... Continue Reading
Athanasian Creed
Athanasius opposed the Arian heresy which taught that although Christ was without doubt an exalted creature, He was nevertheless only a creature.
The Athanasian Creed, following the teaching of Scripture, calls Christ “perfect God and perfect man.” It beautifully affirms that in the incarnation there was a “taking on” of a human nature rather than the divine nature somehow mutating into a human one. Athanasius was one of the early church’s most significant theologians. He was... Continue Reading
Employee Vaccination Religious Exemption
The Protestant and Presbyterian tradition has valued the liberty of conscience both in society and within the church.
Pastor Brant Bosserman provided members of his congregation with a letter to employers requesting a religious exemption to possible COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Knowing this may be a scenario many Christians face in coming months, Rev. Dr. Bosserman has made his pastoral letter available to others, to serve as a template on how and why such an exemption can be... Continue Reading
Desert Wastes and Delightful Waters
Psalm 107 is a faithful guide to lead us to delightful waters.
How good and loving of the Lord to redeem a people for Himself to the praise of His glorious grace. Believers experience His grace as He turns deserts into delightful waters and parched land into pools of water (v. 35). He pours out abundant blessings upon His people. When was the last time you... Continue Reading
A Prayer for the Dying Day
May God bless and protect his children through the years of old age and into the gates of heaven.
“When heart and flesh fail, be Thou the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. Let not my courage fail in the trying hour. Permit not the great adversary to harass my soul in the last struggle, but make me a conqueror and more than a conqueror in this fearful conflict.” I... Continue Reading
Natural Law and Human Sexuality
The historic Christian faith affirms a revealed standard of morality that is grounded in the divine Creator Himself.
Ultimately, this reality to which the created order witnesses is the Lord God Almighty, who is not just the Maker of heaven and earth, but also our Redeemer. For while the natural law witnesses to the Creator, it is insufficient to save. Rather, God’s special revelation of the good news of Jesus Christ is the... Continue Reading
How Eternity Should Motivate You
The future reality of eternally living purely as a child of God should serve to get us started toward purity today.
How does eternity serve to motivate you? Clearly, the Apostles considered eternity as a great motivator for each of us today. If you have believed on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, then the certainty of your eternal future should motivate the way you live today. In life, of course, many things... Continue Reading
How to Believe Against Your Feelings
We must remember that Christianity is worthy of our belief, not because it always feels better, but because it is true.
If we think truth is determined by what is emotionally or pragmatically satisfying, then we will find ourselves always chasing the next great, wonderful thing that comes along—at least for the moment. In such a case, our life would be marked by an endless quest for personal fulfillment, hopping from idea to idea and from... Continue Reading
Reasons to Vote in Favor of Amendments to the PCA’s BCO 16-4, BCO 20-4 and BCO 24-1
These BCO amendments add specific wording because of current issues in the culture that require clearer definitions of qualities like “above approach,” “a good reputation,” and “respected.”
Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) pastors Dominic Aquila and Fred Greco sat down in early September 2021 to discuss overtures 23 & 37 which are related to the Revoice/SSA officer controversies. They explained the background to them, answered questions posed about them, and clarified why these amendments should be passed. Watch the video here. ... Continue Reading
Moments With My Father (and My Son)
"Just months after my father went to heaven, my son followed."
The future…when what is broken will be made whole, when what is sorrowful will be soothed, when what has been torn apart will be stitched back together, a time when son and father and father and son will be reunited, never more to part, never more to grieve. I have many fond memories of... Continue Reading
Critical Race Theory is on the Ropes
CRT has become such a heated issue that even state and local governments are getting involved—and they’re not coming down on the side of CRT.
Now that parents realize the schools have been indoctrinating their kids, will they remain vigilant for other forms of indoctrination? Using our children as fodder in a political fight was a line the left shouldn’t have crossed—but they did. Now they’ve triggered the immune system of the body politic. Protests against Critical Race Theory... Continue Reading
Stand Out from the Crowd: Read Your Bible!
The Christian must drink largely of the pure living waters and undiluted milk of the word.
David describes the good person as one who delights in the law of the Lord, and meditates every day and night. Never let a day pass without reading a portion of Holy Scripture, and realize that an important duty of the day has been neglected if Scripture reading has been omitted. No one can... Continue Reading
The Order of Salvation—The Application of Redemption (Part 2)
How are the benefits and blessings of salvation applied to the lives of believers?
When we talk about the doctrine of salvation planned in eternity past, this involves foreknowledge, predestination, and election. In its accomplishment in redemptive history, it concerns Jesus’ righteous life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection. But, our focus is on salvation applied in the personal experience of the believer. In the first part, we had focussed... Continue Reading
The Disillusion of Millennial Evangelicals
Disillusionment is now a dominant feature of this group that was once convinced it could change the world.
Many Millennials are discovering that there are no better answers “out there,” either. Yet, like all human beings, they still crave the truth, depth, and beauty found only in the Gospel. Though Gen Z-ers have all but replaced Millennials as the dazzling object of scrutiny and cultural analysis, it’s not because Millennials are no... Continue Reading
