Do You Have Bumpers for Your Soul?
The means of grace become that buffer and bumper we need to survive.
Pursuing Christ in private and in community with others is the only way to survive the train crash of a culture that promotes an anything-goes, sexually insane agenda. Only then can we discover that the gospel offers so much more real life for the soul than short-term, temporary “fixes” that compromise our very selves. ... Continue Reading
I Don’t Want to Be Nuanced
Nuanced writing doesn’t offend anyone, but it doesn’t help anyone either.
We don’t need to guess what God really believes about sexuality, abortion, and critical race theory. The Bible is clear about these things. It isn’t nuanced, so we shouldn’t be either. One of the biggest criticisms I receive over my blog and social media posts is also one of the biggest compliments I receive.... Continue Reading
Ten Words for a Broken Society (Afterword: Law & Gospel)
God’s ten words are intended for his people today and, to be more specific, for American Christians living in a secular age.
God’s ten words provide a framework for understanding the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, our Christ. They are the words to which Jesus conformed his life perfectly, living as he did the life that we have proven unwilling and unable to live. Further, they are the words that condemn us because of our... Continue Reading
Rescuing Reverence – 2
The Bible effortlessly combines God’s goodness and greatness, and expects us to acknowledge and love both simultaneously.
The only way to find the right fear of God is through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ is where majestic holiness and infinite mercy find their perfect conjunction as far as man is concerned. It is in the gospel that men can look at blinding holiness and glorious love... Continue Reading
Marks of Manhood
No one reveals true manhood more than Jesus.
If Christian men are to become what God intends for them to become, they will begin to manifest the gentleness and humility, righteous anger, truthfulness, patience, courage, sacrificial love, and affection of Christ in their lives. No truncated picture of manhood can serve as an adequate replacement for what we find exemplified in Jesus in... Continue Reading
Don Quixote Christianity: Why Many Heroic Stands of Today Are Like Tilting at Windmills
Much of the macho Christianity we see today, whether online or in-person, amounts to something that we should pity.
Christian heroism virtually never looks like a lone ranger standing for truth. Most stories that are told that way are, in fact, not grounded in real history. It takes the whole body of Christ. And a heroic tweet, blog post, or the like often amount to tilting at windmills, an imaginary stand often aimed at... Continue Reading
10 Essential Lessons About Money from the Book of Proverbs
How are Christians to view money?
Instead of pursuing money, pursue God. As we have seen, money is a valuable resource and there are principles in Proverbs that help us steward what God has given. Yet, knowing and fearing God is far more precious than great riches (15:16). While money can benefit us during our lives on earth, there is so... Continue Reading
An Appeal for Silence and Solitude
We live in an unprecedented era of noise and distraction.
The key is that when you do engage in silence and solitude, you are purposeful with that time and protect its intent. As the eighteenth-century pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards wrote, “A true Christian…delights at times to retire from all mankind, to converse with God in solitary places. And this has its peculiar advantages for... Continue Reading
3 Reasons to Hold to Monergistic Regeneration
The Bible is our source for all sound doctrine. Everything we believe must be held up to the scrutiny of God’s Word.
We know a sinner will not make one step toward God in his own power, for the flesh is no help at all (cf. John 6:63). But God…(Eph. 2:4). Salvation truly is of the Lord! (cf. Jonah 2:9). Monergism, then, gives us all the confidence in God and His Work, and thus motivates us to be better... Continue Reading
The Reformed View Of The Lord’s Supper
How is the Reformed understanding different from what Evangelicals and Lutherans believe?
When we compare the Reformed and Lutheran view, we see there really is no disagreement about the reality of a communion with Christ. The difference is in the nature of that communion. For Lutherans, the communion happens by Christ coming down to earth and into the bread and wine. By contrast, the Reformed view is that... Continue Reading
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