God’s Presence is Our Safety
To know that God’s sanctuary – God’s holy presence – is the safest place to go in the midst of doubt and despair can bring living water to our parched souls!
The book of Hebrews speaks of the same reality: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace in time of need.” Christian, in prayer, you are not entering the presence of a god who is temperamental or easily disturbed by your confusion and doubt.... Continue Reading
Thy Kingdom Come: Praying for Blindness
We can pray for the eyes of the enemies of God to be blinded so that they cannot carry out the harm they intend for His people.
As communist governments in various countries hunt for Christians and the underground churches we pray that they may not find them even as Jezebel could not find Elijah whom she intended to kill. We pray that women who would desire to kill their children would be blind to Planned Parenthood and other abortion mills, thereby sparing the... Continue Reading
The Hot Tub Philosopher
Yes, we must study the books. But we must also be students of people.
We must be those who can get taken in by the beauty of an idea while still being conscious enough of the present to sense the body language of our hearers. What if, like me, the life of the mind comes more naturally than people intuition? How do we learn to study people? We can... Continue Reading
The Difference Between Enjoyment and Fulfillment
Any time when we confuse enjoyment with fulfillment; the result is that we make ourselves sick. We get sick physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
We become free by coming to the realization that our deepest longings, our deepest needs, our deepest desires can only be fulfilled in Christ. When we are fulfilled in Jesus, we are free to enjoy other things without needing them to fulfill us. We are able to operate in moderation because our deepest needs have... Continue Reading
The Image of God and Christian Ethics
People create virtual realms tailored to their interests and have extended this mentality into the real world as they create their own morality.
What is true of the greater creation is also true of human beings. According to Calvin, humans are a microcosmic creation that mirrors the Creator. The macrocosmic and microcosmic creations both reflect their Creator. Ethical relativism has seemingly fractured our culture into millions of isolated islands where everyone does what is right in his... Continue Reading
“According to My Righteousness”
Do the psalms teach justification by works?
We have to grapple with the apparent contradiction that the psalmists who claim to possess righteousness also admit that it is not possible to be righteous before God (e.g., Psalm 143:2). How can both be true at the same time? How can I possess righteousness if I have no righteousness? ABSTRACT: The language of righteousness... Continue Reading
The Uninvited Lodger
Like David, we sometimes fall under the discipline of our heavenly Father.
We may not have David’s certainty that our gruelling circumstances, our painful illnesses, our losses and setbacks, are evidences of God’s disfavor. But we must at least consider it, we must at least pray with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” It is a hard... Continue Reading
Christian Preaching and “Public Health”: On Faithful Puritans & Our Fiery Trial
Puritan preachers refused to close down worship of the living God.
Various Puritan pastors attempted to minister to their people under the duress of government opposition and a real virus. Like these godly leaders, the elders of GraceLife (and other churches) are taking major heat from their government. Remember my chains. —Paul, Colossians 4:18 In the 1660s, the thriving Puritan movement hit the buzzsaw. King... Continue Reading
Divine Justice and Corporate Identity
How are we to understand things such as corporate responsibility?
Each individual is morally responsible for what he does, and is held accountable for his own actions. But…we are [also] social creatures, and what we do as individuals will always have social implications and consequences. How all that gets worked out together is something we are not fully up to understanding and applying, but God... Continue Reading
Nigeria’s Archbishop to ACNA: No Such Thing as “Gay Christian”
The Church of Nigeria takes issue with the recent pastoral statement from ACNA regarding “the toleration of same-sex persons within their fold.”
The Church of Nigeria affirms its total rejection of homosexuality and will surely stand to defend the Truth of the Gospel based on the injunctions and ethical principles of the Holy Bible. The Archbishop of Nigeria has issued a statement saying ACNA is following the path of The Episcopal Church in welcoming LGBTQ persons.... Continue Reading
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