The Position of Correspondent Love for God
No love for God is possible without true conversion and regeneration.
Love for God requires a new heart, with new relish, new perception. A regenerate believer, through his or her union with Christ, is in the presence of God through the indwelling Spirit, and can now perceive and love the glory of God as revealed in Christ. One’s nature determines much of one’s desire for... Continue Reading
How to be a Modern Progressive
But remember: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil."
Insist that there is no objective standard of good and evil and that good and evil are relativistic concepts. Insist that my progressive views are objectively good and that anyone who has different views is objectively evil. Ignore the irony. Step One: Insist that there is no such thing as the truth. Insist that... Continue Reading
Don’t Look for Honour from the World; Be Prepared for Shame
We follow a man dishonoured by the world; it is right expect that we too will face dishonour.
Do you want to live a life faithful to your God? I’m glad! But know you are unlikely to be honoured for this by those around you. They will think you are odd at best. You will be labelled as crazy and dangerous by others. There were times in the past when you would... Continue Reading
“People Love Darkness Rather Than Light”
We dare not be naïve about the reality of evil.
Unrepentant sinners are in an utterly diabolical and hopeless situation. Only when faced with the stark reality of their situation will the message of the cross make any sense. Yesterday I spoke to a group of people at a church about the dangers of cultural Marxism. During the Q&A one fellow asked what the... Continue Reading
The Work of The Wilderness
God’s glorious might is given to us in the strength to endure.
Who wouldn’t want to be “mature and complete, not lacking anything?” But who would want the many discomforts that lead us there? The road to maturity is never an easy one, but God loves his children too much to deliver them from the path that leads to such a good destination. From a prison... Continue Reading
Love is Inconvenient
It’s difficult to live in the way of love.
Love is indeed inconvenient—and often quite costly. But with each faltering and imperfect act of neighborly love we undertake, we follow in the footsteps of Jesus whose very presence animates and undergirds our steps. Love is inconvenient. It actually has the audacity to ask us to drop what we’re doing in order to attend... Continue Reading
To the Ends of the Earth
The victorious advance of Christ’s kingdom in the world.
Calvin was not satisfied to be involved in simply reforming the church. He was tireless in seeking to make the influence of the church felt in the affairs of the surrounding society and thus make God’s rule a reality in that area of human life as well. It has often been maintained that the... Continue Reading
A New Pastoral Problem
It seems that anxiety and physical discomfort caused by the new bathroom policy will now be the new normal for young high school girls.
Trans ideology involves a fundamental philosophical commitment to the idea that people can be born in the wrong bodies. Whether one agrees or disagrees with that, it is not a scientific statement but a metaphysical claim about reality and identity that is acutely relevant to the medical profession. In medicine, the significance and status of the... Continue Reading
How Serious Are My Sins?
How serious are my sins? Very serious, indeed. So serious they cost God sending His only begotten and beloved Son to pay the penalty on our behalf.
One Sunday afternoon, I had cooked a meal and asked her to say grace. I was astounded that in her giving thanks for the food, she said this to God: “I am so rotten and You are so good.” At first, I thought it was inappropriate, but I was taken aback by regret. My mother... Continue Reading
How to Pray When You’re Tempted by Anger
Because God is angry with injustice and evil, you and I can leave space for his anger by not taking the law into our own hands.
Christopher Ash and Steve Midgley explore the root and character of human anger, examine the righteous anger of God, and offer readers practical wisdom about the way the gospel can gradually transform a heart of anger into a heart filled with the love of God. Five Things to Pray I do not know if... Continue Reading