Seven Reasons You Must Not Abandon Your Online Services

Seven Reasons You Must Not Abandon Your Online Services – “Here are seven reasons why we believe strongly your church must continue to emphasize and invest in digital and streaming services.”

God, Give Us Teachers Like Jesus: Marveling at the Words of Christ

God, Give Us Teachers Like Jesus: Marveling at the Words of Christ – “No one ever spoke like this man!”

Our Changeless Father and the Flow of Blessings

Our Changeless Father and the Flow of Blessings – This is just an encouraging word on a January Saturday.

Wearing God’s Pants

Wearing God’s Pants – “Jesus never intended to be a ‘quick fix.’ He is not a God of extra pieces. He scraps the old stuff and makes everything new.”

Five Truths About the Holy Spirit

Five Truths About the Holy Spirit – Here are some key things to remember about God the Holy Spirit.

The Lost We Love the Most

The Lost We Love the Most – Evangelism to Friends and Family.

The FAQs: What You Should Know About the Mexico City Policy

The FAQs: What You Should Know About the Mexico City Policy – “On Thursday, President Biden issued a “Memorandum on Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad.” The order overturns the “Mexico City Policy” and allows federal funds to be used to pay for abortions.”

Help! I’ve Fallen Behind On My Bible Readings!

Help! I’ve Fallen Behind On My Bible Readings! – “If you are having difficulty finding the 20 minutes or so per day that it takes to read through the Bible in a year, you may simply need to identify and reduce some common distractions.”

Refuge

Refuge – “The Lord God Almighty is our refuge. We shelter in Him. Abiding in Christ. Living in the shadow of His wings. He is the secret place where we can rest. And sometimes just be.”

Before You Tweet Criticism: Six Considerations

Before You Tweet Criticism: Six Considerations – “Speaking truth doesn’t guarantee that you are speaking righteously or lovingly.”

Addressing Fraternal Disagreements in the Body of Christ

Addressing Fraternal Disagreements in the Body of Christ – “Scripture does not require brothers and sisters in Christ to agree about everything, but it does place certain expectations on the way we are to disagree with one another.”

The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters

The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters – “Most teens struggle with insecurity and awkwardness. But today, many are encouraged to interpret those natural feelings as symptoms of gender dysphoria.”

Prayer Worrier

Prayer Worrier – “So, whilst I wish I didn’t worry so much. Whilst I wish I just prayed as I ought without being cajoled into it through worry. My worries are nonetheless used by God to glorify himself in driving me to prayer and then answering them.”

 

Faith Is Forged in Crisis

Faith Is Forged in Crisis – “Sooner or later, every Christian experiences a faith crisis — some of us numerous ones. But a crisis of faith does not mean a loss of faith. In fact, it is often through faith crises that we learn what faith really is.”

The Equality Act

The Equality Act – “Three responses to a perilous threat to religious freedom.” This is an important issue promised by the Biden administration that believers need to be aware of.

Kill Your Son, Abraham: Making Sense of a Shocking Command

Kill Your Son, Abraham: Making Sense of a Shocking Command – “God commands Abraham to do this as a one-question test: ‘Abraham, do you trust me?’”

Be Reasonable for the Sake of the Gospel

Be Reasonable for the Sake of the Gospel – “One of these days we will be held accountable for the things we wrote in the world’s comment boxes. Will we be found faithful in the little things? Every stroke of the keyboard spells out a witness to a watching world.”

The False Gospel of Assuming the Worst of Others

The False Gospel of Assuming the Worst of Others – “Lest we think that we, as Christians, stand above the fray, we too paint our faces red or blue and charge into comment threads armed with the same snap judgments and damning assumptions about others’ motives that mark the culture wars of our day.”

Returning To Your First Love

Returning To Your First Love – “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” Rev 2:4-5 NKJV

The Phone Call Every Parent Dreads

The Phone Call Every Parent Dreads – This is a good word in our times of crisis and suffering. “Guarded means that in your moment of suffering, God provides you with the grace to fight bitterness, doubt of God, and the temptation to run away from your faith.”

The Hope of Holiness

The Hope of Holiness – “In a world where love has such a broad definition it has become meaningless and a culture where holiness is not valued, what hope is there for the believer to pursue growth in godliness?”

God Has Not Forgotten You In Your Time of Great Sorrow

God Has Not Forgotten You In Your Time of Great Sorrow – “Pain has the potential to stimulate growth in our relationship with God, since it often reawakens us to eternal realities. In this way, God can use our sorrow to draw us closer to him. God has not forgotten to be gracious.”

What Would Nehemiah Do?

What Would Nehemiah Do? – “Although religious persecution is part of the human condition and has been growing in numbers each year, in the midst of all this there are signs of hope.”

Joe Biden’s Transgender Fictions

Joe Biden’s Transgender Fictions – “According to Biden's new order, school restrooms, locker rooms, and sports can now no longer be organized on the basis of sex—or “sex-based stereotypes,” to use the current administration’s favored terminology.”

Isn’t He Beautiful?

Isn’t He Beautiful? – “Isn’t he just beautiful? And Yahweh did it all FOR US? That comes pretty close, I imagine, to the sort of thing that Israelites must have said when they saw Aaron dressed for work.”

What Are We Willing To Pray?

What Are We Willing To Pray? – “Our prayers are both spoken, and unspoken, and these days more privately than corporately. While perhaps spoken in secret, our prayers reveal what we will ask for, or offer to the Lord. If we look back on our prayer life these last few months, what has it been like?”

Anxious About Nothing: How the Promises of God Calm Our Fears

Anxious About Nothing: How the Promises of God Calm Our Fears – “How can we prepare to face our worst fears? How do we wage war against anxiety?”

How Salvation is Ultimately About God

How Salvation is Ultimately About God – “Salvation is for us, of course—God doesn’t need it—but it’s not mainly about us. It is mainly about God. How so?”

When Fear Is Sinful

When Fear Is Sinful – “Moses here sets out a contrast between being afraid of God and fearing God: those who have the fear of him will not be afraid of him. Yet he uses the same ‘fear’ word for both. Evidently there is a fear of God that is desirable, and there is a fear of God that is not.”

Rejoice Always

Rejoice Always – I’m looking forward to preaching on this passage in March. In this article, H.B. Charles Jr. calls these words “the standing orders of the gospel” since “these exhortations apply to all Christians in every place and every situation.”

Abortion The Central Sacrament of the Political Left

Abortion The Central Sacrament of the Political Left

“News of the World,” abortion, and the Biden administration

“News of the World,” abortion, and the Biden administration: A fourfold biblical response.

The Light of Weakness

The Light of Weakness – “Like Jacob, our time with God reveals and sometimes even creates our weaknesses.”

Why Did God Create Us?

Why Did God Create Us? – “It’s the nature of the fullness of the divine love to share itself. That’s just what love is like in God.”

An Old Cure for an Old Illness

An Old Cure for an Old Illness – “If we correctly diagnose the problem of man to be sin, then we must give man his only cure (or point him to where it can be procured). No doctor rightly diagnoses an illness and goes on to prescribe unhelpful drugs. Man can only be ultimately helped by a cure.”

Love Bade Him Welcome

Love Bade Him Welcome – God is always at work in hearts, doing what only He can do. Here is a moving story of Him at work.

Just Straight Up Loving Jesus

Just Straight Up Loving Jesus – “Of all inheritances our vulnerable hearts might crave, Jesus, you alone are to be treasured and trusted. Compared to you, all other gold is fool’s gold, all other currencies are counterfeit, all other riches are rubbish.”

The Proverbs 31 Man

The Proverbs 31 Man – “Many fail to recognize, however, that behind the Proverbs 31 woman is a Proverbs 31 man.”

Applying Makeup for the Glory of God

Applying Makeup for the Glory of God – “Here are four gospel joys to redirect our hearts as we go through our beauty routines.” Here’s one for the ladies.

Fill Your Veins with the Bible

Fill Your Veins with the Bible – “As you pursue a deeper involvement with God’s Word in your life, here are some suggestions.”

Twenty-One Reasons That the Handwriting Is on the Wall for the Abortion Industry

Twenty-One Reasons That the Handwriting Is on the Wall for the Abortion Industry – I pray it would be so. Several hopeful trends and new realities are shared here.

Lean into the Hill: A Runner’s Lesson for the Christian Life

Lean into the Hill: A Runner’s Lesson for the Christian Life – “It is human and modern to take the path of least resistance and avoid the hills in life we know we should be climbing each day. This is one reason we can be so easily distracted.”

Never an Abba-less Day

Never an Abba-less Day – The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Ex. 33:14

The FAQS: President Biden’s Inaugural Proclamations and Executive Orders

The FAQS: President Biden’s Inaugural Proclamations and Executive Orders – Joe Carter provides an explanation of these actions description and links to their intent.

Are These the Last Days?

Are These the Last Days? – “We don’t know how soon the end will be. But the beauty of this parable from Jesus is that it tells us to do whether the end is minutes or centuries from now.”

Joe Biden is My President

Joe Biden is My President – Responding biblically to leaders with whom we disagree.

Returning to God After a Time of Sin

Returning to God After a Time of Sin – “In the end, you found the satisfaction the world promised was a delusion. Indeed, the Lord your God is your only salvation, but will he have you back?”

Am I Too Hard on Myself?

Am I Too Hard on Myself? – “Christ has made you his own. That changes everything about how you run your race.”

The Land That Turns Women into Ostriches

The Land That Turns Women into Ostriches – “In Scripture, the presence of ostriches in the land signifies desolation...More specifically, the ostrich becomes an emblem for a desert land leveled by judgment.”

100 Healing Words for Every Harmful Syllable

100 Healing Words for Every Harmful Syllable – “As your Spirit gives us strength, may we speak 100 words of healing for every harmful syllable. And when our lips contradict the Gospel, grant us quick repentances and more grace.”

Should I Talk About My Faith During a Job Interview?

Should I Talk About My Faith During a Job Interview? – Here’s some wise counsel for navigating spiritual conversations in the workplace.

Inauguration Day in a Time of Crisis: How to Pray

Inauguration Day in a Time of Crisis: How to Pray – “We should pray for President Biden and Vice President Harris just as we should pray for any leader of our country—that they would have wisdom, discernment, competence, and a sense of justice.”

The Reason For Windows

The Reason For Windows – “The idea of lockdowns is to keep our little worlds separated, so that we can’t share the virus. The danger of lockdowns is that it keeps our little worlds separated, so that we can’t share life.” That’s why we need windows in such times.

An Illustration of Repentance

An Illustration of Repentance – “If you have prayed for repentance for some particular sin, and there has been no instantaneous change, keep praying. God has promised to work, and He will. And you will be glad in the end that He did it slowly and carefully.” This is a great illustration of repentance.

Reflections on Transferring Power

Reflections on Transferring Power – Thoughts on our role as Christians as we enter a new season as a nation.

The Blessing of Weariness

The Blessing of Weariness – If you are feeling weary today, this will give you encouragement that weariness is not a plague but a blessing to a believer.

Are You Living as a Citizen of Heaven?

Are You Living as a Citizen of Heaven? – “My passport may have been issued by the United States, but I’m still a resident alien. And I need to live like one.”

Christianity 101

Christianity 101 – “First Corinthians 15 is one of the most foundational chapters in all of the New Testament; it could be called a “Christianity 101” passage. Paul’s argument in the passage is simple and clear: without eternity, Christianity makes no sense.”

9 Things You Should Know About Inauguration Day

9 Things You Should Know About Inauguration Day – “Today is Inauguration Day, a day of ceremonies to mark the peaceful transition of federal executive power within the United States government. Here are nine facts should know about the most important date—after Election Day—on the American political calendar.”

A Prayer for This Day of Transition and Inauguration

A Prayer for This Day of Transition and Inauguration – “Pray… for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.” 1 Tim. 2:2

Inauguration Day in a Time of Crisis: How to Pray

Inauguration Day in a Time of Crisis: How to Pray – “Maybe by next Inauguration Day we’ll have to remind ourselves to pray because times seem so uneventful that we forget that it’s necessary. We can hope so. But that’s a prayer for another time.”

Even If There Was Fraud

Even If There Was Fraud – Some 47% of voters believe there was some fraud in the election process. Most of us are going to know people in that percentage. This article just addresses how we approach such feelings from a biblical perspective.

The Patriotic Idolatry

The Patriotic Idolatry – “Patriotolatry is dangerous because it flies under the radar for so many American Christians. After all, it can feel dangerously like faithfulness. But when the church begins to wed itself to one particular nation-state, then it begins to prioritize and emphasize its nationality or patriotism as greater than God’s holiness and his global plan for the spread of the gospel.”

The Surface Area of Sorrow

The Surface Area of Sorrow – “Why does our vulnerability to the brokenness of this world increase with the number of meaningful relationships we have? It’s because relationships increase the surface area of sorrow.”

How Do Love for God and Love for Others Relate?

How Do Love for God and Love for Others Relate? – “We can think, feel, talk, and act in a way that manifests love for God, or we can think, feel, talk, and act in a way that manifests love for others. We’re either loving God or loving others at a given time. But that’s not consistent with how the New Testament talks about loving others in relationship to loving God.”

Should I Be Unequally Yoked in Business?

Should I Be Unequally Yoked in Business? – “Here are three insights in the category of informed, prudential wisdom. They are not legal absolutes, for each person must prayerfully consult Scripture and listen to the Holy Spirit before stepping into any arenas of work.”

Winter Trees

Winter Trees – How do we live in the “winter seasons” of life’s hardships? We can learn from the example of trees in winter. It’s a good devotional thought for January.

Is Sin Inevitable in the Christian Life?

Is Sin Inevitable in the Christian Life? – “Can a believer sin? Yes. Should a believer sin? No. God has given us in Christ the resources so that we can turn from sin and live a life that is righteous and holy before Him! We are new creations in Christ.”

Something Profound In Our Generation

Something Profound In Our Generation – “A nice church filled with nice people doing nice things will make no impact in the intensity of our times. Every hybrid form of ‘Christianity’ deserves to die, and it will die, because it simply is not of God.” 

How to Know you Know God

How to Know you Know God – “I’m concerned about people who know about God but do not know him. I also feel sympathy for true believers who could enjoy the security of their salvation but are not sure that they know God in a saving way.”

Stand Strong for Christ

Stand Strong for Christ – “We are living through one of the most tumultuous times in American history. It seems like every day a new challenge surfaces. We face trials, temptations, suffering, and grief. We hear rumors about the fate of our Republic. Conspiracy theories are at a fevered pitch. None of this should surprise us.”

The COVID Vaccine and Christian Unity

The COVID Vaccine and Christian Unity – “Saving lives with medicine and technology is certainly God-honoring, since the Bible upholds the sanctity of every human life.” The article discusses the variety of competing values around these decisions and these times.

Tempted and Unarmed: Why We Need the Armor of God

Tempted and Unarmed: Why We Need the Armor of God – “When the apostle Paul instructs the Ephesian church about spiritual warfare, he begins by exhorting them not to go into the battle in their own strength.”

Don’t Edit Your Prayers

Don’t Edit Your Prayers – “There is a time and place for formal, planned prayers. It is not like they are bad. They can be good models to follow in some instances, encouraging us to be thoughtful when we talk to God. Prayer doesn’t need to be that formal. In fact, it shouldn’t always be that formal.”

What Do You Mean by ‘Unity’?

What Do You Mean by ‘Unity’? – “We can’t answer that until we first ask, What does the Bible mean when it talks about ‘unity’?”

An Unhealthy Craving

An Unhealthy Craving – “In 1 Timothy 6:3-5, the Apostle Paul is addressing the character and manipulation of false teachers. In context, Paul is stating that false teachers have an unhealthy craving for controversy. This is, of course, undoubtedly true. However, this principle applies to all Christians as well. There are many Christians in the body of Christ who have an unhealthy craving for controversy.”

Literally The Man on the Island

Literally The Man on the Island – “Ultimately, it turns out that objections to the gospel really are quite universal. There is a certain logic of the lost mind that doesn’t change that much from New York to Kabul, Mumbai to Paris. We naturally just don’t like the justice and the grace of God – whatever our religious and cultural background.”

Diligently Seeking and Keeping Our Unity in Christ

Diligently Seeking and Keeping Our Unity in Christ – “I’ve never known a week more needful of the Gospel-realities contained in Ephesians 4:2-6. Lord Jesus, though we are exceedingly diverse, you have made us gloriously one in yourself.”

 

Multifaceted Glory: What the Transfiguration Tells Us About Jesus

Multifaceted Glory: What the Transfiguration Tells Us About Jesus – “Like every story in Matthew’s Gospel, this one focuses on Jesus and is meant to tell us something about him. So what does the transfiguration tell us about Jesus? I’d like to highlight three things.”

More Than Sexual Purity: Five Ambitions for Christian Men

More Than Sexual Purity: Five Ambitions for Christian Men – “Men of God (old and young), are we setting an example for other believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity? Let’s explore each briefly, and ask what faithfulness might look like.”

Redeeming the Godly Work of Proselytization

Redeeming the Godly Work of Proselytization – Evangelism is a moral good and a key expression of our faith.

More Than a “Peaceful Easy Feeling”

More Than a “Peaceful Easy Feeling” – Scotty Smith provides a good prayer perspective for the day and these days.

How To Pray For Our Political Leaders

How To Pray For Our Political Leaders – “As a new president is inaugurated next week, here are some suggestions for how Christians can pray for our nation, our political leaders, and ourselves as we pursue Christ through an increasingly political culture.”

The Wide Gate

The Wide Gate – “The path to destruction is a twisted form of the path to life.”

How Do I Explain the Trinity to Children?

How Do I Explain the Trinity to Children? – “One of the things that we can say to our children is just this. There is no one like God. Nothing in creation gives us a complete picture of who God is. Jesus is a complete picture of God (John 14:9; Colossians 2:9). But though we can know him truly, we do not know him completely. He is God and is infinitely deep.”

Visiting the Sick

Visiting the Sick – “Ministering to our brothers and sisters in sickness, is one of the defining characteristics of the people of God throughout time.”

Obeying God without Compromise

Obeying God without Compromise – The example of William Booth living out the Christian life among the challenges to that life is always inspirational.

An Open Letter to a Discouraged Saint

An Open Letter to a Discouraged Saint – “Let your status in Christ be the primary lens through which to view your life.”

When Miracles Don’t Seem Miraculous

When Miracles Don’t Seem Miraculous – “At least some times, God provides for us using natural means. And I think there are some good reasons God would do that.”

‘Life Unworthy of Life’: How a Holocaust Was Born

‘Life Unworthy of Life’: How a Holocaust Was Born – We are created in the image of God. That makes every life valuable and precious in His sight.

Whataboutism Is a Mark of Foolishness

Whataboutism Is a Mark of Foolishness – “The reality is we can critique both the Capitol insurrection and the Antifa protests. We should be alarmed both by Trump spreading dangerous falsehoods on Twitter and by Twitter censorship. But it’s one thing to recognize the dangers of and speak out about both; it’s another to use one to downplay the gravity of the other.”

The Light That Floods The Tunnel

The Light That Floods The Tunnel “This year, take the best of 2020 with you, no matter how it ends up looking. Be hopeful. Be flexible. Be creative. Be gracious. Be thankful. Make disciples. Hold your plans lightly. Look to the rights and well-being of others. Keep the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as your king and center. Entrust your needs and anxieties to the one who cares for you.”

The 50 Countries Where It’s Most Dangerous to Follow Jesus in 2021

The 50 Countries Where It’s Most Dangerous to Follow Jesus in 2021 – “The listed nations contain 309 million Christians living in places with very high or extreme levels of persecution, up from 260 million in last year’s list.”

Come, Let Us Reason Together

Come, Let Us Reason Together – “The church has been divided over doctrine before—That is to be expected. What seems new in our day is how Bible-believing Christians who share almost all the same doctrine on paper are massively and increasingly divided over non-doctrinal matters, torn apart by issues the Bible does not directly address.”

What Worship Taught Me In A Pandemic

What Worship Taught Me In A Pandemic – “Worship is giving honor to God. There are many ways we can use our daily lives as an offering.”

When Will Churches Be Back? Vital Information for Churches and Christian Leaders

When Will Churches Be Back? Vital Information for Churches and Christian Leaders – A brief overview of Ed Stetzer's interview with Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health.

Are You A Disappointed Christian?

Are You A Disappointed Christian? – “I am convinced that there are many disappointed, defeated, doubting, and cynical Christians. Most are still going to church. Most are even participating in the externals of Christianity, but their faith no longer brings peace and motivation to their everyday lives.”

Treating Your Money Differently in 2021

Treating Your Money Differently in 2021 – “When a quarter of U.S. jobs were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we were reminded that debt really is a millstone around our necks.”

Unforgiveness Is Just TOO Expensive

Unforgiveness Is Just TOO Expensive – “The toxins of bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness are too deadly to store in our heart-pantry.”

Known for Being Reasonable

Known for Being Reasonable – “We need to discuss issues. We should care about the truth. There’s a time for taking a stand. But in all of this, we should cultivate a healthy distrust of our own motives, and a willingness to assume the best of others even when we have a hard time understanding.”

He Leads for His Sake

He Leads for His Sake – “Part of our problem with God in the midst of difficulty is that we continue believing that our lives are all about us. And when we turn inwardly, becoming preoccupied with self, we quickly spiral into fear and anxiety.”

Spiritual Disciplines for Dark Days

Spiritual Disciplines for Dark Days – “There is nothing particularly special about my sadness. But it prompted me to ponder what spiritual disciplines would be beneficial to me, and to others experiencing the darkness.”

Will Democracy Survive in the United States?

Will Democracy Survive in the United States? – “The greatest danger for democracy is that the people themselves will lose any sense of morality, and then democracy becomes a blunt instrument to force the most immoral ideas off on a reluctant minority.”

Death Is Not the End

Death Is Not the End – “‘The life everlasting’ is so glorious and satisfying because we get to enjoy the triune God more and more. Forever!”

The Weakness of Prayer Makes Strong Christians

The Weakness of Prayer Makes Strong Christians – “The power comes not from us, but from God himself. The Holy Spirit inspires our prayers and empowers our prayers and receives our prayers and applies our prayers.”

Help! My Kids Don’t Like Church

Help! My Kids Don’t Like Church – “When parents commit to weekly faithfulness in gospel-proclaiming churches, we teach our kids that there is nothing more important for their souls.” Here are some suggested helps too.

House Plans to Impeach the President

House Plans to Impeach the President – “Why I am a Christian patriot but not a Christian nationalist.”

I Thank God For You

I Thank God For You – “What is your attitude toward other believers in Jesus Christ? Do they have to agree with you, or reach a certain level of maturity, or come from a certain background for you to joyfully thank God for them?”

The Fantasy Ideology of the American Insurrectionists

The Fantasy Ideology of the American Insurrectionists – “In order to understand the insurrection, we must view it not as a unique historical event but as a the latest, dangerous manifestation of what can be considered a fantasy ideology.” This is worth reading.

Was the Capitol Riot a “Christian Insurrection”?

Was the Capitol Riot a “Christian Insurrection”? – Why we must “live as though the truth were true”.

Here’s to As Jesus-Exlating of a Week as Possible

Here’s to As Jesus-Exlating of a Week as Possible – “Dear friends, not just in America, but in the world, this is going to be a significant week. Narrators and naysayers, pundits and “prophets for profit” will all vie for our attention and emotion. They will compete for what Jesus alone deserves. Therefore, let’s fix our gaze and fill our hearts with Jesus—fearing no man, exalting our true King.”

The Core of Christianity Is Christ

The Core of Christianity Is Christ – “As you read your Bible, then, keep in mind that the Bible is gospel-centered and that the gospel is Christ-centered.”

The Weakness of Prayer Makes Strong Christians

The Weakness of Prayer Makes Strong Christians – “The power comes not from us, but from God himself. The Holy Spirit inspires our prayers and empowers our prayers and receives our prayers and applies our prayers.”

Be a Truth-Lover

Be a Truth-Lover – We must be a discerning people as Christ-followers. “However angry or scared you are right now, your love for truth must be greater than your party, your political pre-commitments, and your agenda. You have an ethical responsibility to be a truth-lover.”

Discernment Danger

Discernment Danger – We live in a world of “counterfeiters”. Christians must be discerning of the information they embrace.

Death Is Not the End: What We Still and Will Believe

Death Is Not the End: What We Still and Will Believe – “We love a good fairy tale because it echoes the real story of the Bible. God has wired us to love stories that resolve — stories that end with not only justice but with exuberant joy.”

Walking the Graveyards

Walking the Graveyards – This provides a simple illustration of why we do missions when there are so many lost people all around us in our own country.

7 Things I Pray You Experience in 2021

7 Things I Pray You Experience in 2021 – This reflection from the writing of James Smith is worth saving and savoring.

The Lord Bless You and Keep You

The Lord Bless You and Keep You – “Some of us are so familiar with the blessing that it’s easy to take its content for granted, and miss what it really means.” 

 

A Prayer When Hearts Are Reeling and Vulnerable

A Prayer When Hearts Are Reeling and Vulnerable – “We are reeling, vulnerable, sad, and mad. Some of us are at odds with friends, all of us need to be on our knees. Jesus is our welcoming harbor and sure hope.”

All Who Believe Battle Unbelief

All Who Believe Battle Unbelief – “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). 

Your Work Matters More Than You Think

Your Work Matters More Than You Think – “God puts his people in some surprising places. The testimony of Obadiah can encourage Christians who have been called to serve God in dark places for His purposes.”

Remembering God’s Faithfulness in the Face of a Detour

Remembering God’s Faithfulness in the Face of a Detour – “Do you trust God’s faithfulness to deliver again in the midst of your daily detours?”

When Things Look Bleak…

When Things Look Bleak… - “Like many other Christians, I am deeply concerned about the direction in which our country has been moving and the speed at which it continues to move. The murder of the unborn, the celebration of every form of sexual immorality, the increase in public acts of violence, perpetual discrimination, sex trafficking, and a rise in religious intolerance certainly top the list of moral evils over which we should grieve.”

Resist the Pharisee Temptation on Social Media

Resist the Pharisee Temptation on Social Media – “From COVID to racial unrest to a divisive political election, there was no shortage of ways in 2020 to trust in ourselves and look down on everyone else.”

Into the Waters with Us: Five Reasons Jesus Was Baptized

Into the Waters with Us: Five Reasons Jesus Was Baptized – “Let’s excavate the meaning of this episode of Jesus’s life among us as we follow five aspects of this story: expectation, consecration, representation, Trinitarian identification, and anticipation.”

Closer to Islam than to Liberal Christianity

Closer to Islam than to Liberal Christianity – “As a believer, I had more in common with my Muslim friends like this Egyptian than I did with many of my own countrymen who claimed to be Christians. What a strange and tragic thing.”

Isn’t It Cruel to Force a Woman to Keep a Child She Can’t Afford to Raise, or to Give up a Baby for Adoption?

Isn’t It Cruel to Force a Woman to Keep a Child She Can’t Afford to Raise, or to Give up a Baby for Adoption? – Randy Alcorn addresses a common question made by those against pro-life.

A Prayer of Lament, Repentance, and Hope

A Prayer of Lament, Repentance, and Hope – “First Peter was written to help believers live as citizens of heaven in the secular world of Rome. These words apply to Christians in every generation and nation. God have mercy on us all.”

Keeping Your Lamp Ready for Christ’s Return

Keeping Your Lamp Ready for Christ’s Return – “Jesus is coming. Today or thousands of years from now, the Giver of oil has an endless supply to ready his bride for his impending return. May we all keep our lamps trimmed.”

An Inside Job

An Inside Job – “God’s plans are stretched into forever, while our afflictions are light and momentary. They feel heavy and unending, but we are promised that they are actually preparing an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17).”

The Gospel in a Democracy Under Assault

The Gospel in a Democracy Under Assault  - “What can Americans—especially followers of Jesus Christ—do in a time when it seems that our very republic is more fragile than ever before?”

Any Sin Can Be Forgiven: What We Still and Will Believe

Any Sin Can Be Forgiven: What We Still and Will Believe – “We, at least in America, have suffered a plague of forgivelessness. Our cancel culture waits, with eager and awful expectation, for the next slip, the next error, the next affront — or it grows impatient and flips through history for someone to put on trial.”

The Bible Belongs to Every Age

The Bible Belongs to Every Age – “The Bible belongs to every age. It is not simply the true Word for the first century. It is not simply the authoritative Word for the first century. It is not simply the necessary Word for the first century. It is not simply the sufficient Word for the first century.”

We Must Find a Better Way to Talk About Race

We Must Find a Better Way to Talk About Race – “What might it look like for Christians to talk about race in a more constructive and more helpful manner? Here are three suggestions.”

Judge People! (Like Jesus Did)

Judge People! (Like Jesus Did) – “Open your eyes to see and your heart to love, Jesus is saying, long before you open your mouth. Make sure things are in proper focus first, lest you realize on the Last Day that you were looking at image-bearers of God through the wrong end of the microscope.”

5 Reasons to Have Hope in 2021

5 Reasons to Have Hope in 2021 – Whatever your fears or struggles or hurts today...we have hope in Christ.

Lessons in the Transitions of Life

Lessons in the Transitions of Life – “Little by little, trials develop resilience inside us, as we walk with the Lord in them. We learn to trust more, to see his hand at work all around us, and pray specifically for the needs and people around us.”

My Friend Marcus

My Friend Marcus – “Eternity not only provides us with future hope and life but with living hope and direction in the here and now.”

Three Words for 2021

Three Words for 2021 – “The new year offers us a time to reflect and to prepare a new approach for 2021.”

God Forgave My Sins. Why Do I Need to Keep Asking for Forgiveness?

God Forgave My Sins. Why Do I Need to Keep Asking for Forgiveness? – “We pray this petition from inside the family of God, not from the outside trying to get back in.”

When Suffering Comes to Fellowship

When Suffering Comes to Fellowship – “It is the promise we reluctantly receive with clenched fists and eyes tightly shut. It is the guest we wish to avoid knocking on the door of our lives and the lives of loved ones, hoping that it will move along its way as we shut off the lights and sit in silence.”

Are Paper Bibles Better? How Screens Shape Our Reading

Are Paper Bibles Better? How Screens Shape Our Reading – “The issue isn’t the medium but meditation. Slow reading. Deep reading. Steeping your mind and heart in God’s words, rather than skimming. Slowing down enough to let the text truly speak to you, shape you, read you, wreck you, rather than browsing paragraphs for data to fit preconceived notions.”

Why Is There Only One Way To Heaven?

Why Is There Only One Way To Heaven? – “The answer is far simpler than we may think. Far more logical, too. There is only one way into heaven because there is only one way out of heaven.”

Wait For It

Wait For It – “Over the holidays, we watch old movies together. ‘Wait for it….’ Expecting the coming punchline. Dialogue already in our heads. And on our lips. Story summoning memory. We anticipate what we’ve already seen.” We know how the world’s story ends too!

Don’t Hope in That Next Life Transition

Don’t Hope in That Next Life Transition – “Whether getting your driver’s license, starting a new job, moving across the country, beginning a marriage, or joining a new church, we often want these transitions to change us, satisfy our longings, and fix the broken parts of our current life.”

What Makes The Bible Different – According To The Bible

What Makes The Bible Different – According To The Bible – “The next time you hold your Bible and open it, take a moment to thank God for the very nature of His Word. It is truth, spirit, living and active – terms that do not apply to any other words that have been or ever will be written.”

Sometimes, I See the Stars

Sometimes, I See the Stars – “Sometimes, I see the stars because I need to feel small. But sometimes I see the stars to know that I am included.”

7 Reasons Question Marks are More Productive than Exclamation Points in Evangelism

7 Reasons Question Marks are More Productive than Exclamation Points in Evangelism – “I am not suggesting we compromise or soften the truths of lostness and salvation, but I am suggesting we need to ask more questions as we get to the gospel truth.”

The Secret of Good vs. Better

The Secret of Good vs. Better – “Paul saw the life of the believer as ultimately consisting of two options: good and better. This is the secret to his contentment. This is the secret to his passion. It gives him courage in the face of opposition.”

Mindfulness, Narcissism And The Solution To Self-Centredness

Mindfulness, Narcissism And The Solution To Self-Centredness – “This is fundamentally the problem with mindfulness and meditation. There is nothing to focus on other than oneself. Theoretically, of course, the focus is supposed to be on nothing, which is about as uninspiring as it gets.”

Divine Aseity and Your Day-to-Day

Divine Aseity and Your Day-to-Day – “May we press into our frailty as a reminder that our need in all things points to our ultimate need for the One who alone has the fullness of life in himself.”

Grace Gives Us a New Way to Live

Grace Gives Us a New Way to Live – “You will never understand your struggle with sin unless you grasp that, at its very bottom, sin is a heart problem. It’s not first a problem of bad behavior, although it always goes there. It’s not first an external temptation problem, although it causes us to give in to temptation’s draw. Sin is a matter of the heart.”

3 Ways the Gospel Encourages Weary Christians

3 Ways the Gospel Encourages Weary Christians – “The gospel breathes life into every believer’s weary spirit primarily in three ways.”

The Real Problem with 4-Letter Words

The Real Problem with 4-Letter Words – “The power of a curse word is not in the letters, but in the context, intention, and effect.”

The Church Is Bigger Than Any Church: What We Still and Will Believe

The Church Is Bigger Than Any Church: What We Still and Will Believe – “What if we believed that the church is bigger than our local congregations? What if the church is larger than our denominations? What if the church is bigger than the boundaries of our countries and continents? How would we live differently if we thought of the church that way?”

2020 Prepared Us All For Missions

2020 Prepared Us All For Missions – “Why do you think God has allowed this pandemic to affect our world? What are his purposes for believers who have experienced the stress of life under COVID-19? Could it be to prepare us for his service? Could it be to train us for his global mission––to be more adept at change, patience, and graciousness in the midst of stress and opposition?”

Will 2021 Be A Year of Victory? It Depends What You Desire…

Will 2021 Be A Year of Victory? It Depends What You Desire… - “I believe we will be surprised at how victorious 2021 might be when our hopes, desires, and ambitions are shaped by God.”

Seven Prayers for Pastors for a New Year

Seven Prayers for Pastors for a New Year – Each week I pray for pastors in our area and pastor friends scattered across the country. Here are good things to pray for the pastors we know.

Those of Whom the Lord is Not Ashamed

Those of Whom the Lord is Not Ashamed – “Sometimes a verse of Scripture gets under our skin and burrows itself deep inside and will not leave us alone.”

A Sunday Blessing

A Sunday Blessing – I have several prayers like this in my prayer journal and added this one today to my rotation of Sunday morning prayer times.

Let’s Be Different in 2021. (But Not Like That.)

Let’s Be Different in 2021. (But Not Like That.) – “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego give us an inspiring example of our calling to be unique. Even under the threat of death, they remained faithful. But so often we bow to idols under far less pressure than they experienced. We fail to be unique.”

Seeing with Gospel-Eyes and the Perspective of Eternity

Seeing with Gospel-Eyes and the Perspective of Eternity – “Free us to see with the eyes of our Merciful High Priest, think with the mind of our reigning King, and love with hands of our Good Shepherd.”

Happy New Year. Don’t Be an Esau.

Happy New Year. Don’t Be an Esau. – “As you consider what the Lord would have in store for you this year, let me propose one thing: Don’t be an Esau. That is to say: Don’t trade your birthright for a bowl of soup.”

Don’t Plan Your Year—Plan Your ‘Season’

Don’t Plan Your Year—Plan Your ‘Season’ – “By focusing on a shorter, more livable time horizon, you can plan in a way that helps you stay flexible and focused while trusting that God knows the plans he has for you (Jer. 29:11).”

Making (and Keeping) New Year’s Resolutions

Making (and Keeping) New Year’s Resolutions – “What follows are a few suggestions to get you started in resolving to wipe out bad habits in the year to come.”

Social Media’s Expert Culture

Social Media’s Expert Culture – “Social media naturally breeds an expert culture, where we seek to prove our knowledge, allegiances, and abilities often before we consider the full impact of these decisions and how they will impact others created in God’s image.”

How Do I Become Passionate About Bible Reading?

How Do I Become Passionate About Bible Reading? – “Ongoing reception of the word of God is the ordinary means by which we fellowship with God.”

In Jesus’ Right Hand – 2021 and Forever

In Jesus’ Right Hand – 2021 and Forever – “The right hand that created the cosmos and sustains every atom, opened blind eyes and expelled evil spirits, was nailed to the cross and rolled back a huge stone—that hand is your hand, Lord Jesus. No hand is filled with more mercy and might.”