Why We Need to Pray Desperately

Why We Need to Pray Desperately – “One of the things that keeps us from praying is simply this: we fail to recognize how utterly desperately we need God’s help.”

 

Small Acts of Faithfulness

Small Acts of Faithfulness – “As believers, we often forget that our purpose is not to shine a light on ourselves, but to reflect God to those around us. We were created for his glory, not our own.”

Why You Should Preach the “Family Gospel”

Why You Should Preach the “Family Gospel” – “Despite the shame I was accumulating for myself as I ran from God, they made sure I knew I could not outrun God’s love—and I could not outrun theirs.”

Can I Get My Hair Cut Under a Rainbow Flag?

Can I Get My Hair Cut Under a Rainbow Flag? – “How should Christians interact with businesses that openly promote behavior the Bible condemns?”

Honoring a Government You Don’t Like

Honoring a Government You Don’t Like – “How do you submit to government leaders when there’s so much about their lives, beliefs, and policies that you disagree with?”

 

If God Is for Us: Standing Accused with Romans 8

If God Is for Us: Standing Accused with Romans 8 – “It remains for us to take this to heart. Everyone stands accused at some point. If the accusation is true, let us repent and receive the gift of justification. If it is false, let us trust our all-seeing Advocate.”

The Gold Mine in the Local Church

The Gold Mine in the Local Church – “Don’t exhaust yourself digging all over the place for biblical wisdom if you haven’t bent down to pick up the gold God placed in your local church.”

7 Ways You Just Know Somebody’s Praying for You

7 Ways You Just Know Somebody’s Praying for You – “One of the things that keeps us moving forward, though, is the recognition that believers are praying for us. Based on my experience, here are some ways we know prayer is happening.”

Hell and the Lake of Fire?

Hell and the Lake of Fire? – “When you are in heaven, if the Lord gives you leave, you will read the Bible and look around and see how everything the Lord said in His word was true beyond your wildest dreams and yearning.”

Tough Choices: No Way To Evade Them

Tough Choices: No Way To Evade Them – Carl Sandburg said, “There is an eagle inside me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus inside me that wants to wallow in the mud.”

You Only Have 3,429 Weeks

You Only Have 3,429 Weeks – “Life is a series of constraining choices, and the clearer the constraints, the more freedom we will discover within those constraints.”

5 Ways to Fight Envy

5 Ways to Fight Envy – “The sneaky thing about envy is that it’s not limited to large things like a secure job or fantastic health, nor limited to something long-term like a good retirement plan.”

What Do I Do With “Wasted Years?”

What Do I Do With “Wasted Years?” – We don’t often see the fruit of our efforts and times that seem “wasted” may be times of great productivity.

 

The 30-40-30 Hypothesis for the Post-Quarantine Church

The 30-40-30 Hypothesis for the Post-Quarantine Church – From my observations and conversations with pastor friends, I would say this is probably pretty close.

Living The Vows

Living The Vows – “Despite our spiritual language and religious endeavors, the raw truth is that this God-thing is often all about us.”

Discipleship Is a Type of Suffering

Discipleship Is a Type of Suffering – “I feel the costliness of trying to disciple others and trying to raise up local leaders. I feel it keenly.”

No Matter the “Hurricane”

No Matter the “Hurricane” – “Some hurricanes, like Ida, happen in the environment. Others happen in our hearts, health, and homes.”

Let There Be Rest: Recovering Healthy Weekly Rhythms

Let There Be Rest: Recovering Healthy Weekly Rhythms – “We don’t have healthy routines. We can’t keep our feasting and fasting apart. Evening and morning have lost their feel. Sunday has lost its significance. Everything is blurred together. The faucet is a constant drip.”

A Prayer for the Dying Day

A Prayer for the Dying Day – This is a beautiful prayer to the Lord.

When You Can’t Gather: Help and Hope for Those Worshiping from Home

When You Can’t Gather: Help and Hope for Those Worshiping from Home – “In all cases, disciples among us find themselves cut off from the body of Christ, just as they’re enduring trials when they most need God’s life-giving Word.”

 

Why You Should Read The Psalms More

Why You Should Read The Psalms More – “The overall message of the Psalms is that being a human is messy and rarely straight-forward. We don’t have to have our emotions set straight. We can take the good, the bad, and the ugly to God, and He doesn’t run away from us.”

Sometimes I Need a Sunrise

Sometimes I Need a Sunrise – “The trouble with discouragement is that you can set up camp there in complete obscurity and isolation. If you don’t call out for help, you might just stay for a while.”

The Situation in Afghanistan, and Ways to Pray and Help

The Situation in Afghanistan, and Ways to Pray and Help – Randy Alcorn shares from a source inside Afghanistan: “What can we do to help the believers? Literally the only thing they currently ask for is prayer. That’s not strange or overtly spiritual. If they had a thin layer of protection and justice, it’s now gone. Jesus is literally all they have left.”

9 Things You Should Know About Secular Humanism

9 Things You Should Know About Secular Humanism – “Harvard University’s organization of chaplains has elected as its next president an atheist and secular humanist named Greg Epstein. Here are nine things you should know about secular humanism.”

What Mask and Vaccine Mandates Mean for Religious Liberty

What Mask and Vaccine Mandates Mean for Religious Liberty – Individual preferences are many on these topics. This article just addresses the question of religious liberty application.

A Bigger Perspective

A Bigger Perspective – “Stepping back from my painting was a reminder that in my own life all I see is one small section of the picture God is painting.”

Everybody Is Struggling with More Than We Realize

Everybody Is Struggling with More Than We Realize – “Most people we encounter are struggling with more than we realize, juggling more than a normal heart can sustain, carrying more than you designed us to shoulder all by ourselves.”

 

God Never Runs Out

God Never Runs Out - “God is on the lookout for anyone who is humble enough and weak enough to let him be strong for them.”

 

When the World Weighs Heavy

When the World Weighs Heavy – “I don’t watch the evening news, but I’m still flooded with the sometimes unspeakable suffering across our globe.”

 

Death Will Teach You What to Say Today

Death Will Teach You What to Say Today – “So, if today turned out to be our final day on earth, what would we not want left unsaid? And what’s stopping us from speaking those words today while we still have the time?”

 

Is There Any Hope for My ‘Money Fails’?

Is There Any Hope for My ‘Money Fails’? – “Our failure to handle money in ways consistent with biblical wisdom can create a lack of financial margin (for emergencies, saving, and giving), problems with debt and creditors, and legal issues. It can also strain relationships between spouses, and even with children.”

 

Harvard Has Named an Atheist as Its New Chief Chaplain

Harvard Has Named an Atheist as Its New Chief Chaplain – This the world and the world is broken.

 

You Have Permission to Slow Down: Start the Day with the Voice of God

You Have Permission to Slow Down: Start the Day with the Voice of God – “Our world has become increasingly fast-paced through the exponential development of technology and accompanying factors.” 

Bearing Burdens, Being Gods

Bearing Burdens, Being Gods – “My call is not a call to global ignorance but local faithfulness. One of my concerns is that our rightful concern for the vast brokenness and injustice around the world distracts us from faithfulness in our neighborhoods and churches.”

The Path to Apostasy

The Path to Apostasy – “The path to apostasy is paved by bricks of apathy towards Christ. If you want to persevere, then give attention to your affections.”

How Can I Make Daily Bible Reading Authentic?

How Can I Make Daily Bible Reading Authentic? – “We need help for what to do with the Bible, so that the Bible becomes powerful, changes us. This isn’t written for nothing.”

When it Feels Like Evil is Winning

When it Feels Like Evil is Winning – “Some of us remember when the world’s suffering was relegated to one hour on the nightly news. We watched…and then we returned to a sink full of dishes or our algebra homework and the horror faded as the immediate pressed in.” 

Know Your Enemy — and Your Father

Know Your Enemy — and Your Father – “Surrounded by enemies bent on our destruction, we need repeatedly to call to our Father God for help. Without him, we’d invariably go down to defeat. But when we humbly pray to him, he’ll hear and he’ll uphold and strengthen us by the power of his Holy Spirit.”

Finding Our Champion: A Biblical Theology of David and Goliath

Finding Our Champion: A Biblical Theology of David and Goliath – The story may be bigger than you realize. Here, the author finds Jesus and a bigger narrative in this familiar story.

The World Is Catechizing Us Whether We Realize It or Not

The World Is Catechizing Us Whether We Realize It or Not – “Here’s the reality facing every Christian in the West: the money, power, and prestige of the mainstream media, big time sports, big business, big tech, and almost all the institutions of education and entertainment are invested in making sin look normal.”

 

Leading in Lament

Leading in Lament – “What’s your knee-jerk reaction to frustrations and hardships? When things don’t happen as planned, I think we tend to default to three responses.” God has a better plan.

Don’t Numb Your Feelings

Don’t Numb Your Feelings – “Emotions are not our enemy. They’re a gift from God and purposed by him to be harnessed, not suppressed.”

 

The Great Winnowing

The Great Winnowing – “A lot of people aren’t coming back to church.  Let that sink in a minute. Real people—souls, names, faces, and life stories who you know and love—are most likely not going to return to regular church gatherings in a post-pandemic world.” 

 

Weeping With Those Who Are Weeping

Weeping With Those Who Are Weeping – “These past few months have made this abundantly clear to all of us. From mid-April to mid-May 2021 there was hardly a day that went by without news of someone we knew who had lost a loved one. Those were tragic and exceedingly difficult days.”

9 Things You Should Know About the Taliban

9 Things You Should Know About the Taliban – “This month, the Taliban has returned to power after U.S. military forces withdrew and the Afghan government collapsed.”

How to Brave the News: Reading Headlines Through Psalms

How to Brave the News: Reading Headlines Through Psalms – “The Bible offers a better approach to the constant stream of bad news coming at us today. Four psalms in particular have helped me wade into the brokenness of the news without drowning.”

The Gifts of This Age Point Us to the Age Still to Come

The Gifts of This Age Point Us to the Age Still to Come – “This means that everything created good is only a pale glimmer of what it will be in the time when heaven crashes into earth fully and God restores it all.”

Mom Guilt and the God Who Sees

Mom Guilt and the God Who Sees – “Mom guilt. Moms today are well acquainted with the term. We use it as a kind of shorthand to express an all-too-common feeling we face in the everyday events of mothering.”

Pulling Weeds While People Are Dying: How Do I Respond to the World’s Suffering?

Pulling Weeds While People Are Dying: How Do I Respond to the World’s Suffering? – “I pull out the weeds in my lawn and think about how absurd it is that I am pulling weeds while under the same sky, a young man tries to escape his country by hanging onto the wing of a plane.”

How Can I Pray Biblical Prayers for My Suffering Friend?

How Can I Pray Biblical Prayers for My Suffering Friend? – “We can find that as we turn to Christ again and again with our joys and sorrows, our hearts are gradually transformed to love him more deeply.”

Navigating Cross-Cultural Relationships

Navigating Cross-Cultural Relationships – As we encounter others cultures more frequently, there are some good suggestions to be found here. The author writes: “That, in many ways, is the power of the gospel! It draws people from all tongues, tribes and nations, people of all ages and social statuses and make them one.”

Love Makes a Man a Man

Love Makes a Man a Man – “If love, then, sets us apart as men of God, then love is an indispensable ambition for any man pursuing maturity in Christ.”

Lament and Hope: How to Pray for Afghanistan’s Women

Lament and Hope: How to Pray for Afghanistan’s Women – “God sees the plight of each Afghan woman. Accounts this week from Kabul say the streets are quiet, and the few individuals who venture out are men. Women have retreated out of sight—but not out of God’s sight. He sees them.”

Does Christ Rule the Nations Now?

Does Christ Rule the Nations Now? – “There are at least three ways God rules over the nations — or we could say three stages in history in which God brings the nations into complete submission.”

What Makes Jesus’s Commission So Great Anyway?

What Makes Jesus’s Commission So Great Anyway? – It is time for each of us to step into the story that God has for us. It is time for us to listen to Jesus, and learn what makes this commission truly great.”

 

Pain Will Not Have the Last Word

Pain Will Not Have the Last Word – “No one lives this life untouched. We all experience the brokenness and frailty of this world in one way or another.”

Blessed Are the Refreshers

Blessed Are the Refreshers – May we all be refreshed today and be refreshers.

Will Al-Qaeda Attack America Again?

Will Al-Qaeda Attack America Again? – Jim Denison breaks down the history of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, how they relate to one another and where the road goes from here.

Fisherman or Fishermen? Considering the Church’s Corporate Mission

Fisherman or Fishermen? Considering the Church’s Corporate Mission – “The mission of the church is in fact the mission of the church. Rather than merely being one person casting from a pier, it’s a host of men and women holding their part of the net.”

Prioritize Your Church!

Prioritize Your Church! – “A Christian is strongest when embedded within a healthy local church and driven by a love of and commitment to that church.”

Weakness May Be Your Greatest Strength

Weakness May Be Your Greatest Strength – “What at first seems to us like an expensive liability turns out to be a valuable, God-given asset.”

How Can Christians Unite While Disagreeing About COVID-19?

How Can Christians Unite While Disagreeing About COVID-19? – “Christians are painfully divided over politics, masks, vaccines, social distancing, Dr Fauci, and so on. We will probably never agree on these matters. So do we just give up and accept the disunity. How can Christians unite while disagreeing about COVID-19?”

A New and Quiet Type of Suffering

A New and Quiet Type of Suffering – This article doesn’t go into all the issues surrounding transgenderism but it does address what parents maybe feeling and how to minister to them.

How Afghan Pastors Reflect on God’s Sovereignty

How Afghan Pastors Reflect on God’s Sovereignty – “In early July, Afghan pastors and church leaders made a difficult decision. They decided to formally register their faith with the Afghan government. What an absurdity to register as Christians in an Islamic republic that prohibits a person from converting to Christianity! Against the advice of many, these Afghan church leaders felt compelled, for the sake of future generations, to legally declare their true faith in Christ.”

You Don’t Know God If You Don’t Love Christ

You Don’t Know God If You Don’t Love Christ – “Loving Jesus is the test of whether you love God.”

Where We Draw the Line: How to Live (and Die) in Babylon

Where We Draw the Line: How to Live (and Die) in Babylon – “What does it look like to live as a Christian in a society that increasingly does not like what Christians believe, what we say, and how we live? What do we do when we realize that the place we are living is less and less like Jerusalem, and more and more like Babylon?”

God Above All Governments

God Above All Governments – “We should pray that our government will imbibe our principles. We should pay attention and do our part. But our faith doesn’t rest there.”

She Is Broken, and She Is Beautiful

She Is Broken, and She Is Beautiful – “The Church is broken because she is made of broken people. But she is also beautiful because she has been healed by a beautiful Savior. I find pieces of my sanctification in serving alongside the members of the broken and beautiful bride of Christ.”

Identifying and Forsaking Our Spiritual Mistresses

Identifying and Forsaking Our Spiritual Mistresses – “Every act of disobedience flows from a desire for something or someone besides God to be our first love, our true north, our reason for being.”

Further Up and Further In

Further Up and Further In – “No matter how long we live or how much we study, we will never come to the end of our knowledge of God.”

The Real World?

The Real World? – “The sad reality is that while many potificate over fabricated evils on social media in the Western world, the better part of those enduring extreme suffering in the Middle East, North Korea, and Africa never get a voice on social media. Most of what we rant about in our bubble is child’s play compared to the real evils of a fallen world.”

Deepfakes and the Degradation of Truth

Deepfakes and the Degradation of Truth – “The potential moral and social unrest due to our inability to discern truth from a deepfake should be a wake-up call about the power and influence of technology in our lives.”

Afghan Pastors Ask for Prayer

Afghan Pastors Ask for Prayer – “As Taliban forces have swallowed up Afghanistan and even now the capital city of Kabul, pastors in the country have been emailing and messaging me over the last few days, even hours, anxious for prayer.”

God Can Redeem Your Family History

God Can Redeem Your Family History – “Family dynamics have intensity built in. No surprise, then, that family joy is wonderful, and family pain is horrible.”

 

Why Obedience in Small Things Means Everything

Why Obedience in Small Things Means Everything – “Don’t do something great for God; do something small. Be committed to faithfully following Jesus in the little things that will prove to be significant in the end.”

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Biblical Earthquake

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Biblical Earthquake –  “For the first time, archaeologists have unearthed evidence for an earthquake Old Testament prophets mentioned and compared to end times events.”

Children Grow Slow and Leave Fast

Children Grow Slow and Leave Fast – “Opportunities with our children don’t last forever. Time passes, moment by moment, unimpeded. It does not stop. Does not slow down. Does not rewind.”

What Does God Think of the Taliban?

What Does God Think of the Taliban? – “Who are the Taliban? What does God think about them? How should we respond biblically to them?”

How to Pray for the Taliban

How to Pray for the Taliban – “While we don’t know for sure what the future will bring, we can be certain that Afghani Christians face grave danger in the days to come.”

One of the Stupidest Things I Did in 44 Years of Marriage

One of the Stupidest Things I Did in 44 Years of Marriage – Thom Rainer: “What is that stupid thing I did in marriage? To be clear, I have not done this act of stupidity one time, but many times. Too many times. You would think I would learn by now. The stupid act? I tried to win arguments with my wife.”

Seek Unity, Fear the Lord, and Wash Your Hands

Seek Unity, Fear the Lord, and Wash Your Hands – “I’m in no way an expert on the medical aspects of COVID-19. What I do know is our enemy, Satan, loves to take moments of crisis and divide people by steering them toward extremes.” 

5 Questions about Church Membership

5 Questions about Church Membership – “Once you choose Christ, you must choose his people, too.”

Is Death Past, Present, or Future?

Is Death Past, Present, or Future? – “Every day, Christians make choices that, to the world, look like little deaths.”

Of Minds and Machines : Transhumanism and the Christian

Of Minds and Machines : Transhumanism and the Christian – “Whether or not future technologies will live up to the dreams of these transhumanists, the fact that we are increasingly looking to technology to solve humanity’s troubles—and perhaps even deliver us from mortality—warrants a thoughtful examination of the transhumanist movement.”

Just Call Me Old-Fashioned

Just Call Me Old-Fashioned – “Christian, be okay with being out of step with the culture. Be at peace with the name-calling, the threats, the marginalization or even persecution. If we are in Christ, we’re on the right side of history.”

Godless Productivity

Godless Productivity – “How are you living? Are you walking as wise or unwise? Are you making the best use of the time, or are you enslaved to triviality and sin? Have you reckoned that the days are evil?”

Let Fear Deliver You from Fear

Let Fear Deliver You from Fear – “A significant part of maturity, then, is learning to not fear what we should not fear, and to increasingly, even gladly, fear the one whom we should.”

What Does It Mean to Pray ‘Hallowed Be Your Name’?

What Does It Mean to Pray ‘Hallowed Be Your Name’? – “To pray ‘hallowed be Your name’ means to ask God to let His name be worshipped, exalted, honored, and adored on earth as it is in heaven. It is to ask God to so move and act in the world, that people will worship and treasure Him above all else.”

Blasphemy and the Church

Blasphemy and the Church – “If there is any commandment that is broken more consistently, habitually, historically, and egregiously by Christians than by non-Christians, it is the third commandment.”

9 Things You Should Know About the Assemblies of God

9 Things You Should Know About the Assemblies of God – It’s good to know what other groups believe and practice.

Do You Love the People of God?

Do You Love the People of God? – “Ministry service is glorious, but it can also be uniquely taxing, and only those propelled by a love for Christ and His church survive the long haul.”

5 Truths About Your Battle with Sin You Hate to Admit

5 Truths About Your Battle with Sin You Hate to Admit – “If you are a Christian, you battle with sin. However, knowing this does not mean the fight will be easy or that you have it all under control. Here are five truths about your battle with sin you hate to admit, followed by three points of encouragement.”

The Gospel According to Ecclesiastes

The Gospel According to Ecclesiastes – “The entire book confronts the tendency God’s image bearers have to want to be God rather than trust God. Ecclesiastes teaches us that we can only come to God on the basis of who He is and not on the basis of who we are.”

Fettered Desire

Fettered Desire – “We all intrinsically feel that we should live in a way that fulfils us, that gives us what we want. We all intrinsically know that what it means to be most authentically ourselves is to have our wants and longings met.”

The Miracle of Life

The Miracle of Life – “Truly, even before considering the precious souls we have, every human body is an anatomical miracle of divine creative genius. We are, in the words of David ‘fearfully and wonderfully made.'”

When My Heart Is Cold: Bible Meditation for Beginners

When My Heart Is Cold: Bible Meditation for Beginners – “What do we do when our hearts grow cold? Many Christians of old, themselves burning and shining lamps, would advise us not only to read God’s word, and not only to pray God’s word, but also to slow down, take a deep breath, and meditate on God’s word.”

Leave the Noise and Listen to God

Leave the Noise and Listen to God – “Silence is hard to find. Can you remember the last time you were around complete silence?”

Perfect Courtesy Toward All in the Worst of Times

Perfect Courtesy Toward All in the Worst of Times – “Top-to-bottom cultural corruption creates a need for repeated conscience re-calibration. While we might not be in such ugly times now, the message Paul didn’t want the Christians in Crete to forget is one God also doesn’t want local churches today to forget.”

The Significance of the Sinlessness of Jesus

The Significance of the Sinlessness of Jesus – “Our redemption rests upon Christ’s sinless life and substitutionary death. When we see the corruption of our minds, hearts, and wills, we must look at the One who knew no sin and yet was made sin for us.”

Running the Paths of the Lord

Running the Paths of the Lord – The Bible has much to say about running life’s race with and for the Lord.

You Sent A Raging Storm

You Sent A Raging Storm – “Why did Jesus send his disciples into that storm? He did it for the same reason he sometimes sends you into storms—because he knows that sometimes you need the storm in order to be able to see the glory.”

I Need You to Read Your Bible

I Need You to Read Your Bible – This is a practical word for us all. I’ll read my Bible so that I can speak God’s truth to you and when I’m in need, I’m counting on you too. It’s true for all of us.

Not So Brave

Not So Brave – “Have you ever struggled to be brave? How has He taught you to hold fast to Him?”

Is It Complicated Or Is It Difficult?

Is It Complicated Or Is It Difficult? – “When we have a problem, we moderns tend to look for something to fix it with…Instead of trying to conform the world to ourselves, we should see how we can develop ourselves into the sort of person who can deal with these situations.”

Living the Mystery of Joy in Suffering

Living the Mystery of Joy in Suffering – “If you experience this paradox of emotions — sorrowful, yet always rejoicing — you will never have to pretend again.”

Perhaps the Most Profound Thing Our Lord Ever Said

Perhaps the Most Profound Thing Our Lord Ever Said - “What’s lacking in the great majority of religious experts–of all tribes, all beliefs, all everything!–is a childlike humility.”

Do You Have Fewer Than 3 Friends?

Do You Have Fewer Than 3 Friends? – Here are 4 ways to deepen your connections.

A Church Only Explained by the Gospel

A Church Only Explained by the Gospel – “When Christ is our God, everything else falls into proper orbit around him. He is exalted above our preferences and affinities. And thus our motley band of worshipers makes Jesus look very big.”

Washing Dishes and the Futility of Life

Washing Dishes and the Futility of Life – “One of the most cherished aspects of Scripture in this season of life is the reality that Scripture does speak to every single aspect of life. Not just the catastrophic or momentous moments — but the mundane and futile moments, too.”

Reclaiming Friendship

Reclaiming Friendship – “Men don’t know how to be friends anymore. Have you noticed?”

A Greater Longing

A Greater Longing – “Our greatest desire guides every decision we make. When faced with options, we will choose what we want and what we perceive to provide the greatest benefit. Oftentimes, we have competing desires and we’ll make our choice based on the greatest desire in that moment.”

The Force, the Spirit, and Romans 8

The Force, the Spirit, and Romans 8 – Here are good reminders about God the Holy Spirit.

7 Lessons I’ve Carried from ‘Narnia’

7 Lessons I’ve Carried from ‘Narnia’ – “The more I appreciate Lewis’s great story, the more I recognize its echoes of the greatest story in the gospel. Here are seven lessons I’ve carried from each of the seven books in the series.”

What Kingdom Story Are We Telling?

What Kingdom Story Are We Telling? – “The story is of Christ so ruling over the nations of the world that the church might be built up.”

How Could Jonathan Edwards Own Slaves? Wrestling with the History of a Hero

How Could Jonathan Edwards Own Slaves? Wrestling with the History of a Hero – This is a good reflection on the imperfections of our spiritual heroes.

God Talk 101

God Talk 101 – “I want to suggest a simple God-talk phrase that every Christian can use in conversation with non-Christian work colleagues, friends and family…”

My Times Are in Your Hand

My Times Are in Your Hand – “Learning to Trust the Speed of God.”

Does the Book of Proverbs Over-Promise?

Does the Book of Proverbs Over-Promise? – “God will keep his end of the bargain in his way and in his time.”

A Church Only Explained by the Gospel

A Church Only Explained by the Gospel – “The church must inhabit a very this worldly culture with a very other-worldly nature. When outsiders look in, they should struggle a bit to explain what makes us gather together.”

Does God Really Protect Us From Evil?

Does God Really Protect Us From Evil? – “Does God really protect us from evil? As believers in the God of the Bible, we love the blessings of protection given in Scripture. We make bookmarks, fridge magnets and even bumper stickers out of them.”

Our Family Worship Time

Our Family Worship Time – “Even though family worship is not always often a portrait of tranquility, and even though we haven’t mastered the art of making sure we meet every single day for it, family worship is a regular part of our family’s life together.”

Five Reasons the Post-Quarantine Drop In Worship Attendance Is Good

Five Reasons the Post-Quarantine Drop In Worship Attendance Is Good – God doesn’t waste anything.

If All My Sins Are Forgiven, Why Pursue Holiness?

If All My Sins Are Forgiven, Why Pursue Holiness? – “The only kind of faith that saves is the kind that leads us to fight sin and practice the obedience of faith.”

Godless Productivity: A Believer’s Guide to Redeeming Time

Godless Productivity: A Believer’s Guide to Redeeming Time – “Principles may abound, but are the most important realities missing? You receive no sense of sin and Satan, no sense of God and glory, no sense of faith and repentance, no sense of heaven or hell, no sense of souls or immortality.”

He Really is On the Move

He Really is On the Move – “Yes, I know in my head that the Spirit must be working here in countless ways we cannot see. But oh what it does for the heart when this secret work is revealed. He really is here. He really is on the move. It really isn’t dependent on us.”

Run with Confidence

Run with Confidence – “If we doubt our ability to trust and obey the Lord until the end, then we will make it even harder to persevere and we might be tempted to quit. Therefore, when we find the race that God has set before us difficult, we need to run with confidence. How might we do that?”

Is this A Biblical Issue?

Is this A Biblical Issue? – “The overwhelming majority of things that people get hot under the collar about in churches are neither matters of outright heresy nor biblical issues.”

Don’t Feel Sorry for or Fear for Your Kids; Raise Them up to Walk in Faith

Don’t Feel Sorry for or Fear for Your Kids; Raise Them up to Walk in Faith – There are several good reminders here for parents raising kids in our current broken world.

Overcoming Temptation

Overcoming Temptation – “You are in a constant battle for your mind. That’s where temptation begins. When God gives you an idea, that’s inspiration. But when the devil gives you an idea, that’s temptation. Every day, you have to choose which ideas you’re going to accept.”

What Does It Really Mean to Be the Salt of the Earth?

What Does It Really Mean to Be the Salt of the Earth? – “Its ordinariness and its use in all cultures make it an obvious candidate for Jesus to use as an illustration. Jesus, as we know, loved using everyday items to communicate truths about God and his people.”

Everything Important

Everything Important – “I invite you, Christ-follower, to quiet your soul. Turn down the volume. Walk away from the chatter; the soul crushing opinions of this world. Find a quiet space, for only you and your Bible.”

Thirty-five Questions for Maturing a Christian Marriage

Thirty-five Questions for Maturing a Christian Marriage – As a marriage check-up, here are some discussion questions for couples to consider.

Strength for the Weary

Strength for the Weary – “As I sat with the mid-week church group, the people around me had no idea how I felt. What they saw was a man dressed in business casual who had just come from a day of work, and he had a smile on his face. What they did not know was I was forcing that smile.”

The Fatal Mistake of the Casually Religious

The Fatal Mistake of the Casually Religious - “The sin of the casually religious–and that’s what these people were–is to take God’s silence as something other than what it was.”

How Politics Has Replaced Religion In America

How Politics Has Replaced Religion In America – “Make no mistake: politics is inherently religious. As the great bishop, Augustine of Hippo averred, deeply felt political conviction should be understood as redirected religion.”

 

“When (Not If) I Am Afraid, I Will Trust in You”

“When (Not If) I Am Afraid, I Will Trust in You” – “Before Delta is done, before the Day of perfect health arrives, before your glory fills the earth, before we know the outcome of our children’s stories, before wolves and lambs lie down together—before cancer, evil, racism, human trafficking, and meanness expire, we will trust in you, beloved Father.”

Focusing On What I Can Measure

Focusing On What I Can Measure – “My physical health is more than the numbers I can measure. And my spiritual health is, too.”

Jesus Rose Early: What Mornings Say About Us

Jesus Rose Early: What Mornings Say About Us – “Have you ever considered what are the things you’re willing to rise early for?”

Why Is the God of the Old Testament So Angry?

Why Is the God of the Old Testament So Angry? – “When we read those parts of the Old Testament that we don’t tend to cover in Sunday school, we might start wondering how we got from the God who was demanding bloody animal sacrifices—to Jesus, who is all about love and hope and peace.”

How to Inhabit an Unraveling Culture

How to Inhabit an Unraveling Culture – “A new order is required for success—an order that ‘removes those who oppose us.’ Such zero-sum sentiments are at the heart of the unraveling we’re seeing.”

Who Loves You?

Who Loves You? – “Where do we turn when we run into the harsh reality of life in a wounded world? How do we love when warm feelings are replaced with searing disappointment? We turn to the One who has shown us, not just told us, what love is.”

Taste God’s Goodness in the Sweetness of Honey

Taste God’s Goodness in the Sweetness of Honey – “Honey appears 60 times in the Bible, and in most cases it represents one of three things. Each reveals something of what, if we were not careful, we might call the sweetness of God.”

Pray Until You Pray: A Simple Way to Begin Each Day

Pray Until You Pray: A Simple Way to Begin Each Day – “You begin every day with prayer, one way or another.”

I Lay My Life in Your Hands

I Lay My Life in Your Hands – How Faith Prays in the Dark

Chariots Of Fire

Chariots Of Fire – “In the middle of our broken world, this is what we all need: eyes that see Christ, and see him as bigger and more powerful than the troubles that surround us.”

Controversy Is Essential — and Deadly

Controversy Is Essential — and Deadly – “Controversy is essential in this fallen world, and controversy is deadly in a fallen world. We must do it, and we must tremble to do it.”

Peter, Put Away Your Sword

Peter, Put Away Your Sword – “The way of the cross is not the easy way or the natural way. But it’s the Jesus way. So put your sword back in its place and pick up your cross. Either way we perish, but one leads to true victory.”

The Purpose of Sunday is the Re-evangelization of the People of God

The Purpose of Sunday is the Re-evangelization of the People of God – “Christians need the gospel as much as lost people do. Not in the same way, of course. But just as much.”

Psalm 103: Everlasting, Steadfast Love Toward Those Who Fear the Lord

Psalm 103: Everlasting, Steadfast Love Toward Those Who Fear the Lord – “Some psalms are on everyone’s list of favorites. Some have memorable lines; some capture just perfectly what we are feeling but couldn’t put into words.”

How to Embrace a Life of Plain Things

How to Embrace a Life of Plain Things – “This is most often how God works: not with major benchmarks, but instead by causing faithfulness to take root, day by day, as we learn to depend on his grace to persevere in ordinary life.”

5 Foundations That Lead to Compromise on Sexual Ethics

5 Foundations That Lead to Compromise on Sexual Ethics – “It’s helpful to consider some of the different, subtle shapes Christianity can take that at first might seem benign—but will later set up a Christian for compromise.”

Conservatives Are Letting Big Tech Win

Conservatives Are Letting Big Tech Win – “As we spend more and more time entranced by infinite scroll and chasing hyperlinks, we become conditioned toward instant gratification, simplistic and Tweetable interpretations of reality, and obliviousness regarding anything outside the present.”

Power + Compassion = Comfort

Power + Compassion = Comfort – “The God who upholds the universe keeps count of your tears in his bottle.”

Hostage to Hurry: Recovering the Human Pace of Love

Hostage to Hurry: Recovering the Human Pace of Love – “Hearts can be stubbornly slow. Prayer is often slow. Meditation is slow. Growth is slow. Love is slow, sometimes painfully so. From the beginning, our souls were made to walk with God, at his pace.”

Wisdom Means Numbering Our Days Not Living As If Every Day Is Our Last

Wisdom Means Numbering Our Days Not Living As If Every Day Is Our Last – “Rather than living permanently with a false sense of urgency, the Bible encourages us to be wise by numbering our days.”

Great Work

Great Work – “Before we are anything else in the church world, we are disciples of Jesus. Whatever ministry we may be involved in, whatever position we may hold, we are disciples of Jesus.”

How to Inhabit an Unraveling Culture

How to Inhabit an Unraveling Culture – “To make peace in this age of anxiety and division, we must recognize our true enemy.”

20 Quotes from Garrett Kell on Sexual Purity

20 Quotes from Garrett Kell on Sexual Purity – Here’s an example: “You will never regret resisting sin. You will always regret giving in. I have never looked back on obedience with regret, nor on compromise with gratitude.”

How Do We Pray in the Spirit?

How Do We Pray in the Spirit? – “Praying in the Spirit means that our prayers are moved and guided by the Holy Spirit.”

Practicing Humility at Home

Practicing Humility at Home – “‘Mom’s the worst sinner in the family,’ my 4-year-old repeated to house guests after our previous gospel conversations about repenting of sin. Apparently. And you know what? There was a time in my life that would have been mortifying. Now, I hear it and think, Yup. Sounds about right.”

The One “Cancel” Worth Celebrating

The One “Cancel” Worth Celebrating – Praise the Lord!

9 Things You Should Know About the Olympics

9 Things You Should Know About the Olympics – Pray for #9.

I Lay My Life in Your Hands: How Faith Prays in the Dark

I Lay My Life in Your Hands: How Faith Prays in the Dark – Here’s a reflection on Psalm 31.