Is It Possible to Finish Well in Marriage?

Is It Possible to Finish Well in Marriage? – “The most important day of your marriage is not the first day—your wedding day. It’s the last day —the day you or your wife [or husband] dies, and you have loved and served her [or him] like Jesus till the very end. That is the most important day of your marriage.”

7 Things to Say to a Hurting Loved One

7 Things to Say to a Hurting Loved One – “We often find ourselves ill-equipped to speak words of life to hurting loved ones. Consider seven helpful phrases to keep near.”

10 Leadership Lessons From the Proverbs

10 Leadership Lessons From the Proverbs – “Leaders are learners, and great leaders are constantly seeking wisdom from those who have gone before them.”

Don’t Be A Fig Leaf

Don’t Be A Fig Leaf – “As recipients of grace and forgiveness, Christians should be quick to be gracious and forgiving. But extending grace should include encouraging fellow believers to admit and confront sin so that they can experience the grace and forgiveness that only comes from Christ.” 

 

I Sing My Way Through Pain: Three Lessons in Resilient Joy

I Sing My Way Through Pain: Three Lessons in Resilient Joy – “When suffering begins to wither my resolve, I stoke my hope by taking several steps.”

Why Christianity is Both Less and More Narrow Than you Think

Why Christianity is Both Less and More Narrow Than you Think – “There is a God, and there is a way to him. His name is Jesus. That’s why Christianity is both less and more narrow than most realize.”

Do Angels Carry Our Prayers to God?

Do Angels Carry Our Prayers to God? – “No angel, nor the mother of God, Mary, could be a better protection for us than Christ.”

The Clay-Pot Conspiracy: Hope for Leaders Losing Heart

The Clay-Pot Conspiracy: Hope for Leaders Losing Heart – “Paul discovered a secret: his weakness was an opportunity for God’s power. He learned that when our weakness meets God’s grace, strength abounds. It’s what I like to call the ‘clay-pot conspiracy.’”

Weep with Those Who Weep

Weep with Those Who Weep – “One of the benefits of being in the family of God relates to the fact that God both told us to weep with those who weep, but also, in the love of Jesus Christ and as part of His family, we naturally desire to weep with those who weep.”

The Four Biggest Assets in My Grief

The Four Biggest Assets in My Grief – “Grieving a loved one’s death is a long, often lonely, always painful process. Four key players stand out in my continued healing journey through grief.”

The Spiritually Mature Don’t Take Themselves So Seriously

The Spiritually Mature Don’t Take Themselves So Seriously – “Perhaps 2023 will be the year when, by God’s grace and even for His glory, we stop taking ourselves so seriously.”

His Grace is Sufficient!

His Grace is Sufficient! – “Have you ever felt distressed so grievously that you thought your heart would burst? Did you feel like the pain you were experiencing was uncontrollable, and there seemed to be no boundary to the heartache you were suffering?”

 

Weaknesses: Our Unlikely Allies

Weaknesses: Our Unlikely Allies – “Countless Christians speak life into the souls of hurting people because they, too, have struggled with weakness and, in those infirmities, have found God’s grace to be enough.”

Hope for Those Tempted to Control Their Children’s Spiritual Lives

Hope for Those Tempted to Control Their Children’s Spiritual Lives – “So much of our parenting is built on control, which is not always a bad thing…But control in parenting can easily take a negative turn.”

Is Mary the Mother of God?

Is Mary the Mother of God? – “Affirming Mary as the mother of God has nothing to do with Mary. It has everything to do with the nature of her son, Jesus. This ancient way of referring to Mary recognized Jesus truly was God in the flesh.”

Doing What is Right Without Needing a New Word from the Lord

Doing What is Right Without Needing a New Word from the Lord – “We do need to get to know God and his Word better. He has revealed to us what He is like. He has promised us what the future holds and instructed us on how should be living now. We don’t need a new word from God; we need to know His existing word better.”

 

God’s Word and the Universal Problem of Suffering

God’s Word and the Universal Problem of Suffering – “How we answer the central question of why, if God is good, do we suffer, will radically affect how we see God and the world around us.”

Was Paul Really the World’s Worst Sinner?

Was Paul Really the World’s Worst Sinner? – “The seriousness of the sin rises with the glory and dignity of the person you’re demeaning.”

No Word For Grace

No Word For Grace – “How do you preach the gospel in a tribe where there is no word for grace?

Four Marks of Faithful Teaching

Four Marks of Faithful Teaching – “In the church’s mission against the gates of hell, one of our main weapons is the familiar, often unremarkable, easily underestimated act of teaching.”

 

Is the Earliest, Most Complete Hebrew Bible Going on Auction?

Is the Earliest, Most Complete Hebrew Bible Going on Auction? – “Sadly, looking at anything through the lens of a dollar sign can distort one’s vision of reality. Perhaps that is happening here. At any rate, what is certain is that a veritable dust cloud of exaggerations and half-truths are flying around in the press coverage of the imminent sale of Codex Sassoon.”

4 Keys to Small Group Friendships

4 Keys to Small Group Friendships – “Here are four key steps and skills that you need to develop in order to get the most out of your Small Group friendships.”

American History Shows Christian Parents Need Both Grace and Truth

American History Shows Christian Parents Need Both Grace and Truth – “Amid my parenting trials, I discovered God didn’t want me to parent standing up but on my knees. While I trained a child in the way he should go, the Lord was training dad in the way he should go. That’s a reality parents in every era must learn again and again.”

How Should We Handle Outrage?

How Should We Handle Outrage? – “This is a difficult time. Evil is called good, while good is called evil. Objective truth is disdained. Feelings are divinized. God is mocked.” 

 

I’ll See You in Heaven

I’ll See You in Heaven – This is the settled hope of the Gospel.

How to Pray When the Prognosis is Grim

How to Pray When the Prognosis is Grim – “Jesus seems to be inviting an attitude of fervency, shamelessness, and persistence.”

What Does Faith Do? It Depends

What Does Faith Do? It Depends – “Theology is much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. There are all these different pieces. They do fit, but we don’t always right away realize how. The key is to pay attention to the clues. These are given to us in Scripture.”

5 Expectations Jesus Has of His Church

5 Expectations Jesus Has of His Church – “Jesus does have expectations of us, the body of believers, His Bride, The Church.”

Overcoming Fear and Passivity in Evangelism

Overcoming Fear and Passivity in Evangelism – “I said to myself, ‘I have to quit denying the gospel through silence.’”

The Danger of ‘Make-Believe’ Orthodoxy

The Danger of ‘Make-Believe’ Orthodoxy – “True orthodoxy is found only in obedience. Period. And it is not found, despite my pastor-friend’s insistence, primarily in portentous intellectual agreement to approved theological codes.”

Inadequacy Is Compulsory in Evangelism

Inadequacy Is Compulsory in Evangelism – “We place far too much importance on our skills and gifts (or lack thereof) and not enough on God.” 

Live Against the Drift: Refocusing the Distracted Soul

Live Against the Drift: Refocusing the Distracted Soul – “The danger of drifting, spiritual or otherwise, is in just how subtle and comfortable drifting can feel. Often we don’t even notice it’s happening at all.”

Transparency is Not an End in Itself

Transparency is Not an End in Itself – “Something great is lost when words of value become catch phrases of a culture.”

The Danger of Pursuing a Perfect Church

The Danger of Pursuing a Perfect Church – “Too often, we hold the church to higher standards than we hold ourselves. And when churches stumble and fall, we recoil from and reject our family members in Christ.”

6 Saying That Aren’t Actually in the Bible

6 Saying That Aren’t Actually in the Bible – I think I have heard or read all of these in the last month. It’s worth reviewing.

4 Ways To Combat Mind Wandering

4 Ways To Combat Mind Wandering – “Research indicates that we mind-wander almost half our waking hours. We all have a bit of ADHD in us. That same research tells us that most mind wandering makes us unhappy. Although healthy mind wandering can enhance creativity, most of the time it doesn’t help.”

Study the Stars and the Starmaker

Study the Stars and the Starmaker – “None of the estimated 200 billion trillion stars in the known universe has shed a single tear at a cancer diagnosis or a miscarriage.” Here are some apologetics from creation that point to the Creator.

The Burning Question from Asbury Isn’t About Asbury

The Burning Question from Asbury Isn’t About Asbury – “Do you want to be healed?” The burning question from Asbury isn’t about Asbury; it’s about you. It’s about your heart. It’s about your longing.

Happiness: Good News Worth Sharing

Happiness: Good News Worth Sharing – “If you ask me, ‘Doesn’t the world need to see Christians as happy in order to know the truth of our faith and be drawn to the great Savior?’ my answer is ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ And they need to see that our happiness is the indomitable work of Christ in the midst of our sorrow.”

You Will Never Be Independent

You Will Never Be Independent – “God is our Father. He adopts us in Christ and recreates us with a childlike heart by the power of the Spirit. We need parenting every day. We need tender care, patient instruction, and constructive discipline.”

Nine Characteristics of the Great Old Testament Revivals

Nine Characteristics of the Great Old Testament Revivals – When I read something like this I pray, “Let it begin in me.”

How Accessible Will Jesus Be to Each of Us on the New Earth?

How Accessible Will Jesus Be to Each of Us on the New Earth? – Randy Alcorn takes on a big “What will heaven be like?” question.

 

A Life-Giving Brain Cancer

A Life-Giving Brain Cancer – “I was diagnosed with a tumor in my brain … I’ve never been happier or felt more blessed than I do right now.” This is an excellent read.

 

God Made You to Belong

God Made You to Belong – “He made us to be members of his kingdom—of his church. Specifically, he made you to be part of a local body of believers. This is where and with whom you’re meant to find belonging.”

A Prayer That God Would Save Our Children

A Prayer That God Would Save Our Children – “George Swinnock’s prayed this lovely prayer many centuries ago. May it give you words to pray to the Lord as you consider God’s mercy toward the children the Lord has given you.”

The Stable Presence: Five Traits of Resilient Fathers

The Stable Presence: Five Traits of Resilient Fathers – “Where does such sober-mindedness come from? In my own life, I frequently return to Colossians 3:12–17 as a way of building sober-minded resilience into my soul. So let us consider the passage, not merely as a word to all Christians, but as a word applied particularly to husbands and fathers.”

Kept

Kept – “Kept. I love this word. Kept is language exploding with strength. We are spoken for. Held. Preserved. Never to be snatched from his hand. (John 10:28)”

Go, Therefore, and Make Disciples

Go, Therefore, and Make Disciples – “The conclusion drawn by the researchers at Barna Group? “The meaningful relationships individuals have as a children fundamentally influence the stability of their future faith.”

Looking Back On Right Now

Looking Back On Right Now – “Someday we’ll all look back on today with the sharp clarity brought by the glasses of hindsight. What will we see?”

 

Don’t Reap to the Edges of Your Life

Don’t Reap to the Edges of Your Life – “How are we doing with applying the principle behind this injunction? Do we take for ourselves all we can from this life? Or do we live remembering our duty to God and our neighbor?”

Should We Try To Control Who Is In Our Lives?

Should We Try To Control Who Is In Our Lives? – “Now in considering this incredible difference between the African and American culture, I have become persuaded that seeking to control who is in and out of our lives is in large part more American than it is Christian. I believe this for three main reasons.”

Be Slow to Pull the ‘God Card’

Be Slow to Pull the ‘God Card’ – “Discerning believers must test everything (1 Thess. 5:21). Part of testing is recognizing counterfeits, so to that end, here are four faulty reasons Christians might use the God card.”

9 Things You Should Know About Revivals in America

9 Things You Should Know About Revivals in America – “Here are nine things you should know about revival and the history of revivals in America.”

3 Elements of Biblical Spirituality

3 Elements of Biblical Spirituality – “A biblical spirituality sings in harmony. It’s theological, doxological, and practical. A faithful spirituality works in concert, revealing a whole life walking with Christ.”

A God Above Means Purpose Below

A God Above Means Purpose Below – “We have meaning below because there is a God above. If there were no god above, we would have no meaning below. Trust me, this isn’t just some ‘Sunday School’ idea.”

Have You Renounced Satan? The Lost Second Vow of Baptism

Have You Renounced Satan? The Lost Second Vow of Baptism – “No renunciation is more central to the Christian life, nor more rooted in the history of Christian tradition, than the one that occurs at baptism. And this renunciation also underscores why baptism should be reserved for professing believers.”

How Could God Be Jealous?

How Could God Be Jealous? – “The jealousy of God is the measure of his zeal for our happiness in him. His anger at our spiritual adultery, at our having other lovers besides him, is a reflex both of his zeal for his own worth, but also of his zeal for our joy.”

5 Things You Should Know about the Doctrine of the Trinity

5 Things You Should Know about the Doctrine of the Trinity – “Some analogies are perhaps able to illustrate a certain aspect of the doctrine of the Trinity, but they all tend to deny one or more elements of biblical teaching.”

9 Things You Should Know About Revivals in America

9 Things You Should Know About Revivals in America – You may have heard about a multi-day revival at Asbury University. “Here are nine things you should know about revival and the history of revivals in America.”

 

Where Can I Find a Biblical Reason NOT to Gamble?

Where Can I Find a Biblical Reason NOT to Gamble? – “What we really need, in this day and age where most gambling is legal and doesn’t carry a cultural stigma, is a reason from the Bible to consider not gambling. I believe that reason can be drawn from the eighth commandment and its promotion of equity.”

3 Opportunities the Trials of Life Bring

3 Opportunities the Trials of Life Bring – “Peter is viewing these trials as an opportunity. That’s the disposition we are after. But an opportunity for what? At least three things…”

How Unanswered Prayers Have Shaped My Faith

How Unanswered Prayers Have Shaped My Faith – “Thinking about that prayer, I realized that it has been integral in cementing my faith, as incongruous as that may seem.”

What to Do When You Think a Friend Is Considering Suicide

What to Do When You Think a Friend Is Considering Suicide – “Here are five simple things you can do if this issue comes up in your life or the life of someone you know.”

 

Generous Patience

Generous Patience – “When it comes to our sanctification, God is generous in His patience. And that ought to motivate us in multiple ways.”

 

Friends Who Fell Away: When Apostasy Comes Close to Home

Friends Who Fell Away: When Apostasy Comes Close to Home – “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us” (1 John 2:19). 

He doesn’t want your hand, He wants your heart

He doesn’t want your hand, He wants your heart – Take sin seriously.”

Not Like Any Other Book

Not Like Any Other Book – “We would acknowledge the uniqueness of the Bible, but how do we display that belief when we are reading it? This article gives us five ways.”

Is It God’s Will to Always Heal Us?

Is It God’s Will to Always Heal Us? – “Should I insist that He remove the very things He sent (arguably in answer to my prayers) to make me more like Jesus, and use me for His glory, and prepare me for eternal fellowship with Him and His people?”

Find Hope When Friends Fall Away

Find Hope When Friends Fall Away – “When those who once confessed Christ fall away, we can find encouragement in three truths from God’s Word.”

Will God Provide for Your Needs?

Will God Provide for Your Needs? – “Yes, He will, but how do we remind ourselves of that fact? The answer comes in remembering, reflecting, and expecting.”

The God-Centeredness of God Unlocks the Gospel

The God-Centeredness of God Unlocks the Gospel – “One of the reasons that it’s hard to get a whole range of biblical doctrines across to Americans today is because there is a secular mindset that is radically different from a biblical mindset. Let me try to unpack what I mean by a secular mindset.”

23 Ways to Love in 2023

23 Ways to Love in 2023 – Regardless of your marital status, here are 23 ways to express cruciform love — “in the shape of the Cross” love—in 2023.

William Borden, “The Millionaire Missionary”

William Borden, “The Millionaire Missionary” – “Borden’s tremendous wealth did not deflect him in the least from his whole-hearted consecration to Jesus. Instead, he remained wholly devoted to serving Christ and His Kingdom with his time, talents, energy, intellect and treasure.”

Why EVERY Parent Should Be a Hugger

Why EVERY Parent Should Be a Hugger – “A hug can be given for many different reasons to many different people, yet is a language that any person anywhere can understand. And especially our children.”

How To Summarize the Gospel in Two Words

How To Summarize the Gospel in Two Words – “Here are two words that can lift our eyes, and then our souls, to that great hill at Calvary from where our help comes.”

On Twirling Spears

On Twirling Spears – “You know how it is: that argument you have as you look in the mirror brushing your teeth, or shaving… the argument where you are rehearsing just what you would like to say to that person at work, or at church, or in the next room!… the argument you always win, but actually will never say.”

9 Benefits of Faithful Church Attendance

9 Benefits of Faithful Church Attendance – “There is an undeniable correlation between weekly church attendance and positive benefits. Here are nine.”

 

Work Well in an LGBT+ Environment

Work Well in an LGBT+ Environment – “Being a loving, uncompromising, and effective witness calls for courage and wisdom. Here are six suggestions to help you navigate these turbulent waters.”

Suffering Proves We Are Real

Suffering Proves We Are Real – “When suffering comes, we often stop and ask God to give us what we need to suffer well. Sometimes, the suffering itself unexpectedly becomes his answer to that prayer.”

Some Thoughts on the Asbury Revival

Some Thoughts on the Asbury Revival – “Perhaps you have heard or read by now reports about a revival taking place on the campus of Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. A campus chapel service on Wednesday did not end at its appointed time but rather carried on for days on end. Students lingered and prayed and repented and worshipped.” 

4 Building Blocks for a Theology of Celebration

4 Building Blocks for a Theology of Celebration – “Celebration is much more than a party. Behind every good celebration are the foundational building blocks of remembrance, perspective, gratitude, and rest. When our celebrations are built on these four building blocks, they have a richness that far surpasses a party.”

Why Modern Dating Is So Difficult

Why Modern Dating Is So Difficult – “Though these are secular ways of thinking about dating, marriage, sex, and relationships, they are so deeply ingrained in the culture that even Christians are impacted by them.”

Aging for God’s Glory

Aging for God’s Glory – “By God’s grace, this is how I want to age, pointing all of my life, whether able or weak-bodied, towards testifying to others of the righteousness of my Lord.”

Friendships Are Worth the Risk

Friendships Are Worth the Risk – “We need a friend who never fails: Jesus. And knowing him should transform other friendships.”

When I Die Young (or Old)

When I Die Young (or Old) – “Each day I live is one day closer to the day of my death. I not know whether I will die young or old. But I do know that God has fashioned all of my days from eternity past. I have trusted Him in life and I will trust Him in my death.”

Six Years, No Converts: Harvesting with Judson in the Hardest Fields

Six Years, No Converts: Harvesting with Judson in the Hardest Fields – “The lives of Adoniram and Ann Judson still serve as a living testimony to God’s faithfulness, continuing to sustain and prompt many to rest on the promises of God.”

Do the Will You Know

Do the Will You Know – “Doing the will you know is necessary for discerning the will you don’t.”

 

What in the World is God Doing?

What in the World is God Doing? – “What is God’s will for my life?”

5 Myths about Porn

5 Myths about Porn – “Porn promises much but delivers less—and not just less but, in fact, the opposite of what it promises. And by now aren’t we all fed up with being manipulated?”

 

The Great Deception

The Great Deception – “No more of: I do it, but rather: God, You do it.”

Don’t Ignore the Grace-bombs, Abba-gifts, and Spirit-kisses

Don’t Ignore the Grace-bombs, Abba-gifts, and Spirit-kisses – Scotty Smith has a great way of expressing things.

 

3 Truths About Your Church to Remember This Valentine’s Day

3 Truths About Your Church to Remember This Valentine’s Day – “Here are three important notes to keep in mind as you enter Valentine’s Day weekend with your church family.”

What Can Death Do to Us?

What Can Death Do to Us? – “Not only will death not separate us from Christ—it will actually usher us into His presence. Then, at the final resurrection, Christ will demonstrate His omnipotence by turning death on its head, making forever alive what appeared forever buried.”

How can we trust the Bible when there are so many contradictions?

How can we trust the Bible when there are so many contradictions? – “This question automatically assumes that there are many contradictions in the Bible, and that the Bible isn’t reliable. And so actually before going further, it’s worth asking these three questions…”

The Living God: What Makes Him Different and Satisfying

The Living God: What Makes Him Different and Satisfying – “the Bible regularly stresses that God doesn’t merely exist, but that he lives.”

 

Why do Christians address sexuality and gender issues all the time?

Why do Christians address sexuality and gender issues all the time? – “Often, this is mocked or simply dismissed as Christians just seeking to enforce their personal views on other people or to impose our beliefs through government action.”

Sinners or Saints — How Should We Speak of Christians?

Sinners or Saints — How Should We Speak of Christians? – “The fight against our ongoing sinning is the evidence that we are in Christ.”

Not a Dinosaur

Not a Dinosaur – “Among the speakers in the book of Job, the Lord gives the final speech (in chs. 38–41). And the last thing he speaks about is Leviathan. What is Leviathan? Are there clues in the text or outside of the book that help us identify it? Let’s see what we see.” He has an interesting perspective on it.

Faith in the Wilderness of Waiting

Faith in the Wilderness of Waiting – “Twenty-five years. Three hundred months. One thousand three hundred weeks. Nine thousand one hundred twenty-five days. That’s how long Abraham waited between hearing God’s promise and holding his son (Genesis 12:4; 21:5).”

What Does It Really Mean To Repent?

What Does It Really Mean To Repent? – “Once a person moves from non-believer to believer, they tend not to see the importance of maintaining a posture of repentance.”

What Is a Church?

What Is a Church? – “What is a church? How might we answer that question? Where should we start?”

Ten Things I Have Learned About Conflict

Ten Things I Have Learned About Conflict – Cory Ishida: “When the pandemic began in 2020, I was concerned about my grandchildren’s spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being because they were sequestered at home. I felt led by the Lord to write daily devotionals for them.” Here’s one of them.

Downplaying the Sin of Homosexuality Won’t Win the Next Generation

Downplaying the Sin of Homosexuality Won’t Win the Next Generation – “Does downplaying this issue give us an evangelistic advantage? Could it be considered faithful to the Great Commission—even necessary for reaching the next generation?”

Why We Share the Gospel

Why We Share the Gospel – “Our gospel joy is authentic and satisfying only if we desire to taste this joy in the hearts of other people.”

 

Do You Love Controversy?

Do You Love Controversy? – “Love is the identifier that the listening and watching world should know us by. Yet sadly, another love has infiltrated and started to define the church of Jesus Christ: the love of controversy.”

What Things?

What Things? – “There are moments in scripture that are easy to miss, but they are deeply profound if we take the time to consider them. One of those moments happens on the road to Emmaus. Jesus speaks two words in light of the context that reveals a world of encouragement.”

The Shift Away From Instagram and Why It’s Happening

The Shift Away From Instagram and Why It’s Happening – “What I’ve just discussed about Instagram is also true about our interactions with young people face to face. They long for personal, genuine contact with others.”

Are You Relying on the Spirit or a Hunch?

Are You Relying on the Spirit or a Hunch? – “Intuition is like a book of matches. We can use the tool to warm a house up or burn it down.”

2 Reasons We Should Expand Our Definition of Discipleship

2 Reasons We Should Expand Our Definition of Discipleship – “As a church, we need to reach and grow. Evangelize and edify. We can’t focus on one, ignore the other, and experience missional success.”

Devastating Earthquake Hits Turkey and Syria: How to Pray

Devastating Earthquake Hits Turkey and Syria: How to Pray – “Here are some specific ways we can be praying for those affected by the massive earthquake, and especially for local believers as they share the love and truth of Christ in the critical days ahead.”

Unshockable Parenting

Unshockable Parenting – “It’s easier to be unshockable and to maintain the relationship when you remember these things.”

The Devil is Blinding You to Glory

The Devil is Blinding You to Glory – “Have you ever felt cold towards the gospel? Have you heard that Christ died for your sins and was raised from the dead and just felt blah.”

The Pronouns Preach: Lessons on the Glory of the Church

The Pronouns Preach: Lessons on the Glory of the Church – “Diversity in the backgrounds of believers is something the church should aim for because it screams out praise to God.”

Tell Your Anxieties To Ask Permission

Tell Your Anxieties To Ask Permission – “What we need to both understand and practice is an active resistance to anxiety—an active resistance that will compel us to cast our cares upon the Lord.”

Surprising Reasons You Should Be More Intentional About Evangelism This Year

Surprising Reasons You Should Be More Intentional About Evangelism This Year – “Although fear in sharing the gospel is a reality most struggle with, studies show we have reasons for evangelism to be part of our conversations.”

The Mark of Church Health We Often Omit

The Mark of Church Health We Often Omit – “God always has a purpose in our suffering. He may use it to kill our sin and train us in godly love.”

 

Beneath the Mountain of Smoke: Recovering the Awe of Worship

Beneath the Mountain of Smoke: Recovering the Awe of Worship – “Like Israel, we draw near to a great God solely on his terms and within his boundaries — by his Spirit, in his truth, covered in Jesus’s atoning blood. Our worship, then, will be heavy with thanksgiving and happiness, with holy fear and wonder.”

Happiness: Good News Worth Sharing

Happiness: Good News Worth Sharing – “Jesus promised His disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.” 

The Keys and Key to Everything

The Keys and Key to Everything – For every trouble, fear, or pain – Jesus is and has the key.

How to Pray When the Prognosis Is Grim

How to Pray When the Prognosis Is Grim – “If God is sovereign, and he has allowed this illness, am I submitting to his will if I desire and ask for healing? If I ask for healing and it doesn’t come, at some point does my asking become discontent? Am I required to pray for healing? And what should I expect if I do?”

Christ Did Not Please Himself: The Joy of Bearing with Others’ Failings

Christ Did Not Please Himself: The Joy of Bearing with Others’ Failings – “Paul dignifies the pain and grief such differences of opinion can cause by bringing to them the greatest possible remedy and solace: Christ himself.”

 

A Prayer for Times of Controversy

A Prayer for Times of Controversy – “Richard Baxter, aware of his own sinfulness, penned a prayer meant to plead God’s help in times of controversy.”

 

Why Should I Forgive?

Why Should I Forgive? – “Forgiveness is necessary for us precisely because relationships are necessary and because sin—most especially the sin of pride—has made conflict and hurt within those relationships inevitable.”

 

Surviving the Winter of Suffering

Surviving the Winter of Suffering – Here is a testimony through a season of suffering.

Do Affections Provide Assurance?

Do Affections Provide Assurance? – “Where do you look for assurance of salvation? Or, to put it another way, what causes you to question your assurance?”

 

Productive Christians: Worth Imitating

Productive Christians: Worth Imitating – “The Apostle Paul sees his role as a minister of the gospel as connected to helping to raise up godly and productive citizens in the kingdom of God. This is his trade—and he wants to see it duplicated in the life of each and every Christian.”

Be of Good Cheer, Your Seasons Are In God’s Hands

Be of Good Cheer, Your Seasons Are In God’s Hands – “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”

Why Falling Religious Attendance Could Be Increasing Deaths of Despair

Why Falling Religious Attendance Could Be Increasing Deaths of Despair – “In America, attendance at religious services is falling and deaths of despair are increasing. Could the two trends be connected?”

Winning Your Child’s Heart with Winsome Words

Winning Your Child’s Heart with Winsome Words – “Sometimes, when we are using words to keep order and get things done, we lose sight of the power they possess.”

Is It Too Difficult For God?

Is It Too Difficult For God? – “Today, a string of unanswered prayers, like unleashed pop beads, ricochet through my memory. I find myself holding my breath, seeking visible miracles, or explanations, rather than gazing at the God of miracles.”

 

Teaching Kids to Pray: 6 Tips for Modeling a Prayer-Filled Life

Teaching Kids to Pray: 6 Tips for Modeling a Prayer-Filled Life

“Jesus Knows.”

“Jesus Knows.” – “The first three chapters of the Book of Revelation provide a stirring vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. He walks among His churches, His bride, and He addresses them directly.”

 

Why Every Day is Thanksgiving

Why Every Day is Thanksgiving – “Psalm 100:5 gives three reasons why every day is a day of thanksgiving.”

God Has Not Given You a Stone

God Has Not Given You a Stone – “No matter what it might seem like circumstantially, God is giving us the bread we need on a daily basis.”

Feeding our Longing

Feeding our Longing – “Have you ever felt like there was more to life than this? Known some sense of longing for the future?”

The Essential, but Easy to Miss Ingredient for Courage

The Essential, but Easy to Miss Ingredient for Courage – “God’s Word is an essential ingredient for courage. Christian courage. And it can also be overlooked if we think of courage only as an internal quality or relegate it to the level of risk-taking.”

Will God Provide for Your Needs?

Will God Provide for Your Needs? – “As God’s children, we too can have great confidence that he will care for our needs. Here are four ways to grow your trust in his faithful provision.”

Generous Patience

Generous Patience – “For humans to become what God made us to be requires one of the greatest generosities of all: the generosity of patience. What is patience but pure generosity?”

Say “Father”

Say “Father” – “The idea of a loving and protective father is not just important for children.  It is also important for all Christians.  In one well-known Bible passage, Jesus uses four words that should influence our lives every day.”

Four Tips for Communicating the Gospel to Roman Catholics

Four Tips for Communicating the Gospel to Roman Catholics – “Here are four tips which could be of some help in engaging Roman Catholics with the gospel. They are neither a four-step process nor a recipe for success. They are rather lessons that I have learned over the years in sharing the gospel with Roman Catholics.”

16 Questions about Heaven and the New Earth

16 Questions about Heaven and the New Earth – Randy Alcorn lists the questions and where they answers can be found in the video.

God Doesn’t Need Your Singing, but Your Neighbor Does

God Doesn’t Need Your Singing, but Your Neighbor Does – “Though we often conceive of corporate worship vertically, there’s a rich horizontal dimension too. Your neighbors need your church’s singing. Which neighbors? Consider four.”

Following God When You Feel Forsaken

Following God When You Feel Forsaken – “Sometimes it feels like God has forsaken us. We don’t hear his voice. We don’t feel his presence. We struggle even to see his hand at work in the world. We cry with the psalmist, ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?’.”

How to Keep Your Eyes on Christ

How to Keep Your Eyes on Christ – “You don’t have to work hard to go to hell; you just have to drift.”

It's All About The Center

It's All About The Center – “We put ourselves in the center, decide for ourselves what we want life to be like, and reduce God to little more than the delivery system for our catalog of self-oriented dreams.”

What If God Were Happy?

What If God Were Happy? – “We will be most satisfied in God when we know why God himself is most satisfied in God.”

“Teach Us To Pray” (And the Surprising Answer)

“Teach Us To Pray” (And the Surprising Answer) – “The point of his illustration is that friendship itself is the reason we can persist. The reason we can be so bold to knock on the door at midnight is that we know our rude behavior will not sever the relationship. We can continue to ask, seek, and knock because we know the heart of the one we are bothering. He’s our friend.” 

Answering the Challenge of Back-Alley Abortions

Answering the Challenge of Back-Alley Abortions – Here’s how to answer that challenge.