Lloyd-Jones on emotions and happiness

To finish reading Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ classic work, Spiritual Depression, I am trying to read a couple chapters a week in conjunction with my morning devotional time. In my reading this morning, he wrote this (I don’t agree with all of what he says, but the focus on making Christ the object of our affections when […]

Sunday Leftovers (5/18/08)

What does it mean that God is a righteous judge? John Piper offers this explanation: God’s righteousness is essentially his unswerving allegiance to his own name and his own glory. God is righteous to the degree that he upholds and displays the honor of his name. He is righteous when he values most what is […]

California Supreme Court Decision on Homosexuality

Yesterday the California Supreme Court made a decision to legalize gay marriages. The chief justice of the court, Ron George, wrote in the majority opinion, “In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and […]

Missions and children

Do you ever wonder how to stimulate your children (or yourself) to a greater love for missions? A few weeks ago, Desiring God offered a list of 10 ways to help kids love missions. [These ideas might work for adults, too.] Here is the list, without the additional notes of explanation: 1. Pray for missionaries […]

Sunday Leftovers (5/11/08)

A few thoughts about various items in Sunday’s sermon — Ransom is release from sin. And I need release from sin (though you and I are both want to admit it). In a recent blog post on Desiring God, Abraham Piper helped me think clearly about this issue. We usually think ourselves to be more […]

A few verses on the sacrifice of Christ

Here is the list of verses that I came up with from the Gospels that either directly stated or implied the sacrificial work of Christ (these are the verses that were the foundation for yesterday’s message): Matthew 16:21ff Matthew 17:9-12 Matthew 26:26-29 Luke 2:34-35 Luke 17:31 Luke 22:37 Luke 23:15 Luke 23:28 Luke 24:6ff, 26ff […]

Audio on the cross

I have recently come across several audio sermons that deal with themes related to the cross that I have found exceedingly helpful and encouraging. At the recent Together for the Gospel conference, virtually all the speakers dealt with topics related to the cross and the atonement; I found particularly helpful the messages by Al Mohler, […]

Sunday Leftovers (5/4/08)

Since I didn’t quite finish my sermon, here are a couple of thoughts that remain in my mind from this great passage: What is interesting to note is that not only does the NT picture Christ as the lamb sacrificed, but also as the priest who offers Himself as that sacrifice (Heb. 9:10ff). It is […]

Sunday Leftovers (4/27/08)

As I mentioned in my message, I have long been struck by the repeated emphasis on the necessity of Christ’s death. He had to go to the cross. It was not optional. Why is it important to stress the necessity of the cross? Because there is a connection between what we believe about the cross […]

Sunday Leftovers (4/20/08)

Since Sunday morning, I’ve been thinking more about my message and the implications of sin and salvation on our spiritual life. I’ve even listened to the sermon again myself. Did I say what I wanted to say, the way I wanted to say it? I was intentional in attempting to front-load the sermon with a […]

Sabbatical Reflections

I have a bachelor’s degree in print journalism and I always have considered it a good thing to have a little newspaper ink on my hands each day. Yet I have also long had the conviction that newspapers are often a poor source for evaluating the relative importance of any given story or event because […]

Shepherds’ Conference Live Stream

Tomorrow a number of men from our church will be leaving to attend the Shepherds’ Conference at Grace Community Church in California. Registration recently closed, but it is still possible to “attend” the conference via live streaming. Details for how to avail yourself of that ministry (free of charge!) is below (taken from an email […]

A Man’s Man

What are the characteristics of a man in leadership? What does a man who is really a man look like? Generally, we look to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 to consider that answer, yet 1 Cor. 16 also offers several qualities of the godly man (in leadership). We know that Paul is talking about […]

A good sermon…

What is the basic assumption of the God-honoring pastor as he begins to preach, and the God-honoring hearers as they actively listen to that same sermon? In other words, what is the intention of the pastor in delivering his sermon? Alistair Begg answers, in his sermon, “The Pulpit: It’s Power and Pitfalls:” From the pulpit […]

Book Review: Uprooting Anger

“Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity”(Eph. 4:26-27; NASB). This pair of verses is familiar. Very familiar. To parents (who use the verses in exhorting their children). And husbands and wives (who use them to attempt to […]