Music worth a listen

I don’t often purchase new music — most of what I buy was written 200 (or more) years ago. And I rarely make musical suggestions to others. But the other day I found a reference to some new music, and on a whim, listened to some excerpts and then made a purchase. In the album, […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/28/07)

The cartoon character Broom Hilda once lamented, “I’ve searched all my life for the key to happiness. “I found the key to happiness once…” “The next day someone changed the locks.” Even believers are not immune to such thinking. We believe that we have found the key to happiness, and then realize that what we […]

Must reading

If you read one thing on the Internet today or this week or this month, let it be this morning’s commentary by Al Mohler, “The Scary Logic of Peter Singer.” The topic of bioethics and eugenics may not be a favorite of yours, but as believers, we must be informed about how the culture thinks […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/21/07 )

One of the great (and often over-looked) truths about salvation is that God draws (compels) men to believe. This action originates with the Father’s eternal plan (Jn. 6:44; Eph. 1:3-6), but it also includes the resurrecting work of Christ as the means by which salvation is fulfilled (Jn. 6:39, 40, 44, 54) and the revealing […]

Lessons learned in a crisis

Yesterday morning I made that statement that James 1 is a difficult passage for us to comprehend (and apply) because it is so contrary to the fleshly response when trials occur. In addition to the eternal help we receive from God’s Word, God also provides us with godly people who respond to trial in God-exalting […]

A prayer for a lack of prayer

This is from Adolphe Monod’s book, Living in the Hope of Glory. It is a fitting preparation for our worship for Sunday, and for our preparation of our service today (and any day): My God, forgive the way in which your church, which alone in the world knows enough to pray, does pray. Forgive the […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/14/07)

It has been said that “the trouble with life is that it’s so daily.” Most of us identify well with that statement. Daily-ness is not only the trouble with life; it is also the “trouble” with the spiritual life (it’s what makes the spiritual life difficult). We desire a sanctification that is instant and complete, […]

The Cost of Obedience

Oswald Chambers makes a surprising and perceptive (and true) statement about the cost of obedience in this morning’s devotional. If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost […]

The darkness of depression — a help

John Piper has long said that he has written only one book — Desiring God — all the other books he’s written are merely expansions and explanations of that book. That is particularly true of the book When I Don’t Desire God, which became one of my most favorite books by Piper after I read […]

Owens on Temptation

After Sunday’s message I was moderately rebuked for not listing John Owen’s works on sin, particularly On the Mortification of Sin in my resources. So here they are: John Owens, Of the Mortification of Sin — this edition includes the classic introduction by J. I. Packer. Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor, Overcoming Sin and Temptation: […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/7/07 )

“Sanctification” has the basic meaning of being set apart or dedicated to God on the basis of the atoning work of Christ. While God sees believers in Christ as being fully righteous (2 Cor. 5:21), sanctification most often refers to the process of the believer progressively working out his salvation so that he is increasingly […]

A good word about the Word

I came across this statement about the authority of Scripture in my devotional reading this morning: I declare, as though before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, where I expect soon to appear, my unshakable conviction that when Scripture speaks, God speaks.…When Scripture speaks, God speaks. When Scripture proclaims God’s will or the way of […]

Resolved…

‘Tis the season for making resolutions and setting goals. Perhaps you’ve already established your course for the year, or perhaps your resolution for 2008 is to make your resolutions before the new year has begun! Perhaps you haven’t set any goals for the coming year because your experience with goal setting is an overwhelming sense […]

How People Change

Yesterday I began reading How People Change by Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp. If the first chapter is indicative of the rest of the book, it should be a very helpful book. For instance, “if we do not live with a gospel-shaped, Christ-confident, and change-committed Christianity, that hole will get filled with other things.” What […]

Sunday Leftovers (12/24/06)

Jesus is difficult to believe and hard to follow. It is for good reason that He says, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that […]