Bible Reading Plans for 2021

Every day I make plans for what I will eat that day; rare is the day when I don’t get three meals (with an occasional snack or two along the way) and an adequate amount of caffeine and liquids. I am dependent on food and water, so I make plans to take it in regularly. […]

Another (timely) reminder to read our Bibles

J. C. Ryle wrote this more than a century ago; but its truth was a timely reminder for my soul today. We not only need to read our Bibles, but we need to arm ourselves with the Bible: You live in a world where your soul is in constant danger. Enemies are round you on […]

Bible Reading in 2020

The Bible is the instrument of transformation in the life of the believer. Jesus asked His Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (Jn. 17:17). When the believer is transformed, it is because of and through the Scriptures being used by the Spirit of God in his life. The Spirit of God […]

When Scripture speaks

The Apostle Paul is fond of quoting from the Old Testament — particularly in the book of Romans. In that theological treatise, the apostle quotes the Old Testament directly over 60 times. And over half those quotations appear in three chapters — Romans 9-11. As Paul lays the foundation for God’s sovereignty in salvation in […]

2019 Bible Reading Plans

It’s almost New Year’s Day. And New Year’s Day means new resolutions to live a re-newed kind of way in the coming year. And there is no resolution (and no new habit actually practiced) that will benefit you more than regularly immersing yourself in Scripture to expose your heart to God’s revelation so that you […]

Sermon: The Eternally Faithful Word of God

The Eternally Faithful Word of God Psalm 119:89-96 July 15, 2018 We are now six months into the New Year. The New Year is not so new anymore. It’s not even a teenager. It’s hit the doldrums of the middle age years. In case you haven’t noticed, we are closer to next Christmas than last […]

Reading your Bible in 2018

The spiritual life is not complicated. It can be difficult, but it’s not complicated. Growth in the spiritual life and development in Christlikeness happens as we take in God’s Word and then apply that Word. And taking in God’s Word begins with reading it, then studying it, meditating on it, memorizing it, and finally applying […]

Life’s Questions and God’s Word

“Life’s Questions and God’s Word” Psalm 119:81-88 December 31, 2017 It’s hard to think about Americans being persecuted for their faith for two reasons: While our country was founded largely for a pursuit of religious freedom, that very pursuit of religious freedom has largely kept believers from being persecuted for our faith since that time. […]

Read your Bible in 2017

A new year will be upon us in two short weeks. And you may already be thinking about how you want to increase your Bible intake — reading, study, and memorization — in the new year. As we do every year, we are publishing several Bible reading plans for 2017. Our church will be following […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles I’ve bookmarked: Monday is Reformation Day — the 499th anniversary of the day that Martin Luther posted his theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Here are 10 things you should know about the Reformation. Andy Naselli and J. D. Crowley wrote an excellent book on the conscience. Now […]

I am contented

A traveler was making his way down a little-used back road in Oregon when his need for gasoline drew him to a run-down service station. The owner sat outside, absorbed in the view of the wilderness that lay before him. After filling the tank, making a couple of half-interested swipes at the dirty windshield, and […]

Finished growing? Not yet.

During a dinner party conversation, the neighbor of Albert Einstein asked the white-haired physicist, “What are you actually, by profession?” “I devote myself to the study of physics,” replied Einstein. The girl was astonished: “You mean to say that you study physics at your age? I finished mine a year ago!” What that poor young […]

God’s wisdom and the cross

He was just another New York City drunk. Found in a Bowery flophouse naked and with a deep gash in his throat, he was taken to the hospital where he languished for three days, unable to eat. He had lived to drink, and now he had died by the drink. A friend found him in […]

He is faithful

My wife and I had been married only a few days when we moved into our first home — a 50-year-old, 600-square-foot, unfurnished apartment. We had just finished unloading all of our worldly possessions from a single 4-foot by 6-foot trailer when our new neighbors came to invite us to dinner. The initial conversation went […]

Believing the Bible

Every Sunday morning, hundreds of thousands of Christians gather together for worship and they hear the Word of God preached. Morning and evening and times in between on each day, millions of believers open their Bibles and read what God has said. Throughout each week, followers of Christ meet with one another and exhort one […]