Bragging rights

It’s been called “the Me Monster” — the insatiable desire to exalt oneself and boast in one’s accomplishments. A toddler will say, “Watch me, Mommy.” A mom might say, “I just got my child’s report card today…” A businessman will say, “I just closed the deal I’ve been working on for six months…” A pastor […]

Spiritual fruit defined

As you think about the presence of spiritual fruit in your life, consider the following definitions of the various aspects of the fruit mentioned in Galatians 5. Is this the kind of fruit that is being produced in your life? LOVE DEFINED: “Love is the commitment of my will and affections to your needs and […]

Are you growing in fruitfulness?

Are you growing in spiritual fruitfulness? There are many questions that can be asked to evaluate one’s spiritual life. (Don Whitney’s book, Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health is a particularly helpful resource). But I ask this question because I think it encompasses many other questions that we might ask about the spiritual life, […]

The work of ministry

Many years ago, when I was a first-year seminary student, a retired pastor in our church cornered me in a hallway one day, and knowing I was preparing for vocational ministry, asked me, “why do you do what you do?” I was perplexed. He pressed in closer, both physically and metaphorically. “Why do you do […]

Four questions about sanctification

Not only is the means of our salvation — justification — essential, but so is the process of our salvation, called sanctification. If one asserts (as is true) that justification is only by faith in Christ, then so must our sanctification be by faith in Christ. Or to state the same truth in the opposite […]

Justification by faith is essential — three statements

Some things are worth fighting about. Some things are worthy dying to defend. Personal preferences aren’t worth defending (and more fits into that category than most of us would generally be willing to acknowledge). Some truths are worth defending — but not worthy dying to defend. So, while I believe that the Scriptures teach a […]

The gospel in miniature

Earlier this year, I preached a sermon entitled, “What is the Gospel?” In that message, I attempted to provide the essence of the gospel, explaining it with six words (grace, man, God, Christ, faith, hope), then one sentence (“Our sin is imputed to Christ and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us so that we can […]

Ministry realities

Every seminary student has a dream about what vocational ministry will be like. Every Sunday School, Awana, and VBS teacher has an ideal for what will constitute an effective class or ministry effort. Every missionary, pastor, and elder has at least a mental standard (and often a written standard) to evaluate the impact of a […]

The simple gospel

Ask the question, “What is the gospel?” (even in the church) and you will get almost as many answers to that question as there are people. There just does not seem to be much consensus on that question. In his book, What is the Gospel? Greg Gilbert recounts some of the more common responses to […]

Why worship God?

Some days the body awakens without a song in the heart. Some days the body is alive but the soul seems dead. Some days we hear a call to worship and our heart is cold. Perhaps we are in the midst of grief over a child’s death, or we are battling an unexpected and unrelenting […]

Life principles

Last fall, I preached a series of messages entitled, “Necessities of Life” — six truths every follower of Christ needs to believe and six activities ever Christian needs to do in order to thrive as a Christian. In James 1, the apostle has something of a similar list of principles that will transform and change […]

Peter was sleeping…

Christians are prone to talking much about prayer and praying too little. We have attend conferences on praying, we preach sermons about praying, and we read books about praying. We develop methods for keeping track of prayer requests (I now have an app on my phone to do that task) and we frequently tell our […]

Little Christs

Several years ago, Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, offered WGN Chicago Radio sports-talk host David Kaplan $50,000 to change his name legally to “Dallas Maverick.” When Kaplan politely declined, Cuban sweetened the offer. Cuban would pay Kaplan $100,000 and donate $100,000 to Kaplan’s favorite charity if he took the name for one […]

Desiring God

Do you desire God? The question is not, “is there some part of you that is somewhat inclined to God?” And it is not, “Were you passionate to know God at one time?” And it is not, “Do you read much about God and spend much time in church and have many friends who are […]

Witnesses of the gospel

Jesus’ last command to the disciples also was a commission — “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) The disciples would go to […]