Courage for the hard things

Late in his ministry, the apostle Paul had been told by the Lord that he was to go to Jerusalem and that when he got there he would be imprisoned and suffer a variety of trials (cf. Acts 20:23). And Paul received confirmation of his impending suffering from others (cf. 21:4, 11). And while he […]

Stand firm

In junior high I wasn’t much of a fighter. I was big, but conflict and fights were of no interest to me. However, junior high is a time when many boys/young men are interested in fighting as a means of demonstrating superiority, strength, and “manhood.” On one occasion, while walking home from school, I was […]

Are you fearful?

Are you fearful? We live in a time when many kinds of fears dominate many kinds of people. Fear of financial woes, fear of exams and school, fear of music, fear of the dark, fear of clowns, fear of heights, fear of death, fear of commitment, fear of being alone, fear of speaking in public, […]

Fearful?

What do you offer a man who is discouraged and hopeless? What do you offer someone whose world is shattered? What do you offer someone who has captured a glimpse into the future, and the fear of it is not startling, but terrifying in its deadliness? What did Jesus offer the disciples? On Thursday night […]

Do not be afraid

Just because something is easy to say does not mean it is easy to do. So it is easy for Jesus to say, “Your sins are forgiven.” It’s far more difficult to actually absolve one of the guilt before God that is incurred by sin, which was exactly Jesus’s point and claim in Mk. 2:5-12. […]

Do not fear

The first day of any new task inevitably arrives with a certain level of tension, anxiety, apprehension, or even fear, along with excitement and anticipation. So many school-age children have trouble eating the first day of each school year. And the first day of a new job, and the first day of marriage, and the […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles seen recently: John Newton, writing his troubled friend William Cowper, notes the hardness of the Christian life — and the grace of Christ: “For every day shows us some new thing in the heart, or some new turn in the management of the war against us which we were not aware of; […]

Cultivate fear

In his recent book, Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself, Joe Thorn exhorts himself (and us) to develop godly fear in place of worldly fear: What should you fear in life above a holy God who forgives the sins of unholy men like yourself? What can be taken from you? Your possessions […]

Something for every person

You have been a Christian for years. Ministry seemed intimidating at first, but you’ve been involved in your church for a number of years, you’ve volunteered in some civic organizations, and you have a fairly clear perspective on your spiritual giftedness and effectiveness. Ministry is much more natural now. Yet, while the patterns of life […]

Grab bag

This week I counted the number of open tabs in my web browser. It was over 40. Time for a Grab Bag, me thinks. Many more churches are being proactive in providing biblical counseling for their people and the community (check out the GBCM webpage and the GBC biblical counselor training page as examples). Capitol […]

Your soul’s best interest

Our Scripture reading this morning included some of Solomon’s counsel to his son — Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always. Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. (Prov. 23:17-18) There is a relationship, this wise father advises, between an […]

Why are you afraid?

The list of things that stimulate fear is long. Do a google search of phobias and you will find lists of dozens and even into the hundreds of fears (I found one list with 536 phobias) — including such things as aulophobia (fear of flutes), linonophobia (fear of strings), sinistrophobia (fear of things on the […]

Alone – with God

Jacob was where you and I may have been on occasion — alone (not only from friends, but from any form of hospitality), running from trouble, and the recipient of bad counsel (twice, and from his mother both times!). When he put down his head on a rock to sleep (a fitting demonstration not only […]

Are you scared?

I saw it in a headline a few days ago: “Scary economic times teach hard lessons about fiscal responsibility.” I’ve heard and overheard it in multiple ways since then, and even two or three different times today, “I know I shouldn’t be, but I’m afraid of (fill in the blank:) the economy, the presidential race, […]

Sunday Leftovers (6/22/08)

It is not unusual for me to leave out things from a sermon that I had originally intended to say. It is unusual that I intentionally leave out as much as I did Sunday. I not only left out a complete point, accounting for a full page of notes (out of about 3-1/2 pages total), […]