Treasure Hunting

For some children (ok, for some adults too), “Christmas season” is a code term for “hunting season” — as in “let’s hunt through all the closets and crevices in the house to find unwrapped Christmas presents. Even as a child, that was never my temptation. But one year I did find myself outside a store, […]

God knows

God knows… God knows the name of every star (and by extension, every heavenly body); He not only knows their names, but He named every star, solar system, galaxy, and universe. He numbers, names, and monitors each and every one (Ps. 147:4; Is. 40:26). God knows the average number of hairs on every head — […]

What a man needs to know

One writer recently compiled a list of “100 skills every man should know.” It’s an interesting list. The first 10 items on the list are: Tie a Necktie Build a Campfire Hang a Picture Shine Your Shoes Treat a Snakebite Read a Book Survive a Bear Attack Wet Shave Parallel Park Paddle a Canoe The […]

Let us labor for the knowledge of God

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Godly Man’s Picture. As we would prove ourselves to be godly, let us labour for this good knowledge of the Lord. What pains men will take for the achievement of natural knowledge! I […]

A godly man is a man of knowledge

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Godly Man’s Picture. It will be enquired in the next place, “Who is the godly man?” For the full answer to this I shall lay down several specific signs and characteristics of a […]

If only we had known

If only he had known. If only Dominican Republic native Apolinar Garcia had known the striped cat was not a striped cat but a polecat. He had no animosity in mind when he picked up the “cat,” but the cat misinterpreted his intentions. So Garcia, a pitcher for a minor league baseball team, not only […]

To know God

“…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” (Philippians 3:10; NASB) We live in the age of information explosion. More information has been generated in the last three decades than in the previous 5,000 years. Over 4,000 books are published every […]

God’s knowledge: a grace for sinners

Awareness of the knowledge of God is a preventative for sin. But God’s knowledge of us is also a grace to us, as Thomas Watson explains: The infiniteness of God’s knowledge is a comfort, in case the saints have not a clear knowledge of themselves. They find so much corruption, that they judge they have […]

God’s knowledge: a preventative for sin

Keeping out of sin sometimes sounds easier than it is. After a passionate sermon on Sunday morning, it might seem inconceivable that one would ever knowingly choose sin again. But after a series of offenses from a boss on Monday afternoon, sin might seem the only viable and rational response. How can we keep from […]

Another evidence that man is not God

The following report was in this morning’s newspaper: LOS ANGELES — Here’s a finding that may make some stargazers do a double take through their telescopes: There may be three times as many stars in the universe as we thought. Fixing this astronomical miscalculation may force some researchers to reconsider what far-off galaxies really look […]

On knowing Christ

Paul wanted to know Christ — even to the point of knowing the fellowship with Him that comes from suffering (Phil. 3:10). And Paul wanted his spiritual children to know Christ — that they would know the full confidence that is associated with the hope of His calling them to salvation (Eph. 1:19), and that […]

Today’s Quote – Knowing God (Packer)

J. I. Packer, Knowing God: Knowing God is more than knowing about Him; it is a matter of dealing with Him as He opens up to you, and being dealt with by Him as He takes knowledge of you. Knowing about Him is a necessary precondition of trusting Him, but the width of our knoweldge […]

Today’s Quote – Knowing God (Packer)

J. I. Packer, Knowing God: What were we made for? What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the “eternal life” that Jesus give? Knowledge of God. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). What […]

Head and heart

Fear of leaving the love of God might leave some thinking that the attention to doctrine practiced by the Ephesians is detrimental to a passionate, heart-filled following of Christ (I have a friend who leans in that direction). Yet, John Piper this week made “A Plea for Heart Devotions and Head Study.” It is a […]

Today’s Quote – Knowledge (Getz)

Gene Getz, Sharpening the Focus of the Church: Experience has demonstrated beyond doubt that knowing does not automatically lead to doing.…A Christian can know many things about God without sensing His greatness, His power, His riches, and His grace, without being moved by the marvel and wonder of it all.…In short, it is possible to […]