How is Your Hearing?

“How is Your Hearing?”Luke 8:4-15October 12, 2025 One of the phrases a parent uses most often is “listen to me…” Parents use that phrase with distracted three-year-olds and impatient 17-year-olds. They use it when they are teaching, when they are correcting, when they are encouraging, and when they are warning. It’s a useful, and well-used, […]

The Kinds of People the Son of Man Saves and Uses

“The Kinds of People the Son of Man Saves and Uses”Luke 8:1-3September 28, 2025 One of my favorite sections in the Bible is Deuteronomy 7:7-8 — “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of […]

God’s Worthless Shepherd

God’s Worthless Shepherd Zechariah 11:5-17July 9, 2023 I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to know from year to year what I should and shouldn’t eat — what’s good for me and what’s bad for me? High fat? Low fat? Eggs or no eggs? Carbs or no carbs? Meat? Vegetarian? Or vegan? A […]

When the Shepherd is Rejected

When the Shepherd is RejectedZechariah 11:7-14June 25, 2023 Everything seemed to go poorly for Israel. Way back in her history after Solomon died there was political maneuvering for the kingship of Israel and it led to strife, conflict, and a divided nation. It stayed that way for centuries. There were even battles between the northern […]

God’s Compassion and the Danger of Rejecting the Shepherd

God’s Compassion and the Danger of Rejecting the ShepherdZechariah 11:1-6June 18, 2023 A few years ago, a photographer accumulated several photos of some of the most famous places in the world that he had visited. Some of you might have been to some of these places as well — do you remember them the way […]

God, Our Strength

God, Our StrengthZechariah 10:6-12June 11, 2023 Many years ago, a despondent looking Charlie Brown lamented to his friend Lucy, “I feel inferior.” Lucy hopefully responds, “Oh, you shouldn’t worry about that. Lots of people feel that way.” “What, that they’re inferior?” Charlie asks, feeling somewhat encouraged. “No — that you’re inferior.” In one of […]

The Bad Shepherds

The Bad ShepherdsZechariah 10:1-5June 4, 2023 One of the beauties of Scripture is that it takes a transcendent, infinite, unknowable God and reveals Him to us not only so that we can know Him, but that we can understand Him. One way the Bible does that is by taking things that we know and […]

Ecclesiology matters

In the past two months I have heard several allegations (some public and some private) about pastors who have plagiarized sermons. The allegations also appear to be much more than allegations; some of the video evidence I’ve seen seems indisputable and indefensible. I don’t know what motivates a pastor to take sermons that do not […]

Five reasons to submit to government

Submission isn’t easy. It isn’t easy for children to submit to parents. Or students to teachers. Or slaves to masters (or employees to employers). Or wives to husbands. Or church members to elders. And it’s not easy for citizens to submit to governing authorities. In 2021, it seems especially true that it is hard for […]

When we sin in terrible ways

I did not know Ravi Zacharias. I certainly knew of him and I have a couple of his books on apologetics, though I never read them. I never attended a conference where he spoke, though I have had conversations with several people who were helped by his ministry of speaking and writing. I heard of […]

Sermon: God’s Shepherding Care for His People

God’s Shepherding Care for His People 1 Peter 5:1-4 January 19, 2020 My grandfather was a farmer. He emigrated to Canada from Russia in the early 1920s and was a very successful farmer. As a young boy, I remember going out to the fields with him on his tractor and picking up rocks and other […]

The Counselor’s Hidden Life of Shame

This article first appeared in a post at The Center for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship. We like to hide. From playing peek-a-boo as an infant to hide-and-seek as a child. From that game the child learns there is a reward for being hidden. As adolescents and teenagers, more hiding ensues. If the teen is a […]

Nehemiah, the Leader

Nehemiah is recognized by most commentators as an example of extraordinary leadership. And the biblical book that bears his name is often mined for principles of leadership. And it might be tempting to suppose that Nehemiah was blessed with unique circumstances that made it easy to lead — he held a high and privileged position […]

A character test

Robert Wilson, in his book Character Above All seeks to answer one fundamental question: “What is the relationship between the President’s character and presidential leadership?” He asks the question because it is his observation that as a group, the American people “‘started out such good people. What happened to us?’…Our political process does reflect us, […]

David, the Shepherd

Spurgeon’s comments about David, from Psalm 78:72 — So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart. David was upright before God, and never swerved in heart from the obedient worship of Jehovah. Whatever faults he had, he was unfeignedly sincere in his allegiance to Israel’s superior king; he shepherded for God with […]