Sermon: A Tale of Two Men (Pt. 2)

“A Tale of Two Men, and the Long History of Sin” Pt. 2 Romans 5:13-14 September 17, 2017 How long? Don’t you wonder sometimes how long it will take to get something completed? How long will it take to finish the road work on 377 through Benbrook? How many more years can a nine-month pregnancy […]

Sermon: A Tale of Two Men (Pt. 1)

“A Tale of Two Men, and the Sad Story of Sin’s Origin” Pt. 1 Romans 5:12 September 10, 2017 If you read the news most days, you will find many stories that are filled with tragedy and senselessness that inevitably leads us to ask, “why?” Why does a man drink alcohol and then get behind […]

Grab bag

“A Stunning Scale of Our Solar System, Drawn in the Dessert.” Then read Genesis 1 and Psalm 8. I’ve not seen the movie, “The Risen,” but here is a review that appears to be quite helpful. Samuel James posted “Some Thoughts on Christians, Movies, and Nudity.” And then some more thoughts. These are helpful and […]

Is your gospel too small?

A gospel which is only about the moment of conversion but does not extend to every moment of life in Christ is too small. A gospel that gets your sins forgiven but offers no power for transformation is too small. A gospel that isolates one of the benefits of union with Christ and ignores all […]

A prayer for Christlikeness

When we don’t know how to pray for ourselves or when we don’t pray for ourselves, listening to and reading the prayers of other can sometimes stimulate us to pray with greater wisdom and effectiveness. So this morning, read this prayer from Henry Scougal (The Life of God in the Soul of Man) who desires […]

Book Summary: The Practice of Godliness

Jerry Bridges has been one of the most influential writers on the topic of sanctification in this last generation. Here is a summary of one of his most-read books, The Practice of Godliness: CHAPTER 1 — VALUE FOR ALL THINGS (1 Tim. 4:8) • Devotion in Action: Enoch (Gen. 5:21-24) • Focused on God — […]

Sin in the believer

John Murray: “There must be a constant and increasing appreciation that though sin still remains it does not have the mastery. There is a total difference between surviving sin and reigning sin, the regenerate in conflict with sin and the unregenerate complacent to sin. It is one thing for sin to live in us: it […]

It happens every day

It happened every fall. I worked as a pool cleaner while in seminary and as soon as the weather got too cool to swim, to save a couple of dollars, a few customers would request to have their pools covered and winterized and their service discontinued until the spring. We would show up to do […]

Sin is not master

John Murray, Redemption, Accomplished and Applied: There must be a constant and increasing appreciation that though sin still remains it does not have the mastery. There is a total difference between surviving sin and reigning sin, the regenerate in conflict with sin and the unregenerate complacent to sin. It is one thing for sin to […]

Sunday Leftovers: First John and sanctification

Reading 1 John has often created questions for believers about the security of their eternal life, because of what John seems to be saying about sin — e.g., “No one who abides in Him [Christ] sins…” (3:6). Yet every believer still knows the reality of sin in his life, so too often people think something […]

Sanctified affliction

From “Of First Importance:” Sanctified affliction teaches the soul its utter destitution. The believer often commences his spiritual journey with shallow and defective views of the perfect fitness and glory of the Redeemer’s justifying righteousness. There is, we admit, a degree of self-renunciation, there is a reception of Christ, and there is some sweet and […]

An unusual commendation?

We all like to be complimented. We identify with the boy who said to his father, “Dad, let’s play darts. I’ll throw. And you say, ‘great shot!’” We want people to say we’ve done a job well, that we look good for our age, that it looks like we’ve lost a few pounds, that our […]

Remember?

Ask a disobedient child or a wayward teen, “Do you remember when I told you…?” and you are sure to get “No” for a response. Imagine a boss training a new employee: “This is the most important thing you will do each day. Remember to…” Listen in to a conversation between two retired men talking […]

GBC Book of the month: The Hole in Our Holiness

The book of the month (available both in our bookstore and library) for our church is Kevin DeYoung’s new work, The Hole in Our Holiness. I was first attracted to this book after listening to the address DeYoung gave at Together for the Gospel this year, “Spirit-Powered, Gospel-Driven, Faith-Fueled Effort” (audio download here). I found […]

When God changes a man, he lives to please the Lord

It took 38 years of watching the Texas Rangers, but a couple of years ago I finally heard the words that every baseball fan loves to hear about his team: “The Rangers are going to the World Series.” I wanted to hear that so much, I’ve actually made it my ring tone on my cell […]