Grab bag

Some helpful articles from around the internet: Jon Bloom offers “Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart.” David Murray reminds us, “All things for good.” Sin too? All sin is evil. No sin is worth it. It’s always better that we not sin. However, sin is also part of the “all things” that God works together […]

The earth is the Lord’s

God, through Asaph, says in Psalm 50: “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.” […]

Good news the day before Christmas

No, the good news is not of a last minute sale with free delivery by Christmas morning. The good news is that there is rebellion against God and there will be increasing rebellion against God, but that rebellion does not mean that God is overwhelmed. To the contrary, the good news is that God is […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles I’ve recently read: Some Thanksgiving leftovers: Mark Talbot explains why even suffering is something for which we can praise God. Jerry Bridges reminds us that, “Paul said we’re to come to God “with thanksgiving.” We should thank Him for His past faithfulness in delivering us from troubles. We should thank Him for […]

The election is over. Now what?

Yesterday was election day. Today the election is over. And the results are (mostly) in. If your candidate or referendum won, then you likely are happy. If your candidate or referendum lost, then you likely will be tempted with sadness or discouragement or even despair. But for the believer in Christ, nothing has changed. Not […]

He’s sitting down

It is a regular temptation to overvalue certain possessions. When we drive a new vehicle off the car lot, we forget that within a few years, we will certainly be driving it back onto that lot with a certain measure of discontentment, seeking a new and better source of transportation. Similarly, we are prone to […]

Trusting God, redux

After a man and a woman say, “I do,” they often spend the next days and weeks dreaming of what life might be like in 50 or more years. When a husband and wife get pregnant, they not only spend hours tossing names back and forth at each other, testing them to see if they […]

Our God is in the heavens

In the summer of 1956, a group of people spent an afternoon waterskiing on Schroon Lake, NY, when they decided to go out one more time. Though tired from the activities of the day, Dawson Trotman (the founder of The Navigators) got back into the boat for one more ride. Also on the boat that […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week: Here are two helpful resources on Mormonism: Russell Moore writes how “How Christians Should Engage Latter-day Saints.” The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted a panel discussion on the topic, “The Mormon Moment? Religious Conviction and the 2012 Election” (audio | video) George Lawson writes that, “Reliable Source Reveals […]

All things are from Him…

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36; NASB) A few years ago, popular author John Gray (Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus) released a new book: How to Get What You Want and Want What You Have. His thesis? […]

The riches of God’s mercy

Is God unfair to condemn sinners to hell? Many people — even many members of many church denominations — will say, “Yes, that is unjust of God. How could God be less kind than me?…” Yet Paul answers very differently. In Romans 9, interacting with the question of theodicy — God’s righteousness is judging the […]

The Lord reigns

Meditating on Psalm 99:1 — “The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble…,” Charles Spurgeon wrote: The fact that “the Lord reigneth” is indisputable, and it is this fact that arises the utmost opposition in the unrenewed human heart. “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and […]

Trusting God

R. C. Sproul, Jr.’s post, “Breaking Hearts,” is a must read for anyone, particularly anyone who struggles to trust God in the everyday affairs of life (which is everyone). His wife died of cancer last year, leaving him as a single father to eight children. A sample… Five days ago, concerned over a radical increase […]

Free Kindle book — A Place of Healing

Joni Eareckson Tada’s book, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God’s Sovereignty is currently free in the Kindle format from Amazon. I’ve not yet read this book, but have heard the first chapter in audio format and was greatly encouraged by her approach to this topic. This should be […]

“Not My will…”

Last night as we read the account of Christ’s betrayal, crucifixion, and death at our Good Friday service, I was particularly struck by Christ’s willing submission to the will of the Father — a will that decreed that the Holy One take on sin and the attendant cup of God’s wrath. “My Father, if it […]