Evangelism and God’s sovereignty, part 2

Continuing yesterday’s quotation from J. I. Packer’s, Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God. Today’s quote centers on how God’s sovereignty relates to our duty to evangelize. The sovereignty of God in grace gives us our only hope of success in evangelism. Some fear that belief in the sovereign grace of God leads to the conclusion […]

Evangelism and God’s sovereignty, part 1

Last Sunday’s message was about what we do and what God does in evangelism. The best work on this subject is J. I. Packer’s book, Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God. The last chapter of the book ties together the two themes of our work and God’s work in the process of evangelism. The entire […]

Free audiobook: Trusting God

This month’s free audio book from Christian Audio is Jerry Bridges’ book, Trusting God. This is a book I’ve recommended often and read and referred to multiple times for my own spiritual benefit. Download it at Christianaudio (No purchase necessary).

The mercy of sickness

Charles Spurgeon: There is no greater mercy that I know of on earth than good health except it be sickness; and that has often been a greater mercy to me than health. It is a good thing to be without a trouble; but it is a better thing to have a trouble, and know how […]

The world belongs to the Lord

That the world — all of it, in every sphere — belongs to the Lord was expressed well by Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper: “…there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” Of course his assertion was preceded […]

What I wrote on 9/11/01

I wasn’t blogging in 2001. But I was writing an email devotional, and this is what I wrote the day after 9/11/01. “Enemy-occupied territory — that is what this world is.” So said C. S. Lewis nearly 50 years ago in Mere Christianity. Those words are haunting in their poignancy this morning, for as we […]

In My Seat

Here is an amazing story of God’s grace and sovereignty from 9/11/01, told by an American Airlines first office, who should have been on Flight 11 that day — the first flight that flew into one of the Twin Towers. (HT: Challies)

William Carey – expect great things from God

William Carey was the man who not only uttered the statement “expect great things from God, attempt great things for God,” but also with his life guided by that principle, launched much of what we know as the modern missions movement. (Interestingly, the sermon in which that statement was made is not in print anywhere, […]

Truths to believe when suffering

We are more inclined to believe and enjoy and be satisfied with God’s sovereignty when we are in favorable circumstances. But what about when circumstances seem to be against us, when we are in difficulty, suffering, and even persecution? What then? What will we believe and cling to then? What will be our joy then? […]

Sunday Leftovers (7/10/11)

One writer has observed about the tendency not only of our culture but even believers, “We are willing to worship God only if God makes us safe. Thus you get the silly question, ‘How does a good God let bad things happen to good people?’” Too many want God only for the safety and comfort […]

God is Infinite

When we speak of the attributes and nature of God, we are attempting to comprehend the incomprehensible. Finite beings have no categories for infinity as it relates to time (eternity), knowledge (omniscience), strength (omnipotence), space (omnipresence), morality (holiness and purity), authority (sovereignty), or anything else. Yet, the Lord has given us some ability to move […]

Sunday Leftovers (11/14/10)

When the Scriptures speak of the will of God, there are two possibilities in view — either the sovereign, decreed will of God by which He governs all the affairs of creation, or the moral will of God by which He reveals the commands of which are incumbent on all men to follow. And in […]

The secret things belong to God, so…

I came across this statement by Jonathan Edwards in my morning devotional reading today. It fits well with part of my message this coming Sunday morning on Eph. 5:17-18 — understanding what the will of the Lord is: Don’t perplex your mind with the secret decrees of God and particularly about the eternal decrees of […]

Book Review: A Sweet and Bitter Providence

Title: A Sweet and Bitter Providence: Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God Author: John Piper Publisher: Crossway Books, 2010; 160 pp. $17.99 (or you may download the entire book as a PDF or listen to the sermons this book was based on for free) Recommendation (4-star scale): Who hasn’t experienced trouble and trial in […]

Is knowing sovereignty an advantage?

Is it to our advantage to know that God is sovereign? And if so, what is that advantage? The Heidelberg Confession affirms that it is to our advantage. And then it answers what that advantage is — That we may be patient in adversity; thankful in prosperity; and that in all things, which may hereafter […]