A new year of Bible reading

The spiritual life is simple, though it is not easy. It is simple in that the means to growing in Christ is not complicated; it is not easy in that the discipline required to apply God’s grace is difficult (discipline requires self-control, which is not natural for the natural man). So how does one grow […]

Trouble Arising Early to Pray?

Do you have trouble arising early in the morning to pray? This word of encouragement and exhortation from John Calvin is a good encouragement to continuance in the discipline of prayer: “Although we ought always to raise our minds upwards towards God, and pray without ceasing, yet such is our weakness, which requires to be […]

Sunday Leftovers (4/22/07)

On the priority of a personal walk with God — If you are unhappy and discontent or even angry with God, it is the fruit of a heart that has fed too lightly and too little at the table of God — you have learned to be happy with things that cannot satisfy. Modern Christians […]

Family worship

It is a common occurrence that a man struggles with how to provide spiritual leadership to his wife and children. Why is that? Perhaps it is because — Laying aside all flattering words, I may say plainly that I regard the neglect of family worship as springing from lukewarmness and worldliness in religion. [J. W. […]

Resolved…

‘Tis the season for making resolutions and setting goals. Perhaps you’ve already established your course for the year, or perhaps your resolution for 2008 is to make your resolutions before the new year has begun! Perhaps you haven’t set any goals for the coming year because your experience with goal setting is an overwhelming sense […]