Sunday Leftovers (2/18/07)

People are clueless about Christ (if they are unbelievers) and the power of Christ in their daily activities (if they are believers) because they do not want Him to intrude on their lives. They want trivial happinesses and self-indulgent pleasures (and lack of pain) without the transforming work of Christ in their hearts. Jesus said […]

I like leftovers…

I like leftovers. It hasn’t always been that way. Mom always had a meal schedule. I don’t remember exactly how it went, but it was something like, Sunday is turkey legs, Monday is chicken, Tuesday is pork, Wednesday is ground beef, and so on. And periodically there would be a surprise “clean out the refrigerator […]

Sunday Leftovers (2/11/07)

Proximity to Christ does not guarantee faith in Christ. This was the reality of the half-brothers of Jesus prior to His resurrection (though they later trusted in Him; cf. Gal. 1:19; Jude 1). It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, how they could be so close to Christ — seeing His lack of sin day after […]

Sunday Leftovers (2/4/07)

A comment made by David Wells in his book God in the Wasteland resonates in my mind as I think about discipleship and the state of the church: “God rests too lightly — too inconsequentially on His church.” That is, too many believers follow God too superficially. And too often, He is followed weakly because […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/28/07)

The cartoon character Broom Hilda once lamented, “I’ve searched all my life for the key to happiness. “I found the key to happiness once…” “The next day someone changed the locks.” Even believers are not immune to such thinking. We believe that we have found the key to happiness, and then realize that what we […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/21/07 )

One of the great (and often over-looked) truths about salvation is that God draws (compels) men to believe. This action originates with the Father’s eternal plan (Jn. 6:44; Eph. 1:3-6), but it also includes the resurrecting work of Christ as the means by which salvation is fulfilled (Jn. 6:39, 40, 44, 54) and the revealing […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/14/07)

It has been said that “the trouble with life is that it’s so daily.” Most of us identify well with that statement. Daily-ness is not only the trouble with life; it is also the “trouble” with the spiritual life (it’s what makes the spiritual life difficult). We desire a sanctification that is instant and complete, […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/7/07 )

“Sanctification” has the basic meaning of being set apart or dedicated to God on the basis of the atoning work of Christ. While God sees believers in Christ as being fully righteous (2 Cor. 5:21), sanctification most often refers to the process of the believer progressively working out his salvation so that he is increasingly […]

Sunday Leftovers (12/24/06)

Jesus is difficult to believe and hard to follow. It is for good reason that He says, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that […]

Sunday Leftovers (12/10/06)

On Sunday I said that following Christ is hard because Christ is a King who “inconveniences” His children with various demands. And one of the things He demands is obedience. Now you might ask, “Just how is obedience an inconvenience?” Obedience is an “inconvenience” because it requires submission and transformation. Many will take Christ as […]

Sunday Leftovers (12/3/06)

“Christianity is everywhere in our culture, and yet Christ is so hard to find. We have an institutional Christ, a social Christ, a popular Christ, and a cultural Christ. Where is the Lord Jesus Christ?” asks writer and musician John Fischer. It’s a perceptive question for a church culture where the supremacy of Christ is […]

Sunday Leftovers (11/12/06)

While the reality of indwelling sin in the life of the believer is known by most believers, Calvin was right when he said “No one knows the one-hundredth par of the sin that clings to his soul.” When just external activity is considered, disobedience and sin may seem superficial and peripheral. Yet when the activity […]

Sunday Leftovers (11/5/06)

The truth that a believer may have assurance and confidence in his salvation is rooted in the work of Christ. The believer’s confidence is not in being able to keep himself, but in the power of God and the sufficiency of Christ to keep him. This is why it is essential that the believer keep […]

Sunday Leftovers (10/29/06)

Those who are saved are saved eternally by the work of the eternal Godhead on their behalf. What does each member of the Godhead do for believers in Christ? [This list is nowhere near exhaustive, but it is a good starting point.] The work of the Father to secure you He has sovereign purposes and […]

Sunday Leftovers (10/22/06)

The supreme gift given by the Father to the Son is a redeemed people that will eternally glorify and delight in the Son. That means that we who are saved are God’s great gift to His Son. And those whom the Father has given to the Son not only will not be lost by the […]