The nature of unbelief

A believer in Christ might assume that anyone who truly understands the nature of the gospel would want the gospel. “Why wouldn’t they believe?” we might wonder. Yet they don’t all believe. Even when we assume that they will and should, they do not believe. A clear, but often overlooked illustration of this is in […]

They were brought safely to land

“…they were brought safely to land” (Acts 27:44). It sounds so tame and calm and serene. Sure, there had been a storm and a ship had broken up and people were forced to swim and hold on to scattered planks and other assorted flotation devices to make it to shore, but the understated declaration, “they […]

Is the psalmist a prosperity theologian?

This post is a republication of a post from August 25, 2011; the post that day dealt with Psalm 112, which is one of the psalms in our Scripture reading this morning, and I don’t think I can say anything better about the psalm today than I did a year ago. Every preacher has them: […]

When children die while serving the Lord

How do you respond when your child precedes you in death? And what do you say when they die in a vicious act of martyrdom. The father of John Stam give an example when he wrote a letter after his son and daughter-in-law were martyred in China in 1934. Our dear children, John Stam and […]

The Heart of Sinful Anger

[Be sure to watch to the end, where Powlison draws a helpful distinction between sinful and righteous anger.] For more on this topic see — David Powlison, booklet, Anger: Escaping the Maze David Powlison, booklet, You Make Me So Mad! Managing Your Anger Robert Jones, book, Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem HT: […]

What’s your message?

A message. Every commercial has one. So does every television show, movie, book, and website. All sermons have them, and so does every conversation. Some messages are obviously better and more clear than others, but every form of communication is given to convey a message. This is true of gospel conversations as well. When we […]

When unrighteously accused

As Peter notes, when a believer sins and is accused of that sin and suffers for that sin, he is not to be considered patient for enduring that sin — he has suffered what is just (1 Pt. 2:20a). But what about when one suffers unjustly? What if accusations are made against us that are […]

Two more thoughts about the conscience

Following this morning’s post on clearing our conscience, here are two further considerations: Kris Lundgaard, in his excellent book The Enemy Within (still available for only $2.99 on Kindle) writes: The wisdom of the believer is to learn to listen to the voice of the Spirit’s resistance, no matter how faintly it may echo in […]

Cultivating a clear conscience

Everyone has one, but not everyone uses it. Some are transformed by it, some ignore it, and some kill it. But everyone has it — a conscience. What is this thing that everyone knows, some acknowledge, some follow, and some pervert? Jerry White describes the conscience as “that part of every person which, willingly or […]

Book Review: Counseling the Hard Cases

Title: Counseling the Hard Cases: True Stories Illustrating the Sufficiency of God’s Resources in Scripture Editors: Stuart Scott and Heath Lambert Publisher: B&H, 2012; 318 pp. $32.99 Recommendation (4-star scale): I’ve been pastoring for over two decades. I have a deep appreciation for my seminary training and the churches in which I was raised, both […]

Courage for the hard things

Late in his ministry, the apostle Paul had been told by the Lord that he was to go to Jerusalem and that when he got there he would be imprisoned and suffer a variety of trials (cf. Acts 20:23). And Paul received confirmation of his impending suffering from others (cf. 21:4, 11). And while he […]

The kinds of men God saves

Jeremiah said that, “the heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (17:9). That statement affirms the doctrine of depravity — a man’s heart might desire sin far worse and far more than one can conceive. Depravity does not mean that a man sins as much as he […]

Christ is all

Meditating on Psalm 110 (the most-quoted OT passage by the NT — see Mt. 22:44; 26:64; Mk. 14:62; Lk. 20:42-43; 22:69; Acts 2:34-35; Heb. 1:13), Charles Spurgeon wrote of our Savior: Give me Christ, and I have no desire for anything beyond him, for Christ is all. Whatever of good we may wish for, it […]

God is good. Always.

“…it doesn’t compute, it doesn’t make sense. It’s not explainable. I don’t understand how a baby dying can be good. I don’t understand it, but I accept it…but I know that if it were better, if it would bring God more glory, or if it would be better for us if she were here, that […]

Friday Funny: Did you read it?

I know nothing about this show. My only awareness of it is through this clip from YouTube. But it is in my top two favorite internet videos (the other one is Bob Newhart’s counseling method). What makes this so good is that along with the humor it also makes an important point about our reading […]