Author and professor John Patrick suggests that there are nine questions that every person must answer — Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? How do I come to terms with death? How do I make sense of suffering? How can I possibly believe in justice? What can I […]
Read More “But God…”Amazon has Kindle version of Steve Lawson’s book, The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards on sale for only $0.99. This is a terrific deal on a really excellent book. As always, Kindle prices are subject to change quickly, so this is a deal worth getting immediately. (I already own and have read the hard copy, […]
Read More Kindle book sale: The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan EdwardsHaving given a more detailed explanation of the blessings of God in Ephesians 1:3 already this morning, here is a brief summary of the contents of that verse: Who has given blessing? God the Father. Who has received blessing? Us — believers. When will God bless us? He already has blessed us! With what has […]
Read More A summary of Ephesians 1:3When sharing the gospel, it is tempting to emphasize the “blessings” that come from being a Christian — we want to emphasize things like, “God will make your marriage better,” or “you’ll be a better parent and have better children,” or “God will provide everything you need — you’ll never lack for anything” (which is […]
Read More The blessings of GodRandy Newman argues that perhaps we have minimized and diminished the gospel in our attempts to simplify it. Perhaps we have distorted the richness and wonder of its complexities and transcendence and in doing so have kept unbelievers from seeing their need to fall in worship of God who is greater than their comprehension. Maybe […]
Read More Keep the gospel complicatedA 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 […]
Read More The nature of unbelief“…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 […]
Read More They were brought safely to landThis 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: […]
Read More Is the psalmist a prosperity theologian?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 […]
Read More When children die while serving the Lord[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: […]
Read More The Heart of Sinful AngerA 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 […]
Read More What’s your message?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 […]
Read More When unrighteously accusedFollowing 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 […]
Read More Two more thoughts about the conscienceEveryone 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 […]
Read More Cultivating a clear conscienceTitle: 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 […]
Read More Book Review: Counseling the Hard Cases
Words of Grace 