Free audio book — Don’t Waste Your Sports

For the next week, C. J. Mahaney’s booklet, Don’t Waste Your Sports, is available for free as an audio book at Christian Audio.

A worthy life

A few years ago, Dennis needed to some same-day cleaning for some clothes that were necessary for a trip he was taking. Then he remembered a store on the other side of his hometown of Katy, TX — “One-Hour Dry Cleaners.” So he gladly made the out-of-the way trek to the cleaning company and as […]

Our God is in the heavens

In the summer of 1956, a group of people spent an afternoon waterskiing on Schroon Lake, NY, when they decided to go out one more time. Though tired from the activities of the day, Dawson Trotman (the founder of The Navigators) got back into the boat for one more ride. Also on the boat that […]

Father, How Sweet

This week I’ve been thinking about the gift of our salvation, summed up in such simple words as “He saved us” (Titus 3:5). It was God’s kindness, love, and mercy that produced our salvation. We repeat those kinds of words frequently, but do we meditate on them and allow the weightiness of them to rest […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week: Here are two helpful resources on Mormonism: Russell Moore writes how “How Christians Should Engage Latter-day Saints.” The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary hosted a panel discussion on the topic, “The Mormon Moment? Religious Conviction and the 2012 Election” (audio | video) George Lawson writes that, “Reliable Source Reveals […]

He is able

A well-known Christian chorus says: He is able, more than able to accomplish what concerns me today He is able, more than able to handle anything that comes my way He is able, more than able to do much more than I could ever dream He is able, more than able to make me what […]

“But God…”

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 […]

Kindle book sale: The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards

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, […]

A summary of Ephesians 1:3

Having 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 […]

The blessings of God

When 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 […]

Keep the gospel complicated

Randy 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 […]

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 […]