Treasure Hunting

For some children (ok, for some adults too), “Christmas season” is a code term for “hunting season” — as in “let’s hunt through all the closets and crevices in the house to find unwrapped Christmas presents. Even as a child, that was never my temptation. But one year I did find myself outside a store, […]

The Character of People who Equip the Saints

The Character of the People Who Equip the SaintsTitus 2:1-8November 26, 2023 When the Lord revealed His plan for leaders in the church, He did the opposite of what the world typically does — He called the church to identify leaders on the basis of character more than competency. Look at the lists in 1 […]

The People Who Equip the Saints

The People Who Equip the Saints1 Timothy 1:12-17November 19, 2023 Three years ago Chris Young was named as the General Manager of the Texas Rangers. At that time he talked to longtime Ranger broadcaster, Eric Nadel, and said something like, “We need you to stay our broadcaster because we are going to win a […]

The problems with false teaching

Alexander Strauch has written that “Motivated by Satan and his demonic forces, false teachers have been creating counterfeit gods and theologies from the dawn of human history.” Scripture certainly attests to that reality, beginning with the first false teacher, Satan, and his solitary pupil in Genesis 3. Intuitively, it seems a good idea to avoid […]

One Goal for Equipping the Saints

One Goal for Equipping the Saints1 Timothy 1:3-5November 12, 2023 I hate to rush right past Thanksgiving and Christmas, but in a few weeks you will be thinking about new goals for a new year. What kinds of things might you consider? One writer has some suggestions for you: Read less. It makes me think […]

Are You Now Being Perfected by the Flesh?

The sermon I preached for the ACBC National Conference in October, “Are You Now Being Perfected by the Flesh?” is now available on the ACBC website. The message is from Galatians 3:1-5 and focuses on the sufficiency of the Spirit to address every issue of life — and every issue that might arise in a […]

Four truths to remember in trials

To live in this world is to suffer. As Job noted, “For man is born for trouble, As sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). You know that. You know the suffering of broken cars, broken bodies, and broken relationships. And you feel the burden of that brokenness; sometimes it is heavy, other times lighter, but it […]

Thirteen Core Values

Thirteen Core Values for Equipping the SaintsSelected ScripturesNovember 5, 2023 When we train counselors and disciplers, we frequently talk about our motives — why do we do what we do? We understand that there is a connection between what is inside us and what we do — our inner man determines what we […]

In that Day…God Remembers

In That Day…God RemembersZechariahOctober 22, 2023 In his book, The Body: a Guide for Occupants, Bill Bryson tells us about our memories: Short-term memory is really short—no more than half a minute or so for things like addresses and phone numbers.…Most people’s short-term memory is pretty abysmal. Six random words or digits is about all […]

The Messiah’s Worshippers

The Messiah’s WorshippersZechariah 14:16-21October 15, 2023 Many years ago I took my first trip to Israel. The trip ended with several days in Jerusalem and I, like all the other visitors, was struck by the presence of armed military everywhere. In the markets, at the Wailing Wall, at the city gates, at the holy sites…it […]

The Holy Spirit and Biblical Counseling

Last week I preached at the annual conference for the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. My task was to address the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit from Galatians 3. I had more than a year to prepare the message. I regularly have too much material for a weekly sermon; having a year to prepare (even […]

What the Spirit has done (and does)

The Galatians overlooked and minimized the work of the Holy Spirit of God. They acknowledged that He was instrumental in their salvation, but they were determined to bypass His work for their ongoing sanctification — they believed that they were capable of sanctifying themselves without His efforts. The temptation that derailed their walk with Christ […]

The Messiah’s Victory

The Messiah’s VictoryZechariah 14:10-15September 24, 2023 One husband was complaining to his wife about their children, wondering if they would ever grow up. Saying, “Just a moment,” his wife pulled out a worn box that contained a frayed, yellowing diary — her diary from the year 1945. She read this entry from a particularly bad […]

The Messiah’s Return (Pt. 2)

The Messiah’s Return (Pt. 2)Zechariah 14:6-9September 17, 2023 The coming of the Messiah (Christ) as King is one of the dominant themes in the OT: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful […]

Israel’s upcoming exodus

Many details about the second coming of Christ are unknown to us (like the detail we most want to know — when?), but a great many details are revealed to us. Zechariah particularly provides a vivid picture of what the coming of Christ will look like: He will descend bodily from Heaven and will come […]