The Bible and Prayer

The Bible and PrayerPsalm 119:169-176January 14, 2024 At the beginning and middle of every new year, we spend one Sunday being reminded of the importance of the Word of God in our lives from Psalm 119. This morning, we come to the last stanza in this great text. We will find in this passage many […]

The fires of trouble and God’s glory

George Whitefield on suffering: Then we glorify God in the fire, when, though we feel pain and anguish, we at the same time can tell the Lord that we deserve this and ten thousand times worse…We glorify God in the fire also when we are really and fully persuaded that God will not put us […]

The Best books I read in 2023

I’m a book collector. I’m not a vintage book collector. I don’t collect first editions. There aren’t many valuable books (as most people value them) in my collection. But I do like gathering books, purchasing books, and accumulating books. I like hard backs, paperbacks, and digital books (Kindle, PDF, and audio). I collect books because […]

Bible Reading Plans for 2024

This post for Bible reading plans for 2024 may be a few days late if you wanted to get started on a new plan on January 1. But it’s not too late to start — because it’s always good to read your Bible. Every year our church makes at least three reading plans available: an […]

Come, Lord Jesus

On this Christmas morning, the words of Charles Spurgeon help us orient our hearts towards Christ: MANY are celebrating our Lord’s first coming this day; let us turn our thoughts to the promise of his second coming. This is as sure as the first advent, and derives a great measure of its certainty from it. […]

At the Right Time

At the Right TimeGalatians 4:4-5December 24, 2023 A couple of days ago I thought of something that might be a nice gift for someone, but I didn’t have time to look for it, so I quickly went to Amazon and found what I was looking for. The right price! But when will it arrive? I […]

Have you worshipped this Christmas?

And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord,And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” (Lk. 1:46-47) These familiar words introduce one of the great Christmas hymns — Mary’s poetic response to the announcement of the birth of Jesus to her by the angel (vv. 26-38) and the following affirmation from Elizabeth (vv. 39-45). […]

Christ’s Two Appearances

Christ’s Two AppearancesTitus 2:11-14December 17, 2023 ’Tis the season for waiting. And waiting. Maxine Bland can empathize. A couple of decades ago she showed up to work and found a letter for her that was postmarked 14 years earlier. It had the correct postage for the time, the correct address and zip code; it […]

The Reward for Equipping the Saints

The Reward for Equipping the Saints2 Timothy 4:6-8December 10, 2023 Winning the biggest sports contests and the prizes that come with them are rare: Only 25 players are on the roster of the team that wins the World Series Only about 50 players are on the winning team of the Super Bowl Only 26 players […]

Under Attack

The church is under attack. The church and the truth of the gospel, the person of Christ, the trustworthiness of the Scriptures, and the character of God are under attack. These truths have always been under attack — and they are not only being attacked by the world, but by the world from inside the […]

Instruction for Equipping the Saints

Instruction for Equipping the Saints2 Timothy 4:1-5December 3, 2023 In his book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman writes: The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be 80, you have just over 4,000 weeks. Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do […]

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 […]