A better way to listen to sermons on iTunes

I have been using iTunes to listen to sermons for several years — first on an iPod and now on an iPhone. In fact, most of what I listen to on my iPhone is sermons, and therein lies a small problem. I turn off my phone most evenings in order to conserve the battery, but […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from around the internet: Justin Taylor offers “Eight Reasons Why My Anxiety is Pointless and Foolish.” In “Pray the Scriptures,” Scotty Smith confesses, I am a recovering self-centered pragmatic pray-er — a believer who spent many of my first years in Christ thinking of God more as a sugar daddy than the […]

Do you love Jesus?

More than 25 years ago, Raye Jeanne and I met. Our relationship was progressing fairly rapidly and I was trying to sort out my thoughts about her and us while at the same time feeling an emotional pull in a particular direction. There was a topic I wanted to address with her, but knew that […]

His blood bleeds the Bible

Every elder should be able to teach (1 Tim. 3:2). He ought to have a firm grasp of Scripture so that not only is his own life founded on Scripture, but everything he does and says is rooted in biblical truth. But this is not peculiar to the pastor. This is the livelihood of every […]

Needed: a higher standard of holiness

Almost 150 years ago, J. C. Ryle wrote what I need to hear today (and every day): Is it not true that we need a higher standard of personal holiness in this day? Where is out patience? Where is our zeal? Where is our love? Where are our works? Where is the power of religion […]

“My Father and Your Father…”

One of the joys of reading Scripture is stumbling across the unexpected in the midst of the familiar. For instance, while we are well acquainted with the resurrection account, there are some unexpected treasures in the midst of the miraculous. Consider this statement by Jesus to Mary in the garden: “Stop clinging to Me, for […]

The magnitude of Christ’s works

“Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:30–31, NASB) The love of […]

Free audiobook: Resolving Everyday Conflict

This month’s free audiobook at Christianaudio is Ken Sande’s book, Resolving Everyday Conflict. Sande has written numerous books and pamphlets on conflict resolution; this is an excellent introduction to the larger Peacemaker, as it provides the essential principles without overwhelming the reader/listener with too much data. It’s a very accessible and helpful book.

Open my eyes

A couple of months ago, I printed and inserted a copy of John Piper’s brief I.O.U.S. prayer and inserted it into the Bible that I use for my morning Bible reading. It is a daily reminder that I need the Lord to move my heart towards Him and I need the Lord to give me […]

I need time in God’s Word

From Lou Priolo, “The Spirit and the Word:” “I’ve met an astounding number of Christians who believe they can grow in grace apart from regular and continuous time in the Word (i.e., Bible reading, study, memorization, meditation, and active listening to Bible preaching and teaching). At the risk of overstating my argument, let me say […]

The cure for your disease

Knowing the cure tells you a lot about the gravity of the disease. In the cross we see what was needed to cure the wound of sin, and we see what lengths God was willing to go to cure it. Thus we see its true character as something so reprehensible to God, as something so […]

The resurrected Savior

The accounts of the resurrection are very familiar to us. And because of that, it’s easy to miss the reason for the account — like every other Gospel passage, the resurrection is given to provide us information about the Savior so that we will worship Him. The advantage of the shortest of the resurrection accounts […]

Sunday Leftovers — the Bible and wine

One of the qualifications of an elder is that he is not to be “addicted to wine.” The intent of that phrase is that an elder should be fully in control of his alcoholic consumption and that he should not be controlled by alcohol (Eph. 5:18). But does that the elder, or any other believer, […]

The great commission

It was in the 1960’s, during the time when the Green Bay Packers were the National Football League’s perennial champions that on one particular week they suffered a humiliating loss. It was the contention of Vince Lombardi, the coach, that the Packers never lost a game, but some weeks the clock just ran out on […]

Cast your burden on the Lord

The story of Brian Hesse is one of my all-time favorites. One account of it is as follows: Brian Hesse had more than his share of luck in July (1981), and most of it was bad. When his apartment in Provo, Utah became flooded from a broken pipe in the upstairs apartment, the manager told […]