This will take away your confidence

Thomas Watson, reflecting on Hebrews 4:16 articulates what encourages and what hinders a believer coming boldly into the presence of God: Holiness gives us boldness with God. ‘Thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.’ Job 22:23, 26. Lifting up the face is an emblem of […]

The world belongs to the Lord

That the world — all of it, in every sphere — belongs to the Lord was expressed well by Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper: “…there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” Of course his assertion was preceded […]

Knowing Christ alone in ministry

John Flavel: “I determined to know nothing,” that is, to study nothing myself, to teach nothing to you, but “Jesus Christ.” Christ shall be the center to which all the lines of my ministry shall be drawn. I have spoken and written of many other subjects in my sermons and epistles, but it is all […]

A picture of gossip…

Actually, it’s a picture of the results of gossip, in simple form: “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” (Eph 4:29) Via: DOGHOUSE | Just Don’t […]

Sunday Leftovers (9/18/11)

As I mentioned in my sermon yesterday, it is far more important why we pray than what we pray. In general, our attitude in prayer is more critical than the mechanics of our prayer. Yet there are also some “mechanical” things we can do to help our prayer life — a consideration of time, location, […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last couple of weeks: A long time ago I began recognizing a changing trend in counseling. Women were battling with lust and pornography too, as Carolyn McCulley affirms in her recent post, “Lust: Not for men only.” She writes: “We have a message of hope and redemption in the morass […]

Are we lovers of the Word?

Continuing the thoughts from yesterday, Thomas Watson asks the question, “Are we lovers of the Word?” He offers some tests of this aspect of our godliness. Let us test by this characteristic whether we are godly: Are we lovers of the Word? 1. Do we love the Word written? What sums of money the martyrs […]

Sunday Leftovers (9/11/11)

From Thomas Watson, The Godly Man’s Picture, who reiterates some of the same principles of how to read the Scriptures that we spoke of this morning: A godly man shows his love to the Word written: (i) By diligently reading it. The noble Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11). Apollos was mighty in the […]

Preparing for tomorrow’s worship

How do you prepare yourself for worship? Do you prepare to hear the Word of God preached? Do you think about how you will listen to the sermon? Thomas Watson has some godly counsel for us: 2. The second duty of piety wherein we must provoke ourselves, is, in HEARING of the Word. We may […]

How to think about 9/11

This Sunday is the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks against America. Many are offering commentary on the topic. Here are two that I find particularly helpful and a couple more that I have penned in response to various tragedies. First, Al Mohler has republished the sermon he gave two days after the attack. His […]

What I wrote on 9/11/01

I wasn’t blogging in 2001. But I was writing an email devotional, and this is what I wrote the day after 9/11/01. “Enemy-occupied territory — that is what this world is.” So said C. S. Lewis nearly 50 years ago in Mere Christianity. Those words are haunting in their poignancy this morning, for as we […]

Heaven’s gain

When a believer dies, it is not unusual to hear a response something like, “Our loss is heaven’s gain.” I have always taken such a sentiment to subtly suggest that in some manner, heaven has been deficient until this person has arrived, and that now because of their inherent abilities and worth, heaven has “gotten […]

What your sin does for you

Here is one value of sin — redemption from it stimulates our heart to love Christ more deeply than those who are not redeemed: We are now capable of a joy which unfallen spirits could not have known: the bliss of pardoned sin, the heaven of deep conscious obligation to eternal mercy. The bonds which […]

Church is not that complicated

There are many ideas about how to do ministry (I receive new ideas on postcards and flyers virtually everyday in my mailbox and inbox). There have always been many diverse and divergent ideas about the priorities of ministry. The temptation is often to take a pragmatic approach to “make the church grow.” Now having dancing […]

Interpreting God

How will you perceive God when suffering? What will you think of God when life doesn’t work as well for you as you think it should? By what standard will you measure God when life is harsh? Joe Thorn offers some godly counsel: Do not attempt to base your interpretation of God on your circumstances, […]