In preparation for this Sunday

How do you fight the battle against sin? How do you wage war against the temptations that are prone to lead you away from Christ and towards the world? How do you keep from engaging in any sinful and evil impulses? For too many, suggests Bryan Chapell, we are in bondage to spiritually destructive behaviors: […]

Two thoughts about parenting

Yesterday I was doing some reading in preparation for a parental dedication on Sunday morning and came across these two gems from the pen of John Younts: “Parents looking primarily for enjoyment from such creatures are in for a major disappointment. Loving, enjoyable relationships between parents and children are a by-product of good parenting, not […]

Grief, hell and bin Laden at the breakfast table

This morning I was getting a few things ready for the day when my daughter said, “I suppose you’ve already heard this, but Osama bin Laden was killed last night.” “Yes,” I replied, “I saw the headline in the newspaper earlier…” That comment provided fodder for a brief discussion around the breakfast table that focused […]

Work, work, and more work

This morning I talked to friend — “How’s it going?” I routinely asked. “It’s Monday…” We both knew what he meant by that — “The weekend is over, rest is gone, work has begun, the drudgery is back. It’s Monday.” You know exactly what those two words mean. For many, work is no friend, but […]

Free Audio Book – The Next Story

This month’s free audio book download is the just-released book by Tim Challies — The Next Story. I have it on my “read soon” stack; now it can be in the “listen soon” que. Christian Audio — The Next Story.

Sunday Leftovers (5/1/11)

In 1965 the future looked extraordinarily bright. Man was four short years from walking on the moon. The world was on the brink of a technological explosion — computer, microwave, laser, and communication advances were certain to revolutionize every facet of the way we lived. So a U.S. Senate Subcommittee in 1965 predicted that by […]

Reflections on “the wedding”

I did not get up earlier than usual on Friday morning to watch the Royal Wedding. I had a full schedule for the day and wanted to prepare myself for it with a full night of sleep. And further, I was uninterested in the whole hoopla in general (though certain female teen-aged members of my […]

The Most Royal Wedding of All

A prayer from Scotty Smith — Dear heavenly Father, on a day on which many in our world set clocks and arranged schedules to view a wedding of total strangers—a wedding to which we were not invited, how can we not think about and long for our coming wedding day to Jesus? Like John, when […]

Four truths about trials

As to my own circumstances, I still meet with trouble and expect no other as long as I live in this world. [Jonathan Edwards] Things haven’t changed much since the time of Edwards. In fact, it has always been that way, and as long as we live in an unredeemed state, it always will be […]

Knowing the will of God

How can one know the will of God? That question is not only frequently asked in our day, but has often been asked by followers of God throughout much of, if not all of, history. Here is an answer from pastor John Newton in one of his many letters. Though written a couple of centuries […]

NANC certification complete!

Nearly four years after I began the process, (3 years, 11 months, to be exact), today I completed the NANC certification process. A couple of thoughts about the process: I am grateful for the rigor and demands of the process. The discipline of study for the basic training and the exams were good for my […]

Pleasing men — not such a good idea

This Sunday I am preaching on work that glorifies God (Eph. 6:5-8). As I made my way through that passage this afternoon, I was meditating on the phrase “not…as men-pleasers” (6:6) and the numerous other similar phrases in the NT and the example of Samuel who looked far too quickly at external qualities and ignored […]

When children suffer

Parents have dreams and desires for their children. And sometimes those desires are cut short by the intrusion of Job-like illness, suffering, and even death. We believe in the sovereignty of God. We know that worship is our calling when God orchestrates trials in our lives. But what does that worship sound like when our […]

Easter and the resurrection

Three statements about the resurrection: Easter is the New Year’s Day of the soul. [A. B. Simpson] The gospel…doesn’t explain Easter. Easter explains the gospel. Christ was God. The miracle wasn’t that Christ rose from the dead. It would have been even more unthinkable for the God/Man who was born as he was, and lived […]

Sunday Leftovers (4/24/11)

The resurrection means that Christ is alive, and those who believe in Christ also live (1 Cor. 15:12-20). The resurrection means that we can rejoice in what we have in Christ even when we suffer loss in the world (1 Peter 1:6-7). The resurrection means that when others would say, “curse God,” we can say, […]