One thought to prepare for Sunday

Thinking about Sunday and beginning to prepare my heart for the message from the Word of God, I remembered this statement from John Piper about the responsibility of a father to his family: A famous cigarette billboard pictures a curly-headed, bronze-faced, muscular macho with a cigarette hanging out the side of his mouth. The sign […]

Weakness and the Gospel

How do you respond when you are weak — maybe it was your sin, maybe it was someone else’s sin against you, but your humanity is being demonstrated in bold colors for all to see through your situation. Pastor Erik Raymond addresses that very question through a meditation on the life of Adonijah: But what […]

A father’s advice to a child living away from home

My daughter is going away to college in the Fall. And I have been thinking much lately about that transition, so when I read the following set of letters written by John Newton, they resonated well with me. They are written to his niece whom Newton and his wife had raised as their own daughter, […]

Alcorn: How much to give? How much to save?

In this video, Randy Alcorn provides a very helpful answer to a tension faced by all believers: how do I know how much to give and how much to save? I want to be generous with others and not presumptive about the future. His answer is Biblical, gracious, and liberating. [Eternal Perspective Ministries. HT: Tim […]

Grab bag

Found recently around the internet: A new album from Sovereign Grace — “Risen.” You can listen to every track — and then purchase it as a download for only $5. What I’ve heard so far sounds good. There is much digital ink being spilled (digitized?) over Rob Bell’s latest book. Many good and biblical responses […]

Question of the day (for husbands)

Why does a husband love his wife? A man might answer that in many ways — I love my wife because I can’t resist her — I’m attracted to her… I love my wife because I have to love my wife — the Bible commands my love I love my wife because it is the […]

Sunday Leftovers (4/3/11)

Many times I have had someone make a brief comment after a Sunday morning worship service or over a Wednesday evening fellowship meal that goes something like this: “Pray for me, I’m going to visit my folks next week…” Or, “My kids are coming to visit this weekend; will you pray for us?” There are […]

Lunch with John Piper

The Desiring God (available for free as a PDF download in a previous edition and for $5 in the current print edition) read-along with John Piper begins today with a discussion of chapters 1 and 2. The broadcast will begin at 12:00 (Eastern) and be re-broadcast at noon in each successive time zone. There is […]

The gospel isn’t…

The gospel isn’t a self-help, get-better-on-your-own program. The gospel is a God-empowered, declared-righteous gift. The gospel isn’t how you make yourself better in order to get God’s good gifts and benefits (i.e., “it’s never bad to have God on your side; do all you can to make Him indebted to you”). The gospel is how […]

If the Bible is not enough, nothing else will be either

Reviewing a bad book about a good topic, Tim Challies concludes with this statement: If you struggle believing what the Bible says, but learn to find security in the testimony of a toddler, well, I feel sorry for you. And I do not mean this in a condescending way. If God’s Word is not sufficient […]

Sunday Leftovers (3/27/11)

John says, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (3 John 4). Paul expresses great gratitude and joy for the faith of the believers in Ephesus (1:15-16) and Colossae (1:3-5) and the obedience of the Romans to Christ (16:19). All heaven, the angels, and God Himself […]

The canary in the coal mine

Michael Wittmer recently made an observation, asked a question, and drew an application about sexual sin: There is something about sexual sin that ruins the minds of previously healthy people.… Why is sexual sin a gateway to this smorgasbord of lethal debauchery?… Sexual sin is the canary in the coal mine, the first sign that […]

The uncertainty of the continuance of life

Just because I have life this moment does not mean that I am guaranteed life in any future moment. For the believer, this is a comforting statement because he can be happy with life here and he is happy with life in eternity (which is Paul’s point in Phil. 1). For the unbeliever, this is […]

Boasting in the cross

We are people of the cross. The cross is the source of our spiritual life. It is the reason for our hope. It is the foundation of our victorious living. Paul says it this way: “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which […]

Read Through Desiring God with John Piper

I’ve read Desiring God in its entirely two or three times, I’ve re-read portions of the book many times, and I’ve read most of Piper’s other books (which he says are all just a rewriting of Desiring God). But I’ve never read this book with John Piper. And now you and I have that chance, […]