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, […]

The ministry of small talk

Yesterday, in talking about how to love others, I mentioned that it is possible to use small talk either to love others as a demonstration of your care and interest in them and their desires, or as a means of withholding love by keeping things superficial and non-intimate so that you neither have to share […]

Sunday Leftovers (3/20/11)

David Sharp was 34 when he died five years ago. And depending upon whom you ask, his death was either unavoidable or preventable. The British citizen was attempting a climb up Mt. Everest in May of 2006 when he died in a shallow snow cave from a lack of oxygen. That he died, in one […]

The curse of God and the grace of Christ

The release of one book has produced a massive (and needed) output of words in the blogosphere on the topic of hell. I’ve been planning to write something myself (perhaps tomorrow morning). For now, this 8-minute excerpt from a message by R. C. Sproul is a sober reminder of the profound work Christ accomplished by […]

Signs of grace

How can you tell if you are growing in the grace of Christ (2 Pt. 3:18)? Scotty Smith regularly offers insights on Twitter (follow him @ScottyWardSmith) about manifestations of the growth of grace in a believer’s life. Here are some of my favorite over the past couple of weeks. A sign you are growing in […]

Shepherds’ Conference summary

The audio for last week’s Shepherds’ Conference is now available. All sessions can be downloaded for free — a great gift from Grace Church! As I have done the past couple of years, I’ve scanned through my notes and pulled some of the statements from each session/preacher that were significant, helpful, encouraging and beneficial to […]

How a Japanese believer responded to the tsunami

In a somewhat extended article that is definitely worth reading, a Japanese believer talks about the spiritual needs in Japan, the goodness of God in the past week, the death of believers the tsunami, and the opportunity to demonstrate the transforming work of Christ in this circumstance: In a nation with such a small Christian […]