Mohler: 3 blogs on theology and life

In the past week, Al Mohler has posted three different blogs that relate theology to life and the kinds of assumptions people have about God and the decisions that result from those assumptions. In “Air Conditioning Hell: How Liberalism Happens,” he writes, Theological liberals do not intend to destroy Christianity, but to save it. As […]

Made to glorify God

Thomas Watson applies the truth of the glory of God and meditates on what it means that we are made for His glory: There is no one here present but God has put in some capacity of glorifying him; the health he has given you, the parts, estate, seasons of grace, all are opportunities put […]

The accessible God

It is commonly presumed in our Western, self-reliant culture, that not only is God accessible to us (believer or unbeliever), but that it is something of a birth-right (if you’re born, you have the right!) to have access to God. In this way, it is believed, God is our servant. Well, He is accessible. But […]

Reading Exodus

A couple days ago, we began reading the book of Exodus in our reading through the Bible in a year program. Some of the books may be unfamiliar to you, so in an effort to help you understand what you are reading, as much as possible (I am fully confident I will be unable to […]

God is holy

In the vision of Isaiah 6, the prophet saw the angels around the throne of God repeatedly declaring, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts.” We ourselves often speak and sing of this truth. But what does it mean that God is holy? It means that He is set apart and distinct. He is […]

Can you hear God? A meditation on Exodus 6:9

Sometimes, in the midst of discouragement, it’s hard to see the blessings of God. As an example, consider this morning’s Scripture reading. For all the blessings God had given Abraham (an eternal covenant), Isaac (spared from death on a sacrificial altar!), and Jacob (sons who would be the patriarchs of Israel), there was something He […]

On theology and practice

With one word, Paul initiates a significant change in his letter to the Ephesians. With the singular (and easily overlooked) word, “therefore,” Paul moves his letter from theology to practice, from instruction to application. It is Paul’s regular habit to make such transitions (see the transitions between Romans 1-11 and 12-16 and Colossians 1-2 and […]

The cost of discipleship

The benefits of salvation are great and wondrous and are and should be spoken of in glowing and rich terms. The privileges accrued through the cross ought to be of our greatest happiness. Yet there is also a corresponding truth that since by the gospel God means to change our lives from fleshly and earthly-minded […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/24/10)

In our very earliest years of marriage, my wife and I had a neighbor who always asked a simple and direct question whenever she saw us come outside: “where are you going?” The question became something of a game to me and Raye Jeanne — could we initiate and direct the conversation first so that […]

What God cannot do

The apocryphal story is told of a Sunday School teacher who asked his class, “If you tell me something God can do, I’ll give you an apple.” To which a wise little girl responded, “If you tell me something God can’t do, I’ll give you a case of apples!” Well, in actuality, there are things […]

An implication of loving darkness

Jesus said, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19-20). To which […]

God as our friend

Thinking more about yesterday’s topic of friendship: since it is true that the greatest friend is the One who is the friend to sinners, then what ought our response be to Him, and what kind of friend is He? The puritan James Janeway answers both those questions: It is the duty of man to acquaint […]

In need of friends

Recently I finished reading Stephen Ambrose’ book, Comrades. In this volume he briefly explores the lives of a number of men and their friends. Some of the men are well known — Dwight Eisenhower, George Custer, Richard Nixon, and Lewis and Clark. Others are lesser known — his relationships with his own brothers, friends, and […]

Technology and your soul

Whether we like it or not, or use it or not, the advancement of technological influences in our lives is here to stay. This is the conclusion of a recent report done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, and cited by Al Mohler in a blog post this morning. The essence of the report is that […]

The gospel for today

For many believers, the gospel is something they needed once and believed and likewise something that they have moved beyond. The gospel is for unbelievers, the weak, and the immature. The gospel is in the past, not the present or the future. But the gospel is, in fact, for every day. It is the means […]