Three conferences this week

This week I will be attending three conferences (kind of). The first is in Minneapolis, hosted by Bethlehem Baptist Church (pastored by John Piper). The theme of this pastor’s conference is “The Pastor as Father and Son.” And while I won’t actually be in physical attendance, Desiring God generally makes the audio from each session […]

Books on the cross

C. J. Mahaney, who himself has written a book or two about the cross (The Cross-Centered Life and Living the Cross Centered Life) today posted his list of favored books on the cross. I concur with his choice of Stott’s book, and am looking forward to beginning to read this weekend Pierced for Our Transgressions […]

Book Review: Is That You Lord?

Fleeces, open and closed doors, impressions, “peace” (or a lack of it) — all these are common means for believers attempting to discover the sovereign will of God for their lives. To that idea, pastor Gary Gilley counters in his book Is That You Lord? that there is a better, more God-exalting, Scripture-trusting, and freedom-giving […]

Another testimony for permanent marriages

In yesterday’s blog, Al Mohler, citing a recent article from the Washington Post, articulates a downside to divorce that has rarely been mentioned. We speak often of the impact of divorce on young children, and the detriment it is to the marriage partners, but after decades of increased divorce rates, the influence on divorce for […]

The great "I am" and a correction

Tozer said it well when he wrote the following in The Pursuit of God: There must be somewhere a fixed center against which everything else is measured, where the law of relativity does not enter and we can say “IS” and make no allowances. Such a center is God. When God would make His Name […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/27/08)

The gospel of John was written to introduce the readers to Christ in such a way that they would be stimulated to believe Him. John accomplishes this through the seven-fold declaration of Christ’s “I am’s,” through the seven miracles of Christ, and even through the very names that John uses to refer to Christ. Each […]

On Sabbatical

In September of 1990 at my installation service at the beginning of my ministry at Grace, my father (a seminary professor and pastor) spoke, and in giving a charge, described the man that some have called “the perfect pastor:” The perfect pastor preaches exactly fifteen minutes. He condemns sin, but never embarrasses anyone. He works […]

God cares

There are a variety of reasons we don’t speak the truth of God (sometimes we don’t speak the gospel truth to unbelievers, sometimes we don’t speak Biblical truth to believers — maybe even failing to pray with someone who obviously needs the comfort and encouragement of prayer). But one fundamental reason we don’t speak is […]

Discernment needed

On my upcoming sabbatical, I want to read a number of books. One of those is one just published by blogger Tim Challies, called The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment. It is an important book on an important topic. Al Mohler explains why.

Sunday Leftovers (1/20/08)

Christ and the Father are unified in all their purposes — including their purpose in hardening unbelievers. Yet there is a mystery remaining — the sovereign will of God negates neither God’s compassion for the unbelief of unbelievers, nor their responsibility as they will one day stand under His judgment. So, here are one more […]

Missing joy?

In today’s devotional, Oswald Chambers said this: “There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what God prizes.” Another way to say that might be, you will not be happy (joyful, content, satisfied, peaceful) if you attempt to find happiness in things that God deems unworthy of His happiness — or avoid the […]

A new blog of interest

Bible.org has a wealth of exceedingly helpful Bible study tools. They have also begun posting a number of blogs, and this week initiated another one that looks to be helpful — Primetime Jesus . The intent of the blog is to “,” and to that end, they are employing the services of a number of […]

The cross and preaching

God did not ordain the cross of Christ or create the lake of fire in order to communicate the insignificance of belittling his glory. The death of the Son of God and the damnation of unrepentant human beings are the loudest shouts under heaven that God is infinitely holy, and sin is infinitely offensive, and […]

Sunday Leftovers (1/13/08)

When the request “We’d like to see Jesus” came, His response was that the hour had finally come for the Son of Man to be glorified. He would be revealed and seen like no time previously. For 33 years, Mary had contemplated and treasured the activities concerning Christ and done by Christ. For three years, […]

When life is bitter….

…trust promises, not providences. This week I’ve had multiple conversations with people who have family or friends who are walking through the valley of the shadow of death. And the shadow is dark and foreboding, filled with more questions and uncertainties than just the matter of death. One writer says that when the bitter experiences […]