On the heart

The Bible has hundreds of verses on the nature of the heart. And when one includes other “inner man” topics like conscience, will, desires, motives, mind, and thoughts, there are hundreds more. Consider this very small sampling of Scripture’s instruction on our hearts: The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,” They […]

Useless? No. Useful.

A couple of weeks ago I went through some rarely opened cabinets and drawers in my office. I knew they were full, but I was a little surprised by some of the items I found in them. I repeatedly found myself saying something like, “I forgot that was there…I’ve not used that or thought of […]

Jesus Teaches

“Jesus Teaches”Luke 6:20-49July 27, 2025 Jesus Christ is the Son of Man. That is a title that denotes His position as both God and Man. He is the fulfillment of the promise in Daniel 7:13-14 — the One who is given authority over all things by God the Father (the Ancient of Days). As the […]

Jesus Teaches: On Obedience

“Jesus Teaches: On Obedience”Luke 6:46-49July 20, 2025 Last Sunday afternoon we became aware that John MacArthur was ill, in the hospital, and not expected to survive past a few more hours. Indeed, Monday evening he entered his heavenly reward. Faith was made sight. Tuesday morning the elders gathered to pray, as we do each week, […]

Questions for the Heart

The heart is one of the great themes of the Bible. It first shows up near the first page of the Bible in the story of the flood — “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only […]

Jesus Teaches: On the Heart

Jesus Teaches: On the HeartLuke 6:43-45July 13, 2025 Theodore Dalrymple is a British medical doctor and psychiatrist who has spent his life with the worst of the worst people; he has spent the last 15 years of his life working in British prisons treating “serial killers, petty thieves and everything in between.” Much of his […]

Don’t Forget “After These Things…”

Burdens. Difficulties. Disaster Illness. Pressures. Problems. Suffering. Tragedies. Trials. Untimely death. We all have experienced situations that we could put in those categories. We have all experienced situations that we could put in those categories too often. At times we have experienced the suddenness of those trials. We receive an unexpected phone call with unwanted […]

Identifying My Hypocrisy

Many years ago, a friend stopped by my office to talk to me about something. As soon as he walked in, I noticed that something was wrong: he was red-faced and somewhat agitated (which was unusual for him). So I asked (accused) him: “why are you so angry? You’re red-faced…” And he said, “why are […]

Jesus Teaches: On Judging and Judgmentalism

“Jesus Teaches: On Judging and Judgmentalism”Luke 6:36-42June 29, 2025 While Jesus was known as a compelling speaker and a plain speaker, He was regularly misunderstood. And He continues to be misunderstood. One of the most misunderstood statements is the one that is in our passage this morning, “Do not judge and you will not be […]

Praying for Our Enemies

There are statements by Jesus Christ that are known as His “hard sayings.” They are not hard because they are hard to comprehend. They are hard because they are hard to do. They are counter to our fleshly desires. They are strongly counter to our fleshly desires. We are naturally resistant to doing what He says. […]

Jesus Teaches: On Loving Enemies

“Jesus Teaches: On Loving Enemies”Luke 6:27-35June 22, 2025 Last week our family got back from a two-week vacation that was in some ways the trip of a lifetime. We went to England, spending most of our time in London eating wonderful food, seeing Royal sights, going to museums and seeing ancient artifacts from around the […]

The Hard Life

“The Hard Life”Luke 6:24-26May 25, 2025 “In A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond, a former zoo keeper, offers this warning about raccoons: Raccoons go through a glandular change at about 24 months. After that they often attack their owners. Since a 30-pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap, […]

The Good Life

“The Good Life”Luke 6:17-23May 18, 2025 What makes a good life? What is a happy and satisfied life? Is it even possible in this broken world — a world where there are broken relationships, broken cars, broken bodies, and broken economies — to have a good life? People have been asking that kind of question […]

Jesus and Omniscience

What did Jesus know in His incarnation? Was there anything He didn’t know? Was it possible for the God-Man to not know something? Those questions relate to one’s understanding of the hypostatic union of Christ. The term hypostatic union refers to the union of His divine and human natures; classically it is defined as “the […]

The Son of Man’s Authority to Call His Own

“The Son of Man’s Authority to Call His Own”Luke 6:12-19May 11, 2025 In virtually every realm of life, there are questions about authority — the question is often cynically asked, “who died and left you in charge?” The debate about authority and what the authority can and can’t do is seen between people and government, […]