Best books I’ve read in 2016 (so far)

I read quite a bit: commentaries and theologies for sermon preparation, too many blogs, journals and magazines, and many books each month. After six months of 2016, I am slightly ahead of pace to meet my goal for book reading this year, having read almost 50 books so far. Of all the books I’ve read, […]

Finished growing? Not yet.

During a dinner party conversation, the neighbor of Albert Einstein asked the white-haired physicist, “What are you actually, by profession?” “I devote myself to the study of physics,” replied Einstein. The girl was astonished: “You mean to say that you study physics at your age? I finished mine a year ago!” What that poor young […]

God’s wisdom and the cross

He was just another New York City drunk. Found in a Bowery flophouse naked and with a deep gash in his throat, he was taken to the hospital where he languished for three days, unable to eat. He had lived to drink, and now he had died by the drink. A friend found him in […]

Sermon: God, My Portion

“God, My Portion” Psalm 119:57-64 June 26, 2016 Obedience is hard. It’s hard to obey a boss who is tyrannical and unfair. It’s hard to obey a parent that demands his children do what he will not do. It’s hard for a wife to submit to a husband whose leadership is foolish and uncaring. It’s […]

He is faithful

My wife and I had been married only a few days when we moved into our first home — a 50-year-old, 600-square-foot, unfurnished apartment. We had just finished unloading all of our worldly possessions from a single 4-foot by 6-foot trailer when our new neighbors came to invite us to dinner. The initial conversation went […]

Meditate upon sin

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Christian on the Mount. Meditate upon Sin — 1. Meditate on the guilt of sin. We are in Adam as in a common head or root, and he sinning, we become guilty. Romans […]

Believing the Bible

Every Sunday morning, hundreds of thousands of Christians gather together for worship and they hear the Word of God preached. Morning and evening and times in between on each day, millions of believers open their Bibles and read what God has said. Throughout each week, followers of Christ meet with one another and exhort one […]

Meditate on the love of Christ

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is from The Christian on the Mount. Christ is as full of love as He is of merit. What was it but love that He should save us and not the fallen angels? Among the rarities of […]

Sermon: Rituals, Religion, and Transformed Hearts

“Rituals, Religion, and Transformed Hearts” Romans 2:25-29 June 12, 2016 A few months ago a sealed leather trunk that had been stored in a museum in the Netherlands was opened and what the researchers found was astounding — 2600 undelivered letters, perfectly preserved from the 17th century. About 600 of those letters were never opened; […]

Sermon: Your Faith…Tested

“Your Faith…Tested” John 6:1-15 June 5, 2016 Tuesday afternoon Raye Jeanne called me and just in the way she responded to my greeting when I answered, I knew something was amiss: “What’s wrong?” I asked. “The house is flooding again.” “I’ll leave in five minutes to come help you.” I did leave in five minutes, […]

A word of encouragement

The young boy approached his father. “Dad, let’s play darts. I’ll throw and you say, ‘Great shot!’” Though probably apocryphal in nature, that exchange still bespeaks of a real need — the need to be encouraged. It is a need that is not unique to our day. Even in Scripture we find people of God […]

Sermon: Remember Your Sin…And Christ’s Work

“Remember Your Sin…And Christ’s Work” Ephesians 2:11-13 May 29, 2016 Many years ago I called a friend and when he answered his cell phone, he was noticeably quiet and subdued. So I asked him, “Are you ok?” “Yeah — I’m in D.C. on a business trip this week and I’m at the Vietnam Memorial, and […]

Sermon: Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy – Why Practicing What You Preach Matters

“Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy: Why Practicing What You Preach Matters” Romans 2:17-24 May 22, 2016 A few years ago, Washington state Representative, Jack Metcalf revealed that the U.S. Forestry Service and a Washington state agency were working together to spend $18,000 to dye rocks on a scenic route to the Cascade Mountains brown and gray. It […]

Meditate upon the promises of God

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Christian on the Mount. The promises of God are flowers growing in the paradise of Scripture; meditation, like the bee, sucks out the sweetness of them. The promises are of no use or […]

Sermon: The Conscience – What It Is and How to Help It, Pt. 2

“The Conscience: What It Is and How to Help It” Pt. 2 Selected Scriptures May 15, 2016 Jerry White provides a picture of how most people think about the conscience: Willie, in the comic strip Moon Mullins, is slumped in a chair in front of a TV set, coffee cup resting on his pot belly. […]