Sunday Leftovers: Don’t be surprised when the world hates you

The churches in Asia Minor had been infiltrated by false teachers that were leading them astray about the relationship between the believer and sin. The result was that some who were genuine believers became unsure about their salvation. In addition, these false teachers were not only indulging in their licentious sins but they also were […]

Sermon: Love One Another (Pt. 1)

Love One Another, Pt. 1 1 John 3:11-24 January 26, 2014 It’s a story I’ve told before, but it’s a good one… Paul Tripp has written of himself — “When I got married, I did what every other groom does. I repeated vows to my wife that said I would love her sacrificially all the […]

The profitability of prayer

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion: Words fail to explain how necessary prayer is, and in how many ways the exercise of prayer is profitable. Surely with good reason the Heavenly Father affirms that the only stronghold of safety is in calling upon his name (Joel 2:32). By so doing we invoke the presence […]

Joni Eareckson Tada song nominated for an Oscar

From Christianity Today: A Hollywood nod to a Christian film has come as a shock to the entertainment world, as the song “Alone Yet Not Alone” (from the movie by the same name) was nominated for an Oscar. The song beat out Coldplay, Taylor Swift, and Lana Del Ray to join the other four nominees […]

Sermon: Essential Truths for Assurance

Essential Truths for Assurance Selected Scriptures from 1 John 1-3 January 19, 2014 One essential for learning is repetition. Few of us memorize a Bible verse the first time we see it. We go over it again and again. We write it down, read it in our Bibles, review it on notecards, look it up […]

Heaven is better

Jonathan Edwards, in “The Christian Pilgrim” (Works, vol. 2): God is the highest good of the reasonable creature; and the enjoyment of him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied.—To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, […]

Kindle Sale: A Theology of Christian Counseling

Beginning today Amazon has Jay Adam’s foundational book, A Theology of Christian on sale for the Kindle for only $3.99. This is an excellent resource for all biblical counselors — and for at least a short time it is available in digital format for a great price. A Theology of Christian Counseling: More Than Redemption.

Sunday Leftovers: Teach Me, Lord

‪Martin Niemöller‬ was a pastor in Nazi Germany who interned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1938 to 1945 for so-called activities against the state. Following his release he revealed how the Bible sustained him during those years: What did this book mean to me during the long and weary years of solitary confinement […]

Some dangers and advantages to reading the Bible

Robert Murray M’Cheyne was a pastor in the early 19th century who lived a brief, though influential life. One year before his death at the age of 29, he compiled a Bible reading plan (OT once and NT and Psalms twice in one year) for his church and wrote the following letter to warn and […]

Sermon: “Teach Me, Lord”

“Teach Me, Lord:” A Prayer for God’s Word to Do Its Work Psalm 119:33-40 January 12, 2014 I have been using some kind of “read through the Bible in a year” plan for longer than I can remember. I’ve read through the Bible chronologically (like we’re doing this year); I’ve used the Navigator “Book-at-a-time” plan […]

The sinner’s pathway – redirected

Neither a farmer nor a rancher am I. Yet for at least two weeks during a couple summers of my youth, I became a “temp” farmer, working on my uncle’s dairy farm. It was a time not only for a “city-slicker” to be exposed to some life realities, but also a fun time with my […]

The sinner’s pathway

Oops. Some parents had a great idea for their children’s special Christmas gift one year. They ordered a kit for a tree house from a mail order catalogue. On Christmas Eve, as the mother and father began to assemble the pieces, they discovered to their dismay that while they had received the plans for a […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week: You may have made a resolution this week about your Bible reading for this year. Here is some good counsel for “How to read the whole Bible in 2014” (including a variety of Bible reading plans) by Justin Taylor. I’ve also posted several plans for our church here. […]

“Why did I not die at birth?”

A job interview that didn’t go the way you expected. A dinner that came out the oven smoky and flat instead of light and fluffy. A checkbook that appears to be inflicted with the black plague. A friend that suffers from a chronic illness. A favorite shirt that gets lost by the dry cleaner. An […]

The first two sins

The first sins recorded in Scripture — Adam and Eve’s rebellion (Gen. 3) and Cain’s murder of Abel (Gen. 4) — provide two distinct examples of the way temptation and sin work in an individual’s life. They are a reminder that not every temptation is the same; sin and its origins are multifaceted and insidious. […]