Our sins sink as lead in the mighty waters of the Redeemer’s blood

Thomas Boston, Human Nature in Its Fourfold State: God the Father takes the pen, dips it in the blood of his Son, crosses off the sinner’s accounts, and blots them out of his debt-book. The sinner outside of Christ is bound over to the wrath of God; he is under an obligation in law to […]

50 years ago today

You are well aware that 50 years ago today, President Kennedy was assassinated and entered eternity. It is fitting to reflect on the life of a President (aside: I highly commend the book Character Above All, edited by Robert Wilson as an examination of the 10 presidents from FDR to George H. W. Bush; it’s […]

Reading Ezekiel

Like many of the prophets, the theme of this book is quite simple. It is essential to remember that this book was written while Ezekiel himself was in captivity in Babylon, and he was writing to the Jews to get them to repent. Thus, it is also noted that it encompasses the fact that “the […]

Never let Sunday be routine

J. I. Packer, The Quest for Godliness: We must never, therefore, let our Sundays become mere routine engagements; in that attitude of mind, we shall trifle them away by a humdrum formality. Every Sunday is meant to be a great day, and we should approach it expectantly, in full awareness of this.

Sunday Leftovers: Make sure no one deceives you

I led a pretty sheltered life growing up. I grew up in a home that loved and honored Christ and the Word of God. No matter where we lived participation in a local church was assumed and I was raised in several outstanding churches. I attended a Christian school in my elementary years. The dominant […]

Sermon: Sin, Righteousness, and the Believer, Pt 1

Sin, Righteousness, and the Believer, Pt. 1 1 John 3:4-10 November 17, 2013 I was in college the first time I remember reading 1 John seriously. I’m sure I read the book before my college years; but it was in my freshman year that I really began to grow in Christ in a significant way. […]

What is sin?

What is sin? Sin is acting without believing God (Rom. 14:23; Heb. 11:6) Sin is not doing what is the right thing to do — acts of omission (James 4:17) Sin is acting rebelliously against God’s Law (1 John 3:4) Sin is doing anything unrighteous — acts of comission (1 John 5:17) Sin is wicked. […]

Christ and your sin

John Owen, Communion with the Triune God: Sin being removed, and righteousness bestowed, we have peace with God—are continually accepted before him. There is not any thing to charge us with: that which was, is taken out of the way by Christ, and nailed to his cross—made fast there; yea, publicly and legally cancelled, that […]

Let us examine our ways

You may not know the name Wilhelm Roentgen, but his discovery has undoubtedly impacted you. It was in November of 1895 while the German physicist was replicating a common electrical experiment that he noticed an oddity. A little curiosity combined with further testing, and Roentgen was able to conclude that not only are there light […]

Biblical counseling conference

This weekend we are hosting the final weekend of our Biblical Counseling and Discipleship Conference. We are delighted to have as a guest speaker, Heath Lambert, the executive director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC, formerly known as NANC). He will be speaking at the conference on both Friday and Saturday and then […]

The mortified man

Christopher Love, The Mortified Christian: A truly mortified man is like a warrior: he will either kill or be killed. He will kill his sins or else his sins will kill him. Now examine yourselves in this: are you only fencers, to sport and play with your lusts, or are you warriors who fight with […]

Sunday Leftovers: the believer with Christ

The New Testament speaks in many ways about our identification with Christ — our unity with Him. Considering only the words “with Christ” and “with Him,” Constantine Campbell notes the many ways the Epistles way we are unified with Christ (other words used are ones like, “in Christ,” “in Him,” “placed into Christ,” “abide in […]

Sermon: Christ in Us

The Message of the Cross: Christ in Us Galatians 2:20-21 October 27, 2013 (Communion Sunday) There are many ways to talk about the cross of Christ. Over the years I’ve not only preached the crucifixion passages, but I’ve also preached many other sermons relating to the effects and accomplishments of the cross. We’ve seen how […]

Preparing for communion

This Sunday morning we will practice the ordinance of communion. The apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthian believers to examine themselves prior to taking the elements of the Lord’s Supper so that they might not take them in an unworthy manner (1 Cor. 11:27-32). This is a principle that applies to every believer — thorough self-examination […]

Building idols

In a remarkable — almost comical — passage, Jeremiah exposes the folly of ungodly worship: “They decorate it with silver and with gold; They fasten it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because […]