Life in the Son

Solomon says that life on this earth — life under the sun — is vanity. But the New Testament says even more clearly what Solomon can only hint at: that life in the Son is satisfying, fulfilling, and the only ultimately worthwhile venture.

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from around the internet: Jon Bloom offers “Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart.” David Murray reminds us, “All things for good.” Sin too? All sin is evil. No sin is worth it. It’s always better that we not sin. However, sin is also part of the “all things” that God works together […]

Assurance of salvation and evidences of maturity

Virtually every believer will experience doubts about the reality of his salvation at some point. There are a variety of reasons for that doubt and lack of assurance: repeated sinful activity, ongoing temptation, or lack of discipline in spiritual essentials like prayer, Bible intake, and evangelism. Don Whitney also points out that another reason for […]

Living like Jesus lived

Many years ago, many Christians began sporting rubberized wrist bands with the initials WWJD — What Would Jesus Do? In one sense it’s an irrelevant question — Jesus is the Son of God, the third person of the Trinity, perfect in all His attributes and actions, completely sinless. I can’t do what He would do. […]

Spiritual food

“For as he thinks within himself, so he is…” (Prov. 23:7a; NASB) A quick trip to the local bookstore and even a superficial perusal of the food section will yield a plethora of books on dieting and eating designed to help the reader change his habits of consumption. The tenor of the books? “You are […]

Integrity

“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.” (Prov. 19:1; NASB) A number of years ago, Ted Engstrom told this story in his book Integrity: For Coach Cleveland Stroud and the Bulldogs of Rockdale County High School [Conyers, Georgia], it was their […]

A short concordance for Proverbs

One of the best tools for studying Scripture is a good concordance. Seeing how an author discusses a topic throughout a book or in his other books, or discovering how other authors discuss the same topic will help one develop a full theology on a given topic. One book where it is particularly useful to […]

What the Lord hates

Is it possible for God to hate? Does God hate? Yes, it is possible for God to hate and yes, He does hate. He hates anything that is contrary to righteousness. His hatred is a means of defending His truth, integrity and good. He is against anything that violates His standard of what is right. […]

Sunday Leftovers: the believer’s security

The security of the believer is the objective reality of what God has done to save believers and keep them saved. It is different from the believer’s assurance, which is his subjective experience of his salvation. A believer’s security is unchanging. Despite what he feels about his salvation, once his name has been penned in […]

Questions to Unbelief

If to Jesus for relief My soul has fled by prayer; Why should I give way to grief, Or heart-consuming care? Are not all things in his hand? Has he not his promise past? Will he then regardless stand And let me sink at last? While I know his providence Disposes each event; Shall I […]

When suffering

While most know the story of John Newton as the author of the hymn, “Amazing Grace,” most are unaware of all the variety of struggles he endured in his life. For instance, after believing God had called him to vocational ministry as a pastor, it was seven years before he was able to be ordained. […]

What is wisdom?

Huston Smith, senior professor of religion at Syracuse University, recounted his interaction with a famous author and professor: While I was teaching at MIT, Aldous Huxley joined us for a semester as distinguished visiting professor in the humanities. Needless to say, he was in demand all over New England, and my regard for him was […]

Christ, our Advocate

A couple of years ago I sat in a courtroom as a member of a jury serving a criminal case. On that day there were two lawyers in that courtroom serving as advocates — one as a defender of the man accused of a crime, and the other serving as both defender of the victim […]

How’s your heart?

John R. W. Stott recounts the letter written by Robert Murray M’Cheyne to the Rev. Dan Edwards on October 2, 1840 after Edwards’ ordination as a missionary: I trust you will have a pleasant and profitable time in Germany. I know you will apply hard to German; but do not forget the culture of the […]

Christ, our joy

A. W. Tozer: If men do not have joy in their hearts they will seek it somewhere else. If Christians are forbidden to enjoy the wine of the Spirit they will turn to the wine of the flesh for enjoyment. The human heart with its divine capacity for holy pleasure must no longer be allowed […]