What Is a Christian?

A Christian is one who recognizes Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, as God manifested in the flesh, loving us and dying for our redemption; and who is so affected by a sense of the love of this incarnate God as to be constrained to make the will of Christ the […]

Ian and Larissa: One Year Later

From Desiring God: It’s been one year since we released this video, very simply titled: “The Story of Ian and Larissa.” The response was (and continues to be) stunning — over 1.5 million plays online from viewers around the world. But such impressive numbers only faintly echo the measure of grace in the lives of […]

Look to the matter of your meditation

Transformation in the life of the believer begins with a renewal of the mind (Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 4:22-24). So what kinds of things should be the focus of the believer’s meditation so that his mind is daily transformed to the image of Christ? Stephen Charnock provides some answers [I’ve formatted this in a block paragraph […]

Sunday Leftovers: What do you know?

Last Sunday I attempted to provide an extensive amount of background information about the book of 1 John, and someone suggested it might be helpful to post my sermon notes on the blog because he couldn’t get it all down. Given that the way I format my notes together is not conducive to a quick […]

Understanding 1 Samuel

Recently we began reading 1 Samuel in our daily Bible reading plan. Here are a couple of charts that you may find helpful in understanding the book. The first provides an overview to the flow and theme of the book and the second offers a perspective of the relationships of the three kings of the […]

The Supremacy of Christ

Watch this. It’s a little long (just shy of 20 minutes). But it’s worth the investment of that time. HT: Challies.

Free Audio book — A. W. Tozer biography

ChristianAudio gives away a free book each month, and this month the book is Lyle Dorsett’s biography of A. W. Tozer, A Passion for God. This is an excellent biography (though discouraging for what we learn of this well-known pastor as well). I recommend this resource (read my review here). Download A Passion for God from […]

Free eBook about Martin Luther by Steve Lawson — today only!

Today only, the e-version of Steve Lawson’s new book on Martin Luther, The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther is being made available by Ligonier for free. I just finished reading this book. It’s excellent. Take advantage of this deal today! The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther.

A life worth having

David Brainerd: As long as I see any thing to be done for God, life is worth having: but O how vain and unworthy it is, to live for any lower end! HT: CQOD.

Praying for others

Have you ever been unsure about how to pray for others? Perhaps someone’s name comes to mind and you feel compelled to pray, but you are uncertain what to pray. Or maybe someone has asked you to pray and you know you should even pray at that moment, but no words come to mind. Your […]

The sufficiency of God

While working on Sunday’s sermon, I came across this statement by R. C. Sproul on the omnipotence of God, affirming also the sufficiency of God, who does all things His will desires without dependence on any other thing: Aristotle was perplexed by the mysteries of change and motion. As he observed changes taking place around […]

Help in the battle against worldliness

Recently I was asked for my favorite book titles on the topic of worldliness — how can we live in this world without being stained by the world and taking on the characteristics of the world? A few books came immediately to mind, and then I scanned my shelves and found some more helpful […]

The sinners in our lives

Jason Helopoulos writes about a common relational circumstance and then offers a hopeful encouragement: Many of us have friends, sons, daughters, wives, and husbands who we struggle to keep hope alive for. They are resistant to the Gospel. Their lives are not only filled with sin, but dominated and controlled by it. Some of the […]

God’s grace and the ER

When you go to bed at 11 p.m., you don’t expect to see three of your best friends five hours later. When you get up to go to the bathroom at 3:20 a.m., you don’t expect to be welcoming total strangers into your home ten minutes later. When you go to the bathroom in the […]

Doctrine Matters — free ebook by John Piper

From Desiring God: Doctrine Matters is the theological summary of one preacher’s lifetime of investment in a local church. Completing three decades of pastoral ministry at Bethlehem Baptist, John Piper gave a final sermon series on the doctrinal emphases from his years of preaching. These ten emphases, delivered as ten sermons in 2012 and now […]