Sanctified affliction

From “Of First Importance:” Sanctified affliction teaches the soul its utter destitution. The believer often commences his spiritual journey with shallow and defective views of the perfect fitness and glory of the Redeemer’s justifying righteousness. There is, we admit, a degree of self-renunciation, there is a reception of Christ, and there is some sweet and […]

It’s been 40 years

This coming week (Tuesday, Jan. 22) marks the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court, legalizing abortion. Since that time, some 53-55 million abortions have been performed in the United States, and perhaps more than 1.2 billion worldwide. Here are several articles worth reading to remind yourself of the importance […]

Some good ebook deals

There are currently a number of good ebook deals both at Amazon and elsewhere (but act quickly, several of these are for a very limited time): Paul Enns, Everything Happens for a Reason?: God’s Purposes in a World Gone Bad ($1.99). Crossway (the link to the sale page doesn’t appear to be working) has all […]

When cancer arrives, how will you be?

Several years ago, a friend of mine was diagnosed with late-stage multiple myeloma while in his early fifties. For about a year and a half he fought the cancer and received some measure of response from the treatments and was able to engage in many of his regular activities. And then he contracted spinal meningitis […]

Bible reading plans for Accordance

For 2013, I customized two chronological Bible reading plans — one for the Old Testament (plus two of the gospels) and one for the New Testament (plus the Psalms). You can download those plans here in PDF format. For those who use the Bible program Accordance — my favorite for the Mac, and one I […]

A Prayer for New Year’s Day

This morning, Tony Reinke quoted this prayer from one of my favorite devotional books, The Valley of Vision. It is fitting for the advent of a new year: O Lord, Length of days does not profit me except the days are passed in thy presence, in thy service, to thy glory. Give me a grace […]

The end of the year — a spiritual summary

This year, our church has read through the New Testament and Psalms. (In the coming year, the plan is to read the Old Testament, though we’ve also provided the NT plan coordinated with the 2013 dates.) Part of my desire was not only to read through the plan, but to blog every day about what […]

The tree in heaven

“And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Rev. 22:2; NASB) Heaven. What pictures come to mind when you hear that word? Streets of gold? Pearly gates? “St. […]

Praise the Lord

Indicators of skewed priorities in churches abound. Yet this morning’s newspaper contains a statement from a pastor of a “sound,” “evangelical” church that pinpoints the problems in too many contemporary American churches: “We’re really building a community center, more than we are a worship center.” It’s rare to read or hear such an open acknowledgement […]

“May God be as good to you as he has been to me…”

What does a husband say to his wife when he knows death is imminent? Even more, what does a husband say to his wife when he has been falsely accused of a crime and has been sentenced to death through the injustice? In 1944, pastor Helmuth von Moltke was accused, tried, and convicted of conspiracy […]

Resolved to change?

Are you think about some things that need changing in the coming year? Here are some resources to help you think through some resolutions for next week: There are many Bible reading plans to help order your Bible intake. Here are some I’ve accumulated over the years. (UPDATE: Here are also two chronological plans I’ve […]

Looking for — and seeing — God’s glory

It’s often hard to see the good in the midst of hardship. When a child receives a diagnosis of cancer or a long-time employee is laid off before Christmas or a college student fails a required course in the semester before graduation or the girl says no to the marriage proposal or the friend betrays […]

Eternity for the unredeemed

It has become somewhat popular in certain spheres of Christendom to be apologetic about Hell. Not only do unbelievers ignore or even scoff at the realities of Hell, but even believers are prone to minimize what awaits those who reject Christ. But the Bible is unapologetically clear about the eternal future of the unredeemed (see especially […]

Contrasts of Christmas

In his book, The Christ of Christmas, James Montgomery Boice reflects on a sermon by Donald Grey Barnhouse, “The Contrasts of Christmas:” [This message] is of interest here because each of the eight contrasts developed by Barnhouse illustrates this central paradox. First, Barnhouse compared Luke 2:11 with John 1:12. Both deal with birth. In the […]

Five reasons to praise the Lord

Old Testament believers were often (approximately 50 times) called to praise the Lord with the Hebrew word “hallelujah” (which literally means, “praise the Lord”). Yet in the New Testament, that word appears only four times — and all four of those references are in the first six verses of Revelation 19. From these few references, […]