In Revelation 2-3 Jesus Christ sends a series of letters to seven churches in Asia Minor. These churches are intended to awaken them from a variety of states of spiritual slumber, and while most offer some form of commendation, the primary intent is to address sins in the churches that are worth of Christ’s condemnation […]
Read More Are you listening? Part 2This month’s free audio book at Christian Audio is Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas. “There are only two places where the powerful and great in this world lose their courage, tremble in the depths of their souls, and become truly afraid. These are the manger and the cross […]
Read More Free audio book: God Is in the MangerWhen our girls were little and we needed to talk to them about some form of conduct that needed correction, they would often offer some kind of defense, “But Dad, I…” They wouldn’t be far into their apologetic before I would raise my hand in the universal signal of “stop,” and then look directly into […]
Read More Are you listening?Jared Wilson reflects on the joy of a groom seeing his bride for the first time on their wedding day: The first song ever sung (by man, anyway) is a love song. Smitten by the vision of his bride for the first time, music erupts from his mouth. And there is the foretaste in this […]
Read More At LastFrom Countryside Bible Church: No Biblical command is more widely accepted and yet more routinely disobeyed than Christ’s command to make disciples! Evangelism – communicating the gospel to the lost people around us – is not optional. It’s not a special gift Christ gives only to a select few. Although some are more gifted and […]
Read More Essentials Conference RegistrationRead many contemporary books about Jesus Christ and they will paint a picture of One who is a friendly buddy, or a permissive and non-threatening boss, or a kind, passive, and undemanding husband. But the apostle John paints a different picture of Christ in Revelation 1. He: is the faithful witness (v. 5) is the […]
Read More The terror of Jesus ChristWe all like to be complimented. We identify with the boy who said to his father, “Dad, let’s play darts. I’ll throw. And you say, ‘great shot!’” We want people to say we’ve done a job well, that we look good for our age, that it looks like we’ve lost a few pounds, that our […]
Read More An unusual commendation?Several weeks ago, our church went to a conference hosted by Watermark Community Church, “Contending with Christianity’s Critics: Answering New Atheists and Other Objectors.” The audio and video from that conference is now available on Watermark’s website. You can download or view/listen online to all seven of the messages: “The Importance of Apologetics for Every […]
Read More Contending with Christianity’s CriticsI grew up in a home where we often had others into our home for the purpose of fellowship and hospitality. In serving as a pastor for more than 20 years now, my wife and I have always sought opportunities to spend time with people inside and outside our church body to cultivate relationships and […]
Read More When it’s wise to be inhospitableAugustine observed, “There can only be two basic loves, the love of God unto the forgetfulness of self; or the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God.” From that it might then be asked, “whom do you love supremely? God or yourself?” Now we all know what the answer should be — […]
Read More Do you love God? How do you know?More than 20 times singers rejected the song before Johnny Lee selected “Lookin’ for Love in All the Wrong Places” to sing in the movie, “Urban Cowboy.” It was never intended to be recorded as part of an album, but with the success of the movie, it was released as a single and sold more […]
Read More Because God is love…This morning you may be in a hurry to get to church to worship. Your clothes may not look or feel right; your children may be complaining; you may have had some conflict with your spouse; you may have slept too late and now you are rushed. But in your haste to leave the house, […]
Read More As you prepare for worship, give thanksSome helpful articles I’ve recently read: Some Thanksgiving leftovers: Mark Talbot explains why even suffering is something for which we can praise God. Jerry Bridges reminds us that, “Paul said we’re to come to God “with thanksgiving.” We should thank Him for His past faithfulness in delivering us from troubles. We should thank Him for […]
Read More Grab bagMichael Horton: My conscience does not render a positive verdict in God’s courtroom when I look inside myself. The only reason I can sleep well at night is that even though my heart is filled with corruption and even though I am not doing my best to please him, I have in heaven at the […]
Read More The only reason I can sleep well at nightOur girls were still very young when one night I heard one of them still awake and talking in their room some time after we put them in bed, so I went to check on them. Elizabeth (our four-year-old) was already sound asleep, but Emily (our almost-two-year-old) was wide awake, lying on her back and […]
Read More How great a love
Words of Grace 