The True Story of Thanksgiving

From Desiring God: Come Thanksgiving Day each year, many of us give the nod to Pilgrims and Indians and talk of making ready for a harsh first Winter in the New World. But for the Christian, the deepest roots of our thanksgiving go back to the Old World, way back before the Pilgrims, to a […]

He really forgives!

I was about eight years old. It was Saturday morning. My little brother was still in bed. Cartoons were on TV. All was right with the world. Except that while my eyes were looking at the television, they weren’t seeing the cartoons. My mind was preoccupied with a problem. What if I died? Would I […]

This isn’t hard to understand

Some books of the Bible are difficult to understand. In some Epistles, the flow of thought is somewhat obscured by complex structure. In some historical narratives, there are accounts of strange events that leave us wondering how to interpret and apply them (see Judges 19, for one example). In many of the prophets there are […]

What God says to the disabled (and others)

How does one live with disability? How does one persevere when suffering with great weaknesses? She listens to God’s Word: Krista Horning is also the author of Just the Way I Am.) HT: “Disability says ugly things to me. . . God says beautiful things to me. Listen!” Krista Horning [The Works of God.]

When others leave the faith

I heard it again Sunday morning. While visiting another church (a “kindred spirit” church that I frequent as often as I can when I am on vacation on a Sunday), I heard of two more men who are in the process of leaving the faith. They are turning their backs on what they know is […]

Finish well

At 7 P.M. on October 20, 1968, a few thousand spectators remained in the Mexico City Olympic Stadium. It was cool and dark. The last of the marathon runners, each exhausted, were being carried off to first-aid stations. More than an hour earlier, Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia — looking as fresh as when he started […]

Why God forgives

The sin of all men is great. We may choose to compare ourselves with others and suppose that we are “not so bad,” but set against the firm criteria of perfection (Mt. 5:48), all men are desperately sinful. There are no exceptions to that statement. The psalmist underscores that truth when he says, “If You, […]

Don’t miss God at church tomorrow

Read a Scripture. Sing a hymn. Pray. Sing a hymn. Pray. Sing a chorus. Sing another chorus (or two). Pray. Read another Scripture. Hear the special music. Listen to the sermon. Sing a hymn. Pray. Beat the Methodists to the cafeteria. For many that is the extent of their worship experience. It just all seems […]

It’s not going to get better. But there is an answer.

In the middle of his second and final letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul writes a sober and startling statement: “But realize this, that in the last times difficult times will come” (3:1). That sentence jars the reader into wakefulness. That is not the kind of sentence that we like to read. Our presupposition is […]

An amazing story of God’s grace

Bill Mounce tells the story of the man he calls, “the most amazing translator I have ever met:” Having been on the ESV and now on the NIV translation committee, I have met some amazing translators, men and women who love the Lord and his word. But without diminishing my friends in any way, I […]

Remember Jesus

I am afraid it is true. I have done some time in jail. I was young. Very young. And by the grace of God, the time I did was short. I did five minutes as a six-year-old first-grader. We had gone on a field trip to the county jail, and to give us a sense […]

Kindle afresh the gift of God

In a story that echoes the adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” U.S. News & World Report related the following story a few years ago: For most of the last decade, Chicagoans who worked in the Loop, the booming downtown business district, could easily ignore the city’s budget crisis; Washington’s […]

Kindle book deals

Author: R.C. Sproul Publisher: David C. Cook Price: FREE (Nov 12-13) DOWNLOAD KINDLE E-BOOK Author: Jerry Bridges Publisher: NavPress Price: FREE (Nov 12-18) DOWNLOAD KINDLE E-BOOK Additionally, Cruciform books has several of their ebooks on sale for $3.99. Check out: The Organized Heart (Staci Eastin) “But God” (Casey […]

Keep loving others

At the beginning of the last chapter of Hebrews, the writer says, “Let the love of the brethren continue.” In other words, keep loving your brothers in Christ. But the command is not generic. The author provides numerous illustrations of what this love should look like; he offers many ways in which we can fulfill […]

“Pray for me”

“Now may the God of peace [who is the author and the giver of peace], who brought back from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (the new covenant), strengthen (complete, perfect) [and] make you what you ought to be [and] […]