By grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone
Our Father wants us to be like Him: “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16). I sometimes wonder, however, if we have exchanged holy for happy. That is, our becoming more like Him […]
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance,” says the Apostle Paul to his young protégé Timothy, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15). The worst, are you sure Paul? Paul’s pedigree said otherwise. He was the son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6). From […]
The Census Bureau just came out with its 2010 poverty report. The numbers spiked. Just over 15% of Americans are now considered “poor.” That’s 46.2 million people. But if you dig a little you soon discover America’s poor aren’t like the world’s poor. The typical household considered “poor” in America has a car, air conditioning, […]
I just got back from two weeks in Kenya. The focal point of the trip was to train a gathering of mostly rural pastors. Most of their churches have dirt floors, mud walls, and thatched roofs. The nicer houses of God have sheet metal to keep out the rain and an outhouse in the back. […]
The Obama Administration announced this week that the nation’s health insurers have to start covering birth control as part of women’s preventative care. What that means, among other things, is no more co-pays for contraception. I didn’t know pregnancy was a disease. That’s how it’s being treated, however. Contraception is preventative healthcare for this crowd; […]
There was something else I wanted to mention about the prayer life of the Puritans (see “Praying Like a Puritan,” June 30, 2011 blog). Not only was the content of their prayers biblically rich; so were their salutations. Here are a few opening addresses from their prayers found in the book, “The Valley of Vision.” […]
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…” I was in the minority but I enjoyed reading Shakespeare my sophomore year in high school. I enjoyed the clever language and innuendo; I enjoyed deciphering the not-so-obvious. The line above is from “Romeo and Juliet”; enchanted […]
The Holy War rages on; the Kingdom of God versus the Kingdom of Satan. Opening shots were fired in the Garden when the serpent craftily inquired of Eve: “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1) God really did say but Satan has looked for ways to get us to question ever since. Sometimes the battle looks […]
“O my Savior, help me. I am slow to learn, so prone to forget, so weak to climb; I am in the foothills when I should be on the heights….” Those Puritans sure knew how to pray; and it’s not because they had extensive vocabularies and were good with metaphors. Theirs was a deep piety […]
He’s one of those Old Testament kings we pay little attention to; written about in a book from which we rarely read. But even though he was on the throne so long ago; his downfall still instructs. His name was Joash and his story is told in 2 Chronicles 24. Joash became king of Judah […]
Every young parent hears it. It goes something like this: “Enjoy these years with your kids, it will go quick.” Its not that I didn’t believe them when they told me; it’s just that I didn’t realize how fast quick is! Our eldest received his diploma last week. It was a sad/glad moment. It was […]
The culture war is not an onion. Peel away the layers of an onion and you still get onion. Peel away the layers from people and organizations warring against God’s law and biblical norms; you discover deeper issues—that is, lying beneath their agenda is something else propping it up. The pro-homosexual crowd exemplifies. Last fall, […]