When You Miss, You’re Missed

A Parable Once upon a time, there was a mother with 7 sons. She loved her boys very much and they loved her. She and her husband were committed to the family meal and their evenings were often filled with laughter. And if you have boys then you know that those evenings were filled with … Read more

God’s Unborable Holiness – Part 2

*The following is an adapted excerpt from Before the Throne: Reflections on God’s Holiness by Allen S. Nelson IV (2019).  The Gospel of a Holy God The need of every human being is to be reconciled to their holy and good Creator whom they have sinned against, turned away from, and despised. This reconciliation is … Read more

To Give His Son a Bride

God put the helpless Man to sleep and opened up his side A promise old, intent to keep, to give His Son a Bride Adam awoke to see the gift, his eyes on her steadfast, A perfect helper for him fit, he cried to God ‘At Last!’ The glory of that fateful day, too soon … Read more

God’s Unborable Holiness – Part 1

*The following is an adapted excerpt from Before the Throne: Reflections on God’s Holiness by Allen S. Nelson IV (2019).  No Room for Meh When it comes to responding to the holiness of God we have two options (See Isaiah 6:5 and Revelation 4:8). Woe is me or worthy are You. Do you know what … Read more

The Greatest Words in Human History

There have been quite a few famous speeches in the course of human history. Winston Churchill and William Wilberforce both addressed the British House of Commons in their respective eras with words that have been dramatized by Hollywood. Abraham Lincoln’s words at Gettysburg are studied by elementary students year after year. Socrates had his Apology … Read more

Why it’s Not Good for Man to be Alone

Our church has slowly been making its way through Genesis 1–11 on Sunday mornings.  It has been so amazing to see how important these chapters are to contemporary events. The Bible truly is living and active! In Genesis 2:18, Moses writes: Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I … Read more

On Dirty Faces and Pop-Tart Guns

We noticed the strangest thing when our middle son was 6 years old playing baseball. Now, little boys playing baseball are always going to get dirty, but there seemed to be something exceptionally dirty about our son. My wife observed it first. “I think Caleb is rubbing dirt on his face.” “No way! He’s just … Read more

The Myth of Peacetime Christianity

One of the things I got to do over the Summer of 2019 was read David Steele’s new book The White Flag: When Compromise Cripples the Church and write its foreword. I commend this book to TAU readers. In today’s post, I’m simply posting the foreword for the book. See the end for ordering information. … Read more

Why You Should Read More (and Less) Books

Sometimes I like to smell books. I’m a weirdo, I know. My wife makes fun of me for it. There’s just something about smelling the pages of a new or old or somewhere in between book that fascinates me. I’m inclined to think that in the new heavens and new earth all of you will … Read more

20 Books That Have Shaped Me

library shelf

I love books. I love buying books. I love reading books. I know books aren’t for everyone, but they have had a profound impact on my life. In this post, I want to share with you 20 books that have significantly impacted me. The Rules I’m going to stretch this a bit. I can’t keep … Read more

Summer 2019 Ministry Reflections

I remember a few months after my first son was born that I was going to school 40 hours a week (I was student teaching to finish my undergrad). In addition to that, I worked 3-4 days every week at a Community Center and was a bi-vocational youth pastor. That was probably the busy season … Read more

Man’s Design is for Dependence

We’ve been walking through Genesis 1-11 in our Sunday morning sermon series at Perryville Second Baptist Church. I’d like to highlight one of the things we’ve discovered together as we’ve been studying these verses together. Man is designed to be dependent on God — not just sinful man, but from the very beginning. Adam and … Read more