The following is what I told my church on January 10, 2021. Click here for the audio. Our...
The following is what I told my church on January 10, 2021. Click here for the audio. Our...
In 1741 Jonathan Edwards preached his sermon, The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of...
We have been examining Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:8. “Remember Jesus Christ,...
We are now examining Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:8. “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel…” In the last post I encouraged you to remember Christ’s humanity. Today, I want us to remember to: Cling...
In teaching on the doctrine of regeneration recently, I was thinking through explanations on why people would reject the Bible’s teaching on this precious doctrine. I came up with 5 reasons. These reasons apply to other precious doctrines as well. When the Bible...
My Grandparents and I - 2003 Growing up in rural Arkansas I had many opportunities to walk the woods with my grandfather learning about various aspects of nature, including birds. One of the most interesting birds I can remember is the Charadrius vociferous, or, you...
The Woman Who Loved To Give Books is a short depiction of the life of Susannah Spurgeon, wife of the prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon. Faced with a difficult illness, Susannah wonders how she can serve God. And then she finds just the way!
The Man Who Preached Outside is a short depiction of the life of George Whitefield, the well-known itinerant preacher in the UK and USA. Your children will see George Whitefield heralding the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to a crowd. A good idea will be to show the child the variety of responses Mr. Whitefield is getting from the crowd. Warning, they aren’t all positive! But this should give the opportunity to prepare your child for opposition should he or she come to saving faith.
The Woman Who Helped A Reformer is a short depiction of the life of Katharina Luther, the wife of the well-known reformer, Martin Luther. The work that she did to help her husband be free to preach and teach the Word of God during a pivotal time in church history is shown with wonderful imagery. Although the book is very well-written and captures little one’s attention, it is the illustrations that put the entire story together. Thoughtful parents will take time to ask their children questions like “How many things is Mrs. Luther carrying on this page? and “What is that in her hand?” in order to engage young readers’ attention.
There are two main sections to this children’s book. The first section takes your child page by page and displays a picture of a rock with a little text about the rock on each page. The photos are brilliant, and the name of the rock is highlighted in the same color as the rock. The color scheme is really neat. Each set of two pages has similarly colored rocks. By the end, you’ve looked at 16 different rocks of several different hues.
How far should professing Christians go in pursuit of unity? When and how should we disagree with each other? Are there ever circumstances when we should break fellowship? The thorough look into church history in The Story of Creeds and Confessions serves as a helpful reminder to seek and speak the truth humbly and in love.
Jesus, the lamb of God, became sin for His people that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus was the lamb who never strayed from the pasture, yet he took on the penalty deserved by foolish and rebellious sheep. Jesus is the lost sheep when he is suffering the penalty for our sins. Jesus is the one who cries to God to be sought after in this state. And Jesus is the one who never forgot God’s commands.
Did a man directly created by God out of the dust named Adam really exist in history? Did he really have a wife named Eve? Did he really have sons and daughters and populate the earth? And does it really even matter? Well, actually, yes it does. And I'm going to give...
Currently, I am preaching through Genesis 1–11 at Perryville Second Baptist Church. In our 33rd week through the series (no, I am not recommending everyone go that slow!) we came upon the curious case of Enoch in Genesis 5:22–24. This series of posts (see part 1 here)...
Currently, I am preaching through Genesis 1-11 at Perryville Second Baptist Church. In our 33rd week through the series (no, I am not recommending everyone go that slow!) we came upon the curios case of Enoch in Genesis 5:22-24. This series of posts (see part 1 here,...
Pray Like Jesus Psalms 119:169 Taw Let my cry come before you, O Yahweh; give me understanding according to your word! As we begin to close the longest chapter of the Bible, we might be tempted to think that God has already said everything that can be said. We must...
It has been said that there are two religions in the world: the religion of grace and the religion of works. A distinguishing characteristic of the religion of works is that somehow the good deeds a man does are what pleases his deity. This is true whether that religion sees man as inherently good or as innately sinful. Since this is an affront to the gospel of grace, our Scriptures go to great lengths to destroy any hope men can have to save themselves by proclaiming the gospel of grace (Romans 3:24,25; Ephesians 2:8, 9). But wicked men will always twist good religion to their own ends and many a man has proclaimed the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ apart from works as a license to sin.
One of the ways God helps us to walk in his ways while we strive to imitate Christ is by granting us awareness of His immanence. Nothing can be hidden from the anthropomorphic eyes of God. For the heathen, this truth is blatantly denied as they fancy themselves into thinking they will escape judgment. It’s not always because men think they are good that they shall escape judgment, but sometimes it is that they think no one knows of their crimes. The child of God whose heart has been quickened earnestly desires obedience to God’s precepts and adherence to God’s testimonies, yet he or she still finds it difficult to obey. The spirit and flesh are opposed to each other and the battle rages, and sometimes the flesh wins.
I bought this book on the recommendation of a reformed Baptist pastor friend. I knew that I was supposed to teach my kids, and I had learned the value of catechizing them, but I didn’t know where to start. The Baptist Catechism book I owned seemed “too big” to ask my little ones to memorize. The question and answer format is a great teaching tool, in my opinion, so when I saw that Founders had produced a children’s catechism which was recommended by a trusted friend, I purchased a copy immediately.
Christianity is thought of by many as the “religion of niceness.” Whoever came up with that idea knows very little of the scripture. Yes, Christians are called to be kind and should be known by their kindness and meekness. But too often we mistake kindness for fake-virtues like “never disagreeing with anyone,” and “never hating anything or anyone.” But as David speaks here, so does the Christ, “I hate and abhor falsehood.” Jesus Christ is the Truth and falsehood is a lie. Thus it is fitting that we should hate the opposite (falsehood) of that which we love (Christ). God chooses more than one word here to denote His holy hatred for lying. God personally hates lying and morally detests it.
We vomit spoiled food almost instantaneously, not because we think about it and decide we should expel it, but because our bodies are naturally designed to protect us. We have a *”gag reflex” for a reason, and it prevents things from getting deep inside us before we have time to realize all the effects. Similarly, our Christian conscience and convictions, bathed in the Word and Law of God, are capable of causing a natural aversion to sin and evil before we’ve even had time to consider it. We are disgusted by the ideas of lying, stealing, vandalism, gossip, slander, sexual immorality, rape, orgies, homosexual acts and desires, drunkness, hypocrisy, envy, sorcery, and faithlessness. A Christian who is growing in holiness and separation from worldly lusts will find themselves more quickly disgusted when they encounter rampant wickedness and filth as they walk their path in this world (James 1:21).
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the entire Bible. It's longer than several entire books. I imagine that due to our propensity to read to the end of the chapter, a good number of people read Psalm 119 in one sitting when they get to it in their Bible reading plan....
It is easy to be anxious in this world. We are surrounded by difficulty even when we are not being chased down by evildoers. A Christian’s comfort must begin with God. And the only way we can find comfort is with a God who is near to us. Other religions brag of completely transcendent gods. Some religions have gods who are so much like us that it’s impossible to discern what makes them gods in the first place. But our God, the God of Heaven and Earth, is near to us. He is omnipresent so we always have access to Him through Jesus Christ who shed his blood for us then rose again and ascended into Heaven. There is no place we can go to avoid His presence (as if we’d want to!).
The promise we have received is no different, but we have received more revelation. We meditate on the aspects of that promise which are already fulfilled: that Jesus Christ has come into the world. He was born of the virgin, conceived without the stain of sin by the Holy Spirit, and was perfectly righteous before the Father in every respect, although He was tempted by Satan (Hebrew 4:15). He was delivered to death and suffered the wrath of almighty God for sinners, (Isaiah 53:11), was buried, and on the third day rose from the grave (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). THIS is what we meditate upon, and all its implications: that we are wretched sinners, that Christ is a kind and gracious and all-sufficient savior, and that only by grace through faith can salvation be accomplished (among others)!
The Apostle Paul told the Phillippians that his prayer for them was that their love would abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment. If the Lord inspired Paul to pray for these saints this way and record it for us, I think we ought to know what it means...
First, we note the extent and duration of God’s righteousness. It is righteous forever. There is no other being of whom that can be said. God is eternal and unchanging. Thus, His righteousness is forever righteous. What a comfort to know that our God will not change and will forever be righteous. Secondly, we note the quality of God’s righteousness. His righteousness is righteous. While this seems obvious, it bears remarking that God describes our righteousness in very different terms. Isaiah 64:6 reminds us that “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” God’s righteousness is contrasted with ours in that His righteousness is eternal and unblemished righteousness. There is no stain on God’s righteousness and it isn’t pushed about by winds of change. Praise Him!
I am wholeheartedly committed to the priority of the preaching of God's Word in our regular church gatherings. True, I am a pastor, so I guess by default I "have" to say that, but even apart from that role, there is a deep conviction running through me that the Word...
In Romans 10:2-4, Paul criticizes the Israelites for having a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. It is not that they didn’t know who God is or that they worshipped the wrong God. No, Paul’s admonition is that the Israelites knew God, but didn’t comprehend His righteousness. Thus, they didn’t submit to it, nor were they grasping their need for Christ’s righteousness to cover them. But the Israelites could not blame the psalmist. For centuries before the incarnation, Psalm 119 was telling the people of God’s righteousness and His faithful promise. Thus, the psalmist is consumed with his own zeal for God’s righteous testimonies. He is consumed with zeal for God’s faithful promise as a contrast to the ignorance of his enemies.
God justifies us by grace through faith alone, and that faith is followed by good works (Ephesians 2:10). God doesn’t just forgive sinners and leave them in their sin; He promises them help along the way (Proverbs 3:6). That is his promise to us. God provides us with new affections and desires. But in our unredeemed flesh, we still must wage war with sin. Confessing our weakness, we ought to pray with the psalmist “let no iniquity get dominion over me!” It is good and right to plan on not sinning, but we humbly request God to be the power that enables us to walk in newness of life. A healthy fear of the power of sin is essential to avoid it. It is those who think they stand who are in most danger of falling (1 Corinthians 10:12). Humbly acknowledge your need for His grace today.
Michael interviews Brad Weber of Theology Nights @ http://theologynights.com/ Theology Nights offers Reformed theology, articles, teaching, videos, and podcasts. In this episode, Brad gives us insight into his former life of addiction and what drives him to do what he...
God is glorified by His giving of more and more grace. It magnifies God’s benevolence and kindness in the eyes of creatures when He expresses pity on them and blesses them with still more grace. Oh, how many Christians will go to Heaven and only realize there that there was more grace available in this life had they only asked. God will never run out and you can never exhaust His grace! Too often we don’t ask for more grace because we don’t feel we deserve it.
We never deserve it. That’s why we call it grace. It is not earned. It’s granted by a good and merciful Savior.
Michael interviews Dr. Dustin Benge of Southern Seminary about the two sermons he gave at the 2019 Cruciform Conference concerning the cruciform gospel. Dustin preached from Titus 3 and posed 4 questions to consider: Where does a cruciform gospel start? What does a...
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” – Hosea 4:6 Knowledge is power, so they say. When it comes to knowing the character of God, the lack of knowledge is detrimental. Contextually, the weight of this verse lies on the spiritual leaders of God’s people....
Michael interviews Michelle Lesley of michellelesley.com and A Word Fitly Spoken podcast about Feminism, femininity, biblical womanhood, and Moore. Michelle is a wife, mother, and blogger. You won't want to miss this hard-hitting interview! 🙂 [content type=page...
Thus, David begins the end of this octet with the proclamation that God’s precepts are right. All of them! And thus it follows that every other way is false and therefore worthy of disposal. It is not enough for the Christian to say “I believe what I believe but I won’t judge someone else for their beliefs.” This is as hateful as letting a child play with a fork near an outlet or walk through a parking lot with his or her hand unheld. When you love someone, you do what you can to protect them while they are weak, teach them how to protect themselves so they’ll grow, and warn them of the very real dangers they are ignorant of.
Michael interviews a few more interesting people from the Cruciform Conference. Micah Hasty of Micah Hasty Music https://twitter.com/themicahandrew Josh Hamon of https://theministryofwar.com/ Bryan Lamb of https://www.garageministries.com/ [content type=page...
Michael interviews Kofi regarding his sermon, Hebrews 12: Cross Purchased Discipline. This discussion will edify saints as you get the benefit of the hours of study which was put in before the Cruciform Conference in Indianapolis. Also, we hear about Kofi's church's...
ot only are we promised deliverance from our own cursed flesh, but we are promised freedom from the evil of this world. We long to see the day when all of God’s enemies are finally made a footstool (Hebrews 1:13) so that we might be delivered from them! Our suffering and oppression, although ordained by God and granted by God (Philippians 1:29) is nevertheless something we naturally want to avoid. We long for the time and place where God will wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4), where there will be no more pain and no more death. Suffering and pain are results of the curse, and all creation groans to be delivered—ourselves included (Romans 8:22-23). It is this meaningful focus on future deliverance that strengthens the child of God for every circumstance in this world. We are not promised health and wealth now, but when we inherit all the rewards earned by the Christ, we will be glad we traded none of them for temporary comfort!
Satan takes God’s Word and he twists it and he downplays the consequences for disobeying it, and he downplays the consequences for sin. The famous RG Lee quote is pertinent here: “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”
God’s holy hatred for sinners is pure and so much more terrifying than we tend to want to think about. The KJV says, “Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes,” and the sense is truly terrible. There is no mercy for the wicked when God’s judgment comes. Therefore, we must all the more earnestly tell sinners of the mercy of God which can be found today. And we must never diminish the terror of the Lord. The heathen will rage (Psalm 2:1) and the weak of heart will accuse us of fear-mongering, but there can be no compromise when we preach the wrath of God because to tone down God’s hatred for sinners has the practical effect of diminishing Christ’s love for sinners, as well.
Not only is God our hiding place, but He is our shield. He is our defense against everything hurled toward us by the enemy. There is no condemnation from God for those who are in Christ Jesus, the hiding place, but the condemnation of men is in ample supply. God does not promise that his people will avoid attacks from evildoers. But He acts as our shield. It is God who takes the brunt of the punishment when we are accosted for our faith (Acts 9:5). With a shield, we will still feel the impact of the blows and experience the heat of the battle, but we will not receive a fatal blow until the shield determines it is time.
The Antidote to Sorrows Psalms 119:109 I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. David was no stranger to danger. He was constantly threatened, yet refused to forget God's law. He wrote, "I hold my life in my hand continually..." and this...
God's Word Lights The Way Psalms 119:105 ESV Nun Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The 14th octet of this great psalm begins with this oft memorized declaration about God's illuminating Word. The psalmist notes that God's word is a lamp to his...
Honey is never bitter or sour, and neither is the Bible to the adopted child of God. We taste it, take it within ourselves, and then come back for more. But like honey, it has to be searched for and found, then extracted from its comb. Honey doesn’t come from Heaven in jars. There is danger and even peril in taking the fruit of the bee, and we also must be willing to endure trial when we dig into God’s Word. You may even get stung!
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...
What's Your Meditation? Psalms 119:97 ESV Mem Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. The book of psalms starts out with Blessed is the man who delights in God's law and meditates on it day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). That recurring theme is not lost on...
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...
We Remember Psalms 119:93 ESV I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life. One of the most depressing themes of scripture is the frequency and ease with which the people of God tend to forget what He has said. The Scripture is replete with...
Michael, Tim, and George discuss the New Covenant promise of the perseverance of the saints and Tim’s article “Choked Out by Thorns.” How are we to think about folks who fall away like Joshua Harris or Marty Sampson? What assurance can a Christian have in this life that they will truly be preserved to the end?
What steps can someone take to make their calling and election sure and watch out for their brethren?
Firmly Fixed Psalms 119:89 ESV Lamedh Forever, O Yahweh, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. It is hard to believe we are starting the second half of Psalm 119. It has taken over 6 months and anyone involved in this devotion or memorizing this psalm has...
Insolent Pitfalls! Psalms 119:85 The insolent have dug pitfalls for me; they do not live according to your law. There is a principle which plays out in the life of every true Christian. And that is the world will hate you because they hated your master, Jesus. The...
We Have No Other Hope Psalms 119:81 Kaph My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word. The Kaph octave begins with a description of deep longing. The word for long in verses 81 and 82 is the same word used in verse 87 where the psalmist laments that the...
What would you do if you were asked to give the "message" at halftime of an Upward Sports match? This situation really comes up, and Christians with sound theology need to be ready at all times to present God's Word to the world. A Twitter friend asked this question...
In the second half of the Yodh octave, we continue the series of supplications that David is making of the Lord. In Psalm 119:76, he refers to God's promise of salvation and his desire for the comfort of God's. The last four verses of that section build on that theme....
Michael and George discuss the New Covenant. This covenant is unmixed, unbreakable and unconditional. This is the first in a series where we will define the New Covenant, discuss its implications, apply it to the Christian life, and then contrast it to errors that...
The most fondly looked upon saints in history were built up in the faith (Jude 1:20) through their own suffering which led to earnest prayer. And they, like the faithful ones of Hebrews 11, looked forward to God’s promise to his servant to endure. It is the hope of Heaven that allows weak vessels to remain faithful during suffering. It is the promise that God will not lose any of His sheep that provides the strength to do good in the midst of evil. And it is the comfort we find in God’s steadfast love toward us that motivates us to be still and know that He is God when the only hope we have is that he will do all that He has promised, even when all earthly evidence appears to the contrary.
Smearing With Lies Psalms 119:69 The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; We’ve seen throughout Psalm 119 that the psalmist is no stranger to affliction. He is humble, honest, and strives to serve the Lord with all his heart. He...
Here is where we arrive at meat and potatoes of Psalm 119: the Teth octave. Why do God's people suffer affliction? Are they not to be rewarded for their love and devotion to Him? What message does it portray to the unbelieving world when God cannot even protect His...
The Cords of the Wicked Psalms 119:61 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me, I do not forget your law. We have seen the psalmist proclaim the excellencies of loving God's law even in the midst of trouble (Psalm 119:23). Now we find language reminiscent of Psalm...
Michael and Allen discuss a couple of recent posts on Thing Above Us: The Essence and Effects of Sin and What's Your Portion? and find that the posts are surprisingly related!
ou would spit out foul tasting food the moment it touched your tongue. You’d remove your hand from a fire before you could feel the heat. Without planning, we rarely go more than a few hours without a meal. We naturally recoil from things we dislike and naturally crave that which will nourish us when we need it. So why is it that you are able to go so long without feasting on God’s Word? Why do you linger so long with sin and temptations to sin? Why does your mind not recoil from wicked thoughts as your hand from a hot flame? The answer is that a part of us still likes the sin, still finds enjoyment there rather than in Jesus.
The goal of growing in godliness is to become more like Christ and think His thoughts after Him (2 Corinthians 10:5). But what many of us do is to become so committed to “never getting angry anymore” that instead of avoiding anger because it’s sinful and we hate it, we simply avoid the thoughts or emotions that ever even evoke anger from us. We become stoics out of strict pragmatism. We have traded sinful anger for sinful legalism. When what we ought to do is follow the man, Jesus Christ, who experienced all the temptations we do, yet exercised perfect anger, never sinning as the result. Avoiding anger altogether because you indulged too deeply in that sin before conversion is akin to avoiding church because you were a religious zealot before Christ. Put away the old—but put on the new.
when we are confronted with the temptation to be ashamed of God or His law, our only hope is to continue to trust in God and His Word! Christian, have you ever felt the need to apologize for God? How about when nonbelievers accuse God of evil because He judges His own creation? Or when God has provisions for slave owners in His Word? What about severe penalties for seemingly minor sins in Israel’s civil law? It is precisely because God’s ways are so different from ours that the wicked scoff at Him and His ways. Flee the temptation to apologize for God and to present Him as more palatable to the unregenerate heart—do not turn away from His law and His Word!
In verse 48, notice the repetition of the psalmist’s love for God’s commandments with is a little detail added. For what we find our delight in we will soon find ourselves giving our lives to. Is it not so with you, dear saint, that you dedicate the most time, effort, and energy toward that which you love the most? You want to know what a man loves? Direct your attention to where he spends his money, his time, and his gaze, and you will quickly know!
Secondly, we are reminded that the God of the Old Testament is the same God as the God of the New Testament and that He is a God of love. But not only is God love, what is striking is that He loves me. It is God’s love that is on display at the cross, and David well knows that he has no hope of delighting in the path of God’s commandments (Psalm 119:35) or keeping God’s law (Psalm 119:34) unless God “makes the first move.” We love because He first loved us! In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be a propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:19,10)!
It's a question which many Christians face: Should I attend my friend or family member's Catholic wedding or funeral? Is that the same as being unequally yoked with non-believers? What if someone there gets the wrong idea about what I believe? Does my presence there...
Thanks to Wretched Radio and a whole host of financial sponsors, I received 1000 copies of Tom Hammond's book "What Time Is Purple?" for distribution on the campus of The Ohio State University. You can participate by being a distributor or by donating money so that...
Turn My Eyes Psalm 119:37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. David has prayed throughout this Psalm, and particularly in the first half of the He octave, for a heart that truly delights in God's ways (Psalm...
Seek Him Psalm 119:33 He Teach me, O Yahweh, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. As we begin the fifth octave, we find the psalmist repeating the desire to be taught by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Knowing that we have no hope apart from the...
Lying Lips Psalms 119:29 ESV Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! In the first half of the “Daleth” octet, we saw the psalmist confess to God and ask the Lord to guide him to greater understanding, so that he might not continue to sin against...
The Scene John (in regard to "spiritual children") said that he has no greater joy than to hear that his children walk in the truth (3 John 1:4). Inversely, how great is the despair experienced by the parents of a son or daughter who follows the wide road? I have...
Thirsty For Life? Psalms 119:25 ESV Daleth. My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! What is brought to your mind when you read this verse? What does it mean for a soul to "cling to the dust?" I think a good clue is in the second clause: "give...
When we face trials of any kind, only the comfort of God can truly satisfy a man's soul. Where do we find this comfort? Against what type of trials will this comfort suffice? What do we draw upon and from when the world gives us all it's got? Answers are given in...
Welcome to another pSaturday Psalm! This week we enter a new octet. Psalm 119:17 starts with the letter "Gimel." One thing I realized for those who memorize this passage of scripture — when you've finished you'll know the Hebrew alphabet! This octet continues the...
Psalm 119:13-16 ESV With my lips I declare the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. As we've...
This week's memory verses bring us deeper into this blessed Psalm and introduce a biblical term which is under-used and not often understood—purity. As we continue to study Psalm 119 and memorize it, I trust that God is causing you to meditate on His Word throughout...
As I meditated on Psalm 119:5-8 this week, I was overwhelmed by the psalmist's obvious love for the Lord Jesus Christ. What is remarkable about my observation is that nowhere in the first 40 verses of this glorious psalm does the term love even appear. The legalist...
What an exciting and blessed year 2019 is going to be. If you don't already know this about me, I am a serious proponent of scripture memory. In fact, I started a website dedicated to helping people memorize scripture. You can see it at memorizethescripture.com. Maybe...
This Christmas I want you to be prepared for someone who is "coming to town." And, no, I do not mean Santa Claus. It seems every Christmas a few people always appear on the scene and present situations where Christians need to respond appropriately. Four people who...
Psalm 34 has a definite structure. The first third of the Psalm is David recounting God's faithfulness. He rehearses it again and again: God answered him, God heard him, God encamps around him, and on and on it goes. There's a give and take, David exalts God and God...
The photo to the right made its way around the internet and into my email. The gist is clear — it's designed to exhibit that everyone suffers from "Total Depravity." Haha. I get it. The idea is that the image is fixed and not actually testing anyone for any of the...
Before we begin the final third of Psalm 34, it seems right and good to take a step back and soak in the passage before we dissect it. The first third, verses 1-7, is about simple truths. The second third, verses 8-14, is about instructions for godliness. Now, in the...
This week's pSaturday Psalm comes from Psalm 119:65-72. Psalm 119 is a wonderful psalm that is really a "love poem," so to speak, about God's word! It is the longest chapter in the Bible — composed of 22 8 verse stanzas where the first letter of each line in a stanza...
It was cold and blustery as the sun was setting. Ice had begun to form along the empty streets outside and Jehudi's teeth chattered as he scurried back to the house having completed his official government business. The contraband he had been dispatched to obtain was...
There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to a baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting a pound, and he found that he was not. This angered him, and he took the farmer to court. The judge asked the farmer what he was using to...
Perhaps you've made it through the previous four posts(Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, and Post 4) already, or maybe you're joining us for the first time today. I've been taking the time to write out some thoughts on Rachel Held Evans' (RHE from now on) new book Inspired:...
I received a question about how to grow as a Christian and what advice I would offer to someone who was recently converted on how to "practically" mature in the faith. The person specifically stated "I need a literal path, not just read your Bible, attend church,...
This is Part 3 (Part 1 , Part 2) of a 7 Part response to Rachel Held Evans's (RHE from here on) new book, Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again. In this post, I want to address the inspiration of Scripture. The Problem In the book,...
I assume everyone reading this blog is already familiar with the phrase 'the honeymoon is over.' It's the accepted fact that after newlyweds are finished with their honeymoon, (and real-life begins, *gasp*), that the excitement of being married is no longer novel, and...
In the first post on Rachel Held Evans’ (RHE from now on) new book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again, I exhorted readers to teach the Bible well. In this post, I want to talk about one of RHE’s main issues with the Bible, which is...
Why Read and Review this Book? If my memory serves correctly the first time I remember learning about Rachel Held Evans (RHE from here on) was when she appeared on the Today Show in 2012 to talk about her book A Year of Biblical Womanhood. It was fairly obvious to me...
Christianity seems to be marked by a divide between people who actively evangelize and those who do not. Clearly, some folks are particularly burdened about and gifted concerning the dissemination of the Christian gospel. But it is also generally understood that ALL...
On the 25th of June, 2018, the Lord Jesus Christ granted me an opportunity to preach the Word to a college football team. There's a school in Ohio that is not a Christian University, but, due to some Christian faculty in the athletic department, I was asked to bring a...
In May of 2008 I was inconsistent with my Bible reading at best. I’ve already recounted some of that story in a previous post, but suffice to say that I was too proud and too lazy to read the Bible every day. One day I challenged myself to see how many days in a row I...
I've mentioned previously that we are currently going through the book of Ruth at our church. I had originally planned on 12 sermons, but we are currently in week 17! God's Word is a treasure, and we have been blessed by the vast richness set before us in the book of...
I did not grow up in a Christian family, so family worship was not something that was modeled for me when I was growing up. Additionally, my first decade as a Christian didn't include a lot of teaching or discussion on the topic of family worship. So a few years ago...
The Beginner's Gospel Story Bible is an excellent resource for parents of small children! Positive Review This book is THICK and HEAVY. The pages are strong, able to withstand the awkward turning of toddler hands, which is essential for a book for small children. Each...
I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels - John Calvin If there is one problem I have with modern Christians, it’s how we use language. I am not much for conversation - by nature, I have a knack for offending people and that...
This is a story of God's sovereignty and meticulous care over His people. Most Christians affirm that God is always watching over us, His eye is on the sparrow, and the hairs of our heads are all counted. I hope that this story will bring you to praise and worship our...
What Happens When a Baby Dies? Many folks have argued whether babies go to Heaven for centuries. Instead of putting forth an argument, per se, I want to summarize what the possible positions one can take would be, and at least try to eliminate the ones that seem...
When we write or speak, we are communicating thoughts, and those thoughts either reflect biblical orthodoxy or they do not. Carelessness in speech, although not criminal, is still an outpouring of a heart that isn't really striving for godliness (Matthew 12:36–37)....
My older son was outside playing basketball down the street. He had stopped to wave at me as I drove past him on my way home from work. I walked in the door of my house and looked around. My wife was in the kitchen putting the final touches on dinner, and my youngest...
Wrath and Grace is holding a conference June 30, 2018 at Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia. I sat down with Franky Collazo, who is organizing this event in order to hear from his heart what he and the team at Wrath and Grace hope to accomplish. Michael:...
1 You can hardly visit a social media thread/debate without seeing the commission of countless logical fallacies. The level at which unregenerate people and immature/uneducated Christians commit logical fallacies is only eclipsed by their perceived mastery of them....
If you venture to Google.com on March 8 of any year, you'll find a doodle promoting International Women's Day. I want to draw your attention to this screenshot from 2018's doodle. It's a depiction of women in all sorts of professional roles, presumably roles they once...
(Photo Credit: Stephen J. Melniszyn) I've had several people asking me about where I am on my current book project, so I thought I'd have a place where I could point folks to give them the latest on how things are progressing. I'm pretty new to this book...
Colossians 3:1-2 is, in essence, the theme of this blog. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of...
It seems everyone in the conservative evangelical world is trying to think more creatively about what to do to get people in church. Or how to 'be the church', which of course you can't 'be the church' if you're not regularly gathering as a local church. In today’s...
If you haven’t read part 1 and 2 yet, you can do so here, and here. When my wife, son, and I moved to Taylorsville, KY, we were ready to conquer the world. The church there loved us well, and we made lasting friendships. My other mission that summer began once I...