Last week I reminded you that tools don’t make you wise, but the wise do make tools. One of the tools that has recently been fashioned, and which virtually all of you use, is the smart phone. A central task that lies in front of you is therefore figuring out the relationship of that phone …
Divided Loyalties
We know from the Word of God that the ways of the flesh and the ways of the Spirit cannot be reconciled. They are mortal enemies, and can be nothing but mortal enemies. As long as God is holy, and as long as sin is filthy, the two will be at odds — that is …
Pauline, Not Paula
A few days ago, Michael Horton wrote a piece for The Washington Post headlined as “Evangelicals should be deeply troubled by Donald Trump’s attempt to mainstream heresy.” This is certainly true, and I am troubled by it. On top of that, I appreciated the historical sketch of the Word of Faith movement that Horton laid …
State of the Church 2017
Introduction: It has been our custom for many years to have a “state of the church” message at an early point in the year. This year we have an opportunity to have that message pretty early. Now sometimes the message concerns the state of the church nationally, and sometimes it pertains just to our congregation. …
Tools
This is the first of day the new year, and traditionally a time for resolutions. As long as we recognize that there is nothing intrinsically magic about calendar years, church years, fiscal years, or academic years, we can continue to use them as tools, keeping a prudent eye out. So it is all good, but …
Eat and Be Satisfied
The Word of God promises that the suffering Servant will come to see of the travail of His soul, and He will be satisfied. We too often draw the wrong conclusions from the doctrines of depravity, or from our distress over the current conditions of the Church. We are fallen, and the Church is in …
Jeremiah and Megan
In Scripture we are taught to be imitators of God, as dearly loved children (Eph. 5:1). As Christians who accept the Bible as God’s authoritative voice in our lives, this immediately presents us with several kinds of problems. Theologians distinguish two different kinds of divine attributes, which they call communicable and incommunicable. God is love, …
Echoing Their Joyous Strains
The night the Lord Jesus was born, a solitary angel appeared to some very bewildered shepherds. The night was lit up as by a floodlight, only a floodlight that shone glory instead of mere brightness. The response of the shepherds was a natural one—they were, it says, “sore afraid.” The angel reassured them immediately, saying …
A Meditation on Bethlehem
For Christmas Day 2016 When the wise men come to Jerusalem and inquired about the king who had been born, their arrival amazed the whole city. The thing was news, and the city was stirred up by it. Herod was troubled by the news, and the whole city with him (Matt. 2:3). Herod, for his …
Rachel Comforted
Christmas is the best. But it is the best beginning of any possible story because this story had the best middle and the best ending. Christmas is glorious because it made Good Friday and Easter possible, and they are the best. Good Friday and Easter made Ascension and Pentecost possible, and they are the best. …