Life together in Christ is quite an adventure, and this sometimes comes as a shock and surprise. It is easy for us to think that if we love Jesus, then loving our neighbor should be easy. And if we think that, how much easier will it be for us to love our brothers and sisters? …
The Face of Jesus Christ
You may have been asked, from time to time, why we don’t use images in our public worship of God. This is a subject on which many books could be written—and have been, actually—but it is an important point for us to recall from time to time. There are three basic reasons. The first is …
Antiseptic Truth
The Word of God says that mercy and truth go together. Mercy and truth are what God uses to purge our iniquity (Prov. 16:6). There are many occasions when we miss an opportunity to have iniquity purged because we want to be flattered instead of forgiven. God comes to us, ready to forgive, with mercy …
President of Presidents
I want to begin this exhortation with two qualifications. The first is that I know you have heard this point from me before. But as Paul says in Philippians, to repeat the same things over again is not a trouble to me, and it is helpful to you. Secondly, this is a word to Americans—and …
Noisily Approaching for Years
When we confess our sins, as we ought to do, we sometimes make the mistake of starting with the sin and ending with the repentance. It is good to confess your sins, of course, but it is also good to review the game film afterwards to analyze how you got in the position of being …
Street Violence and the Father
In the last several weeks, our attention has been drawn, through several high profile murder cases, to the kind of violence that fatherlessness engenders. The violence is senseless, just as the condition of fatherlessness is itself senseless. God created us to live in a particular way, and when we refuse to do so, more and …
The Fountain of Wars
The fact that our hymns and songs are filled with references to the blood of Jesus Christ is far more than simply a poetic exercise. The fact that Scripture constantly refers to the blood of Christ as the foundation of our forgiveness is not just nebulous metaphor. Scripture plainly teaches that without the shedding of …
Becoming More Like the Squirmers
Whenever God’s people take up the adventure that He sends them, there are always troubles that arise in the midst of the adventure that make you want to second guess your initial decision. In the midst of the turmoil that you have gotten yourself into, it is easy to wonder if you read the fine …
Not a Trickle
As we watch our culture disintegrate, seemingly in fast forward, we must guard ourselves against the contortions of unbelief. Whatever is currently happening, unbelief is always able to turn that into an argument for remaining in unbelief. Before the decay of our culture was well-advanced, unbelief was always able to say “it is not that …
Managing Mammon
Jesus set up a fundamental antipathy between God and Mammon. One way or the other, He said (Matt. 6:24). In another place, He said quite plainly that whoever does not give away all His possession cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:33). Look at your possessions, Jesus says, and if you want to be a disciple, …