All of this is submitted to God, but, Lord willing, our church sanctuary is going to have a steeple. And a steeple illustrates the perennial problem that believers have in this fallen world. A steeple can be illustrative of the humility of man before God, but it can also be a glaring example of the …
What the Means Mean
We are physical creatures, living in a physical world. At the same time, God has put eternity in our hearts, which means that we are enabled to look beyond what is merely physical. Because we are material creatures, God always works with us through means. Because we are spiritual creatures with an immaterial soul that …
A Test of Unity
Everyone in the world thinks he understands. That is what it means to think. In order to think, you have to think something. And whatever it is that you think, that is what you think. So if you are in the grip of an error, you do not understand that error. If you did, you …
Birth and Growth
The task of the church is the evangelization of the world, and to bring that converted world up to maturity in Christ. The task of the local church is to do its part in that global task in its part of the world. Notice how the apostle Paul described his mission. “Whom we preach, warning …
Confession and Construction
When Nehemiah heard about the desolate state of the ruined city of Jerusalem, he was greatly humbled, and he cried out to the Lord in true confession of sin. “We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.” (Neh. …
Generosity Grows
James tells us that if we sin at just one point of the law, we are guilty of offending against all of it. This is because the law is simply a description of what the triune personal God is like, and so an offense against Him at this point or at that point is still, …
The Soul of the Building
Scripture tells us to strengthen the things that remain—strengthen the things that appear to have some lingering stability. Shore up the permanent things. But because of our penchant for idolatry, we sometimes make a grave mistake when it comes to this. We see churches and cathedrals built centuries ago, and we think that the stone …
A Staging Area
A church building is a staging area, designed for God’s people to use in fulfilling the mission. The mission is the evangelization of the world—for the universal church—and the evangelization of our locale, for the local church. As a staging area, we have to be able to see past it. Marshaling and assembling the troops …
The Furniture of God
When God has His people undertake a building, it is not so that He might have an empty box dedicated to Him. Under the older covenant, even the holiest place of all contained furniture—the ark of the covenant with two great cherubim overarching the mercy seat. And the placement of that furniture meant a great …
On Not Being a Chamber Pot
The house of God is a great house, an expansive house. We refer of course to the Church of God—as the promises of God have established her, spread out through all human history. As we look in faith to our brothers and sisters, we see portions of that great house, but we see it through …