Got Kids in Your Worship Service?
Kids in the worship service? Kids being kids in the worship service? What are we to do?...
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Hell and the Wrath of God
Even though we struggle with ideas of judgment and hell, they are important expressions of God's own nature....
Why the Cross? (Part Four)
Christ died to save a great diversity of peoples. Sin is no respecter of cultures. All peoples have sinned. Every race and culture needs to be reconciled to God. As the disease of sin is global, so the remedy is global. Jesus saw the agony of the cross coming and spoke boldly about the scope of his purpose: “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32)...
Why the Cross? (Part One)
Redemption is not good news if it only liberates us from bondage but doesn’t bring us to God. Adoption is not good news if it only puts us in the Father’s family but not in his arms...This is the greatest thing Christ died for. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). ...
Why the Cross? (Part Two)
“Imitation is not salvation. But salvation brings imitation. Christ is not given to us first as model, but as Savior. In the experience of the believer, first comes the pardon of Christ, then the pattern of Christ. In the experience of Christ himself, they happen together: The same suffering that pardons our sins provides our pattern of love."...
Why the Cross? (Part Three)
There is no salvation by balancing the records. There is only salvation by canceling records. The record of our bad deeds (including our defective good deeds), along with the just penalties that each deserves, must be blotted out...
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How Great Pain Can Point Us to a Great God
For many, painful circumstances drive us toward one of three, general stress responses: fight, flight, or freeze...But what if we added “faith” to that list? It was C.S. Lewis...who said: “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”...
On Sinning Deliberately
"Our message this past Sunday from I John highlighted language the Apostle John used in 3:4-9 to describe those not 'born of God'; those who have neither 'seen him [nor] know him'. John described them as those who make 'a practice of sinning' (vs. 4, 8, 9)... While not addressing I John 3, Pastor John Piper's comments on Hebrews 10 can help us with this concept of making “a practice of sinning”, or as the author of Hebrews puts it, 'sinning deliberately'. Piper writes..."...
From Valentine's Day to Good Friday
While colorful hearts and cartoonish cupids are common images around Valentine's Day, the cross was the image the Apostle Paul wanted his reader to be informed and inspired by above all others. As Paul wrote in the opening verses of Ephesians 5, God has called us to “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us”...
Super Bowls Ads, MLK, and True Greatness
Funny how God works. He can even use the misguided pairing of Dodge and Dr. King, on a Super Bowl Sunday, to point us back to true greatness and the One who makes it possible....
Standing for the Unborn
Abortion is an assault on the image, character, grace, gospel, and glory of God. For the Christian to see it as anything less than that is to reject a biblical view of God’s gospel and God’s glory...Every child in the womb is a masterpiece shaped by the master craftsman....
What a Dinosaur Can Teach Us about Real Love
I Corinthians 13:4-7 is not necessarily a definition of love. Rather, it is a description of love, a description that challenges anyone who simply says “I'm loving,” or “I love you”. It tests the talk in light of the walk. And one of the ways it describes love is, "Love bears all things". But what exactly does that mean, and how can a dinosaur help us understand God's word here?...
The Other "In Christ Alone"
For many, the phrase "in Christ alone" reminds them of the beautiful song by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty (from 2002)(opening line: "In Christ alone, my hope is found; He is my light, my strength, my song.). But there is an older song by the same name (from 1991), one that many may still remember....
Why Halloween is the Worst Holiday
No, this is not a tirade. No, I will not be pointing a finger of condemnation at those who celebrate Halloween in one way or another. I simply want to offer some thoughts for you to chew on. Almost every year I talk with my children (one in particular) about why we don't celebrate Halloween. Our most recent conversation on this subject led me to write some of these thoughts down. Maybe they're helpful to you. Maybe they're not. I'll let you decide....
Walking by Saving Faith
What is striking about Paul's argument in Romans 4 is not simply the idea of being justified (right with God as one declared innocent) by faith, but that Paul goes on to describe the hope-inspiring, endurance-producing nature of this saving faith; the fact we can “grow strong” (4:20) in faith, no matter what is happening to us or around us....
Leaving Las Vegas
Each and every day, all of us have been and will be leaving Las Vegas. We will leave the news coverage behind and head back into our daily routines and everyday commitments. But how will this tragedy change us? Beyond the grief and confusion and anger, what are we taking away from this awful event? What should we take away?...
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When God Dwells with You: A Life of Sacrifice
God dwells in the midst of his Church. Therefore Leviticus is extremely relevant for us, especially knowing that “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction...”. So what can we as followers of Jesus learn about a life with God in the midst? Well, one answer to that question comes from the beginning of Leviticus. Specifically, the first three chapters reveal that a life with God in the midst should be a life of sacrifice. ...
The Eclipse's Ancient Lessons
Today, most are not frightened by an eclipse. But our scientific understanding has not made this cosmic event any less powerful. David's confession in Psalm 8 points us to two important lessons, any time we are awed by the sky above. ...
How to Belong to a Local Church
Churches should not be places of wounding; they should facilitate healing. They should be where the neglected, the voiceless, the broken-hearted, the crushed in spirit and the weary find love, kindness and the hope of Jesus Christ. When you find a people and a place like that, you yearn to belong. ...
How to Spot a Fake or 'Half' Gospel
Next time you are at a church or event where there is some kind of gospel presentation, be sure to listen carefully. A clear, biblical declaration of the gospel of grace is profitable for both the saved and the unsaved. But how can we be sure such a presentation is in fact biblical?...
The Revolutionary Cross
...if we claim familiarity with the cross, the reality of what He did then must have a radical impact on who we are now. Good Friday should remind me not only of His death, but also the death to which He calls me....
Lessons from LeFou
But while some searching children and uncertain teens may find comfort in a character who is apparently questioning his sexuality, sadly, both the film and the general, cultural dialogue will never venture beyond the boundaries set by the 'new tolerance'. If they did, it might just expose the disturbing foundation that upholds the modern stance. ...
Got Kids in Your Worship Service?
Kids in the worship service? Kids being kids in the worship service? What are we to do?...
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Five Reasons the 2016 Presidential Election is Great for God's People
While cooler autumn weather begins to blanket our country, the political climate of the nation is still sizzling with confusion and conflict...But what if I were to tell you this polarizing and fever-pitched political atmosphere is not simply “good”, but is actually great for the Church....
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The Hardest Chapter in the Bible
Some thoughts on the challenges of interpreting Revelation 20....
Unsearchable (Sorry, Google)
Not even Google or Bing could search out His understanding. Consider how Isaiah encourages us in our first memory verse of 2015-2016....
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Thank You, Supreme Court
Thoughts on the recent ruling of the Supreme Court regarding same-sex marriage....
Respect and Revolution
Thinking about whether or not there are limits when it comes to submitting to authorities....