The following is a guest post by Rob Golding, Pastor of First Artesia CRC. Evil is mysterious. Since the Edenic world was perfect, as an out-flowing impulse of the perfect Creator, whence evil? Satan is not the answer. If that answer is given, the next question refutes it—whence Satan? The most ingenious answer to the … Continue reading On the Metaphysics of Hell: How Can Evil Exist and What is Hell?
1. God allows His children to be tempted, to test their love. Our love to God is seen, when we can look a temptation in the face, and turn our back upon it. Though the devil comes as a subtle serpent, and offers a golden apple, yet the one who loves God will not touch … Continue reading 5 Reasons God Allows His Children to be Tempted
By Mark Eaton Down at 388 East Marigold StreetWhere grief of earthly loves shall meetWhere tears in somber eyes repleteOf charry, wounded, wandering feet Down at 388 East Marigold StreetWhere monolithic chimneys featTo stand amid berating heatDisposed to rise from blackened seat Down at 388 East Marigold StreetWhere pool sits black from ashy peatThe home … Continue reading No 388 E. Marigold St.
"Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you! Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God, and have no awe of Me!" declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty. -Jeremiah 2:19 Since all, more or less, have a sinful bent towards backsliding from God, it is of great importance … Continue reading 3 Ways to Examine Our Backsliding
By Rob Golding There is a time in every Christian’s life when God begins removing the things we love. Peace is replaced with anxiety. Health with sickness. Family with emptiness. Success with failure. Joy with depression. In these moments, the Christian clings to that which is left—God. He clutches and snatches but grabs only air. When … Continue reading The Dark Night of the Soul
-By Rob Golding Many Christians feel spiritually lethargic and weak, but they are unsure how they arrived at this state. They are surprised to feel so little desire for God when they have been doing, in their own estimation, pretty good spiritually. They aren’t watching sin-enhancing television. Their recurring sins are in check. They aren’t … Continue reading The Perfect Christian, Spiritually Starved
-By Rob Golding The Christian life is one of rejoicing and rest. We celebrate the victory of our Lord over death each Sunday and rest in His final proclamation that “it is finished” (John 19:30). We then walk the simple path He set out for us as He says, “Come to Me ... For my … Continue reading My Body, My Slave
This morning, my waking eyes were met with stories of criminals attacking judges, sex workers bragging about 100s of clients in one day, and child trafficking. Some days, the dark depravity of the world is like a heavy curtain that drapes itself over everything true, good, and beautiful. One needs to look hard to find … Continue reading There Is Nothing More Beautiful Than the Praise of God
If we look at the comparisons which are made use of by the Holy Spirit to set Christ forth, we behold something more of His loveliness. He is compared to a mother and is said to have more than a mother's tenderness, kindness and care. His concern for His people is constant, He never loses … Continue reading 40 Pictures of Jesus in the Bible
By Rob Golding J. Gresham Machen’s epoch-setting work Christianity and Liberalism is worthy of the praise it received last year on the 100th anniversary of its publication. But the book wasn’t as effective as Machen would’ve hoped. Liberal aberrations of Christianity not only live but lurch forward in the current morass of the Western world’s … Continue reading We Need Authoritative Revelation, Not Reimagination
The Fight of Faith 