Theodore Roosevelt was coming home from Africa, where he had been hunting big game. When he boarded the ship at an African port they rolled out the red carpet for him. The crowds gathered on the dock and applauded him. When he boarded the ship he was given the finest suite on board. All through … Continue reading Roosevelt and the Lonely Missionary
This morning, I had the privilege of joining the radio show Kurt and Kate Mornings on Moody Radio in Florida. They asked me to discuss a recent post titled, It is a Weakness of Faith to Refuse to Mourn the Death of Loved Ones. If they release the segment as a podcast, I will link … Continue reading The Importance of Funerals
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" -Psalm 43:5 It is one source of the eternal freshness of the Psalms that they tell the story of a struggling soul. They open a window on to that battlefield with which no other battle can be compared, the moral struggle of the individual with himself. And … Continue reading The Poetry of the Disheartened Soul
This morning I awoke to heartbreaking news. I opened my email and saw Tim Challies’ newest post titled, My Son, My Dear Son, Has Gone To Be With the Lord. I always look to see what Tim has written, so he tends to be part of my morning routine; a daily companion. I never expected … Continue reading Pray for the Challies Family: Their Son Has Gone to Be with the Lord.
What does God think about you? How we answer that question tends to reveal what we think about him. Most people tend to imagine God as barely able to endure his children. As if he looks down from on high with his arms crossed, thinking, “Once they stop being so prone to wander, I will … Continue reading What Does God Think About You?
Contrary to popular opinion, you will never find freedom living for yourself. Since many people believe a self-centered life of unrestrained desires is the only way to freedom, they then postulate that Jesus’ teaching about the narrow way indicates a life of oppression. This idea could not be further from the truth. The narrow road … Continue reading The Narrow Road is a Wide Place
Exegesis and exposition, the work of understanding a biblical text, are foundational to understand scripture’s application to our lives. The problem is many churchgoers want to hear the application without doing the work of the exegete. In many cases, preachers have accommodated their preaching to scratch the hearers' itching ears. To keep congregants happy, preachers … Continue reading The Danger of Neglecting Expository Preaching
If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow. – Psalm 7:12 The pursuit had begun. I knew God had drawn the bow of his wrath, and he had aimed it directly at me. The slightest tinge of my guilty conscience made the creaks and groans of the … Continue reading The Day I Ran From God
The world considers preaching to be foolishness, but God has ordained that preaching be the primary way of proclaiming his word. There has never been a great awakening of the people of God that was not preceded and accompanied by great preaching. By it, he confounds the wise. In this short clip from a sermon … Continue reading The Foolishness of Preaching
This morning, I had the privilege of preaching at Bethel Grace Baptist Church. I preached on When Christians Get Lost and utilized a metaphor of a dark forest to help navigate three passages from 2 Timothy. The three heading of the sermon are the trees, the darkness, and the light. This is a sermon that … Continue reading When Christians Get Lost
The Fight of Faith 