Matthew Henry once suggested we can sometimes neglect to obey God because we misinterpret trials and challenges as permission to shirk our responsibility when, instead, God allowed these hardships to test and exercise our courage and faith. Here is an example. Imagine you are a pastor the Holy Spirit has called to preach the whole … Continue reading Misreading Providence for Personal Gain
It is crucial for us as believers to recognize the war against our souls. The enemy is more personal than we tend to realize and more publicly encouraged than we often recognize. Being conscious of it and entering the battle is one of the first steps to living in the Spirit. CLICK TO READ MORE
The following is a post by Pastor Rob Golding of First Artesia Christian Reformed Church. He also writes for the Westminster Theological Seminary Magazine. What do people really mean when they say, “Jesus is my life”? What did Paul mean when he said, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal … Continue reading Life in Christ and the Struggle with Sin
This morning I had the privilege of preaching at Bethel Grace Baptist Church. Since it was New Year’s Day, I wanted to spend time in a powerful passage of scripture to prepare us for what is ahead in 2023. This sermon gives five encouragements to live in the Spirit while also showing how to live … Continue reading How to Live in the Spirit
Why did God allow humans to fall into sin? To answer that question, we need to think of redemption. If our redemption (and glorification) is merely a return to the garden-of-Eden-state, then the fall makes little sense (hardly the felix culpa it's known to be). On the other hand, if our redemption eventually brings us to a state that is better than our original state in Eden, the fall begins to make sense. In that way, the fall is a tool in the hands of the Redeemer... CLICK TO READ MORE.
The Magnificat, when Mary praises God after Gabriel tells her that she will be the mother of the Messiah, is a beautiful picture of the grace of God towards fallen humanity (Luke 1:46-56). But there is another side to the Magnificat ignored by many. Just as God is merciful to his children, he is righteous … Continue reading The Two Sides of the Magnificat
Too many of us celebrate the birth of Jesus while neglecting Christ himself. This negligence is because, though many of us would like to experience the joy of our salvation, our indulgence in worldliness cuts us off from it. We have lost the reason to celebrate. Many of us also desire the Lord to use … Continue reading Celebrating Christmas with Jesus Himself
The following is a guest post by Pastor Rob Golding of First Artesia Christian Reformed Church. He also writes for the Westminster Theological Seminary Magazine. Do not forsake individualist Christianity! We are rightly concerned with avoiding over-individualism. We know Westerners are inherently individualistic. Americans are proponents of “rugged individualism.” We have heard that Old and New Testament … Continue reading Good Individualist Christianity
Sometimes our lives can grow dim because we are no longer walking closely with the Lord like we used to. However, our God is so gracious that even after we have wandered away, he not only forgives our sins, but he also gives us times of refreshing (Act 3:19-21). In Acts chapter three, the phrase, … Continue reading Times of Refreshing
In the Christian life, there are times of rest and times of struggle, and what we do when the sun is shining will often determine how well we will fare when the rains fall and the winds blow. It is usually the pleasant times when self-confidence becomes exaggerated that many professing Christians tend to chip … Continue reading Chipping Away Our Confidence in Christ
The Fight of Faith 