If a Christian is facing an illness that will not go away and needs encouragement, the Lord healing the paralytic who was lowered through the roof in Mark 2:1-12 can touch our deepest wounds but not in the way many might think. When the man who could not move of his own volition was lowered … Continue reading Sin is Worse than Sickness
I know from experience that when faced with troublesome circumstances beyond our control, our natural reaction is to fear, but we must ask ourselves, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" Have we forgotten our Father, and how many times he has delivered us? Yes, the storm is raging, but he can … Continue reading Why Are You So Afraid?
Some of the most significant damage we inflict on our life together is caused by our efforts to create Christian community. If you asked 100 churchgoers to define “Christian community,” you would end up with 100 variations—many idealistic and unfeasible. Now, consider that many of those churchgoers expect their church to meet their expectations, and … Continue reading Does Your Church Lack Community? This Might Be the Problem.
To borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis, every worldly pleasure you are pursuing is “doomed to final frustration.” These include sinful pleasures and lawful ones. One day, they will either fail to live up to your expectations, or death will come knocking on your door and steal them from your hands. This final frustration means … Continue reading Doomed to Final Frustration
The crises that test men are always small. A man is never revealed when he is prepared for the occasion of examination. We are never really manifested if we have been notified beforehand that we are going to be examined. It is true in every area of life, that the test announced and prepared for, … Continue reading Small Moments Define Us
We all struggle with sin, but we must remember that sin makes us foolish. It is never reasonable, and when we are in the throes of temptation, we often become ignorant. It is as if sin puts blinders on our eyes, causing us to forget what is important to us. These blinders are why, when … Continue reading 7 Things to Remember When Tempted to Sin
The following is a guest post by Pastor Rob Golding of First Artesia Christian Reformed Church. It’s interesting to see how flaccid the “new atheism” movement is today. While the infamous “four horsemen” of atheism once strode valiantly across the meager lands of fideist Christians, they now find themselves described as “cultural Christians,” even saying, “I … Continue reading Perhaps Christianity’s Greatest Weakness is its Strength
God is doing more in our hardships than we can possibly conceive. Imagine you come down with an illness, or maybe you do not need to imagine it because you are facing something like that right now. This malady is not a short illness; it is something long and troublesome, so you ask the Lord … Continue reading A Thousand Wheels of Providence
I sometimes hope at the closing hour, when I shall exchange worlds, that Jesus will help me to lay hold of every sinful serpent that has long twisted around my soul, and keeps me company all my pilgrimage; and enable me, by the hand of faith, to hold them up, crying out: Behold the heads … Continue reading The Sinful Serpents Twisted Around My Soul
One biblical truth dramatically turned my frustration into contentment. We were driving through Los Angeles, and that only meant one thing: traffic. Without traffic, the trip would have taken an hour, but in L.A., that never happens. We were fortunate that it was Sunday afternoon, which meant the typical two-hour trip would only take an … Continue reading The Road to Contentment
The Fight of Faith 