Firmly believing that my times are in God's hand, I here submit myself and all my affairs for the ensuing year, to the wise and gracious disposal of God's divine providence. Whether God appoints for me health or sickness, peace or trouble, comforts or crosses, life or death, may His holy will be done! All … Continue reading A New Year’s Resolution
I am often troubled when I attend a funeral, and the leader refuses to let the people mourn. Those in charge of funeral arrangements, and often the families themselves, put so much effort into making the occasion a celebration of life, a graduation to heaven, that those in attendance might feel like their faith is … Continue reading It is a Weakness of Faith to Refuse to Mourn the Death of Loved Ones
"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
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?
The Lord is my present help and salvation. Though we are troubled with poverty, shame, or any other affliction, God is our salvation and help. If you are in trouble, God is deliverance; if you are persecuted by malicious enemies, God is your castle. Who is a rock, except our God? I call upon the … Continue reading If You Are in Trouble, God is Deliverance
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
Suffering for Jesus is still a blessed part of living for him. There has yet to be a promise from heaven that says living a godly life would be easy in a fallen world. We should still expect persecution, but scripture is still able to to equip us for every good work. Read full story … Continue reading Breaking News From Heaven
May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. - 2 Timothy 1:18 There is a day coming that is so severe the Bible often refers to it simply as “that day.” It is so expected and so known, no other descriptors are necessary. "It will be a day of … Continue reading God is Faithful to His Promises (and Threats)
The Fight of Faith 