When You Do What You Hate
We want to please God. We love His Word. We want to be patient, pure, generous, and forgiving. And then we say the cruel thing. We entertain the thought. We hold on to the resentment.
And we wonder: “If God has changed me, why am I still fighting this?”
Soli Deo Gloria: Glory to God Alone!
In Psalm 115:1, the psalmist declares, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” No treatment of the Solas of the Reformation could be considered complete if it didn’t acknowledge Soli Deo Gloria (To the Glory of God Alone) as its very center. From the Scriptures, through the Pre-Reformers, to the Reformers themselves, and continuing among all Christians who embrace the Reformation ethos of semper reformanda (always reforming), this Holy Spirit-wrought conviction that all glory belongs to God alone in the salvation of His people sits firmly at the
Sola Scriptura
Four years after his famous nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Martin Luther found himself on trial for his life at the Diet of Worms. Like Jan Hus before the Council of Constance a century earlier, Luther stood to defend his teachings before both the leadership of the Roman Church and the Holy Roman Emperor. His books and preaching vociferously argued against the absolute authority of popes and councils and the sale of indulgences, advancing an insistence that salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in the finished work of Christ alone. Having exhausted his efforts against an intractable prosecution, the trial reached an inflection point that left its mark on history, perhaps more significantly than the nailing of the Theses themselves…..
Christ Alone: The Savior Who Needs No Assistance
Why does the Bible spend so much time telling us about Adam, priests, sacrifices, and temples? Because each one teaches us something about our need for a Savior. Adam failed to obey. The priests were sinners themselves. The sacrifices had to be offered again and again. None of them could finally reconcile sinners to God. But they pointed forward to someone who could. They pointed to Jesus Christ.
Sola Fide: Through Faith Alone
What does it take for a sinner to stand righteous before a holy God? That question tormented a young Augustinian monk named Martin Luther. He understood that God was righteous. His problem was that he wasn’t. And no matter how hard he tried, he could not change that reality.
Sola Gratia: It Is by Grace Alone
Before we can see the grace needed to save, we must first see the depths of the human heart. Why must we be saved by grace alone? Why can’t we save ourselves or even have a part in our salvation? The biblical doctrine that Augustine taught, and which changed the Reformers, was that salvation is entirely the work of God. We are not merely sinners who need a little help. We are sinners who need to be rescued.
Five Solas-Intro
The weeks leading up to October 31 evoke within our American experience all manner of feelings, imagery, and traditions. For most, autumn is in the air as preparations are made for Halloween and celebrations of the harvest. In one way or another, these traditions leave their mark on our homes, neighborhoods, and storefronts as decorations change to match the season. While these things may mark the broader cultural landscape, there is another "harvest" whose memory also attends this season, one that often gets overlooked, even among many churches that are beneficiaries of its blessings.
Remember Whose You Are
Some of you grew up under a heavy burden of religious rules. And when you discovered God’s grace, you experienced tremendous relief: “I don’t have to earn His love.”
Grace means that God gives us what we could never earn: forgiveness, acceptance, and life with Him. Our sins are many, but God’s grace is greater. No part of our sinful past is beyond His forgiveness.
Another thought can quickly follow: “Then it doesn’t matter how I live.”
Holding on to Assurance When Our Hearts Are Troubled
Brothers and Sisters, how many times do we simply feel like we are not saved. We know the gospel. We know that Jesus Christ died for sinners, was buried, and rose again. We may have walked with the Lord for many years, and yet there are mornings when we wake up and wonder, “Lord, am I really Yours?” Our prayers seem dry. God's Word does not seem as sweet as it once did. Sin weighs heavily upon our conscience. Perhaps a trial has beaten us down, temptation has worn us thin, or God simply seems distant.
The Life of Cheap Grace
The gospel of grace gives the believer incredible assurance and security. Christ did not merely make salvation possible. He actually accomplished salvation for His people. Those whom Christ justifies, He keeps. That grip of grace never lets go of the believer.
But once someone hears about strong assurance and eternal security, another fear immediately arises: “Well then, what keeps someone from just living however they want?”
Why Read Missionary Stories
As a homeschooling family missionary stories were a big part of our life. I wanted my children to read these remarkable stories of these faithful men and women, to experience that jungle, those native people, the food but mostly I wanted them to see how God used ordinary people to do extraordinary things because He called and equipped them. Though their stories we have witnessed miracles and stories of great faith that left you in awe and inspired, and sometimes feeling convicted.
There is something captivating about the stories of those who left behind their home and family, all that was familiar to take the Gospel to places they had never seen but only heard about.
The Most Difficult Things About Being A Pastor
Being a pastor is a tremendous privilege. However, it is not for the faint of heart. Without the grace and strength of God, no man can survive the ministry.
The Mastery of Grace
There is something deeply embedded in the American imagination: the idea that the truly free person is the person who belongs to himself.
A generation or two ago, that idea was expressed through the self made man and rugged individualism. “Make your own way. Chart your own course. Don’t depend on anybody.” The old version said, “Nobody tells me what to do.”
Today’s version sounds a little different. Instead of the cowboy, our cultural icon might be the influencer. The cowboy said, “Nobody tells me what to do.” The influencer says, “Nobody tells me what to be.”
The Measure of A Man (Part 2)
You can spot the brute pretty easily. Strength mixed with anger. He works at looking tough, or being tough, as he calls it. A mouth let loose to insult people, and his excuse is that it is the courage of the prophets. He does not want to be a man without a chest, so he beats his chest like a brute to prove he has one.
The Measure of A Man (Part 1)
For a long time now the culture has been at war with manhood. The plain things God built into a man, the drive to lead, to provide, to compete, to stand between danger and the people he loves, got lumped together under one word and called toxic. Strength became a threat to manage. Taking the lead became control waiting to happen. A boy who wanted to win, or to protect, or to be told he had what it takes, was handed a diagnosis when what he needed was a father. What God made and called good was renamed a sickness, and a whole generation of men learned to say sorry for the way God made them.
Are You Done?
So, the question "Are you done?" is often asked when someone finishes a project, or when we have accomplished a difficult task. Yet, when it comes to the Christian life, the answer is simple. No, we are not done. Not until the Lord calls us home or Jesus Christ returns in glory. Even though your salvation has been secured. You are never done!! Don’t sit back and just think, I don’t need to do anything because my salvation is secure. We must work until the very end. Dig into God’s Word and find something to do for the Kingdom. Make yourself useful for the gospel. As long as we draw breath, we are to work for the kingdom till the very last breath we have in us.
Look to Christ: Our Confidence, Our Victory, Our Life
Brothers and Sisters, here we are in September already. I have decided to do a short study of 1 John 5, which is a great encouragement. John brings together many of the truths he has been teaching throughout his letter. He has spoken about walking in the light, confessing our sins, loving one another, obeying God's commands, testing the spirits, and knowing that we belong to Christ.
The Service of Assembly
“People who serve are people who stay.” This is a popular saying that, for a few decades now, has gained popularity as a truism within American church growth movements and around the staff meeting tables of myriad local churches. The idea behind this maxim comes from a line of thinking that prioritizes church growth via programmatic pathways focusing on guest assimilation and member retention, or as another saying puts it, a need to “close the back door.” These pathways or “assimilation systems” aim to maximize guest experience in hopes that they become regular attenders, regular attenders become meaningfully connected or members (if the church has formal membership), and members find ministries or programs in which they are committed to serve. Because of course, “people who serve are people who stay.”
Do We Live In a Computer Simulation?
Did you know that there are some people who believe that everything we know as reality is just a computer simulation? There are some people who believe that some advanced civilization is so far beyond our capabilities as a human society that they have programmed us into their own simulation.[1] In other words, nothing that we know as real is real.
Eternal Life in Jesus Christ
Brothers and Sisters, when you begin wondering whether you are strong enough to make it to the end, remember where John points us. God gave the new birth. God brought us to faith. God produces obedience. God strengthens our assurance. God preserves us so that we persevere. And God has given us eternal life in His Son. From beginning to end, our salvation rests upon Jesus Christ. The grace that saves us is the same grace that keeps us, changes us, strengthens us, and will finally bring us home…..