66 results found
When Genuine Obedience Becomes Impossible, Hell Becomes Impossible as Well
There’s no way to understand the pastoral epistles unless you realize Paul has a category for Christians who are living a faithful, obedient life, and a category for those who are unrepentant, in whom there’s no progress.
One Simple Yet Crucial Decision College Freshmen Need to Make
My oldest son is a freshman in college. So I’ve thought about this question: What is that important piece of advice for a graduating high school student heading off to college?
The Sermon on the Mount Is Not an Impossible Standard to Make Us Feel Bad
If we approach the Sermon on the Mount only or mainly as a means by which we see our sinfulness, we’ve not taken the sermon on its own terms.
How the Bible Talks about Corporate Responsibility and Repentance
Do we share some responsibility for the sins committed by those who were part of the same immediate family? What about the same religious family?
On the Crushing Guilt of Failing at Quiet Time
Meet any mature, fruitful Christian, and you can almost guarantee he regularly has something like a “quiet time”—a time set aside to talk to God in prayer and hear from God in the word.
12 Old(ish) Books to Read When You Are Young
Talk to almost any mature, vibrant Christians, and they will tell you about Christian books that have been instrumental in their lives.
Good Advice for Living a Countercultural Life
When you think about your life, you are the main character. You never think about your life as a supporting actor or actress in someone else’s story.
An Untethered Identity Is Dangerous
The way that our world shapes and steers us on that quest for identity can be dangerous because it’s often without reference to God, without being anchored in his Word.
The Right (and Wrong) Way to Be True to Yourself
You’re no longer worshiping the god of this age. You have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. This is what’s true of you.
The doctrine of the necessity of Scripture reminds us of our predicament: the One we need to know most cannot be discovered on our own, and this same ineffable One has made himself known through his word.
An Open Letter to Graduating High School Seniors
Of all the decisions you’ll face this year, the most important one may be whether you get up and go to church on the very first Sunday when no one is there to make sure that you go.
I’d like to offer different advice than what you might hear elsewhere: “Do not follow your dreams. Do not march to the beat of your own drummer. And whatever you do, do not be true to yourself.”
2 Comforts for Those Discouraged with Prayer
Many Christians are—or have been—discouraged by their prayer lives. Here are a couple of things to remember about the practice of prayer.
The Crushing Obligation to Keep Doing More and More
I understand there are lazy people out there who need to get radical for Jesus. I also know people like me, people who easily feel a sense of responsibility, people who easily feel bad for not doing more
What Should Christians Think about Same-Sex Marriage?
What’s the big deal about marriage? Why not let people have whatever relationships they choose and call them whatever they want? Why go to the trouble of sanctioning a specific relationship and giving it a unique legal standing?
4 Questions about Headship and Head Coverings
What does it mean that the husband is the head of his wife? What is the covering? What “head” does the woman dishonor? What does Paul mean by “authority”?
What Makes Our Prayers Distinctively Christian?
We're asking for God to do gospel things in our lives, among our families, and in our churches. And that's what makes Christian prayer distinctively Christian.
What Does It Mean When We Pray “Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”?
This is still a powerful reminder and a necessary prayer because even though we may see grocery stores around every corner, we still are dependent upon God to give us what we need.
Praying to Our Father Is a Spiritual Privilege
To pray with intimacy to God as father is not a human right; it is a spiritual privilege. It is a privilege for the people of God who have been born again by the Spirit of God.
The Lord’s Prayer Reignites Our Desire to Want to Pray
Jesus doesn’t give us an impossibly high standard of prayer. It's lofty, and none of us will do it perfectly, but he's giving us something that we can do.
Why Do We Need to Keep Praying “Forgive Us Our Debts”?
If you want to be happy in the church (or simply not give up on the church), you need to learn forgiveness. You need to grant it, and you need to receive it.
The Lord’s Prayer Teaches Us How to Pray Every Other Prayer
The Lord's Prayer orients us, most importantly, to the vertical dimension of our prayers. That's why we start by saying, “Our Father.”
What Does It Mean to Pray “Your Kingdom Come”?
A simple definition is to think of the kingdom of God as his reign and rule. Another way to think of the kingdom is as God’s redemptive presence coming down from heaven to earth.
What Is Catechesis and What Role Do Bible Stories Play in It?
Catechesis is basically training discipleship. When we catechize someone, we are instructing them, oftentimes, in the foundational, fundamental elements of our faith.
The Purpose of Vibrant Illustrations in ‘The Biggest Story Bible Storybook’
Kids—and really all of us—are drawn to images and pictures. The illustrations in this edition present a kind of mood.
If the Bible Is Enough, Why Is It Good to Retell Bible Stories?
God, throughout history, has always given not only his word to people but also has given qualified men who might teach others.
Don't Let the Culture Train Up Your Children in the Way They Should Go
We need to be intentional about catechizing our kids with what is truly good, truly beautiful, truly life-changing, and life-saving, and God-glorifying.
3 Ways Men Can Love Their Wives in Real Life
Men, these three verbs describe freely given love: lead, sacrifice, and care. God holds you accountable for the spiritual welfare of your wife.
Feminine Beauty and Masculine Strength
What do we say to our sons and daughters who ask, “Daddy and Mommy, what does it mean to be a man or a woman?” Tell them they are made in the image of God and for union with Christ.
5 Questions about God’s Design for Gender
What is at stake in God making us male and female? Nothing less than the gospel.
5 Patterns of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
The Bible may not give explicit instructions about men and women in the church, but it does reveal some patterns that ought to shape how we think of sexual differentiation and complementarity.
Busyness is like sin: kill it, or it will be killing you. When busyness goes after joy, it goes after everyone’s joy.
Understanding Biblical Covenants Is As Easy As 1, 2, 3
Why are covenants so important in Scripture? Why does it matter in the Christian life?
5 Questions about Homosexuality
When we choose to embrace sin, celebrate it, and not repent of it, we keep ourselves away from God and away from heaven.
5 Ways to Ensure Our Souls Aren’t Strangled by Screens
The biggest deception of our digital age may be the lie that says we can be omnicompetent, omni-informed, and omnipresent.
The Messy-yet-Instructive Culture Surrounding the Canons of Dort
We can learn something about how previous cared about theological points because the worship of God, the purity of the church, and the understanding of Scripture were at stake.
Don’t Get Sloppy in Defining Grace
Especially as Christians, we understand how important it is to have been saved by grace. So it’s incumbent upon us, then, to carefully talk about this grace.
Don’t Mistake Your Passion for Theological Precision
Many of us, even Christians, have little patience for rigorous thinking and little interest in careful definition.
Who Needs Dogma when Stigma Will Do?
Sliding into liberalism is when you no longer take the time or make the effort to define your terms.
There may be no other book in all the Bible that packs in as much gospel per square inch than Ephesians.
Why Modern Christians Should Obey the 10 Commandments
Jesus didn’t set the Ten Commandments aside. He fulfilled them.
The (Anti-Christian) Moral Absolutes of Our Culture
We live in a time of high moral obligation. The question is who gets to determine what those obligations are?
Why You’ll Never Be Free Until You Start Obeying God
Biblical freedom doesn't mean doing what we want to do, but what we ought to do.
Do We Still Need the 10 Commandments?
There are many people inside the church—and especially outside the church—who would say the Ten Commandments are irrelevant or antiquated.
5 Reasons to Obey the 10 Commandments
God gave the commandments that they might be obeyed—not to earn salvation but because of who we are, who God is in himself, who he is to us, where we are, and what he has done.
Start Early: Teaching Your Kids the 10 Commandments
There have been three items that have formed the backbone of the church’s catechesis: the Apostle’s Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments.
What Does It Really Mean to Take the Lord’s Name in Vain?
The Old Testament identifies several ways in which the third commandment can be violated.
10 Things You Should Know about the Ten Commandments
The way to find moral instruction is not by listening to your gut but by listening to God.
The Church’s Central Role in the Coming of the Kingdom of God
It’s not to the government, nor to any king or pope or any other ruler, but rather to the church that the keys of the kingdom of God are given.
Sin and the Snake separated us from God, but the Snake Crusher came to restore our relationship.
3 Things We Must Believe about God’s Word
In Psalm 119 we see at least three essential, irreducible characteristics we should believe about God’s word.
Why Jam-Packed Schedules Can Be Dangerous
It’s safe to say that on a typical day for most of us, our responsibilities, requirements, and ambitions add up to more than we can handle, whether we admit this or not.
Is it possible you look at personal holiness like I look at camping? It’s fine for other people.
there lived a man and a woman. They were the happiest people on the planet. True, they were the only people on the planet, but they were still terrifically happy.
How Should Christians Share the Gospel with Practicing Homosexuals?
You preach the same gospel that you would preach to someone who is not in the homosexual lifestyle.
What about Scholars Who Deny that the Bible Condemns Homosexual Practice?
It's just not accurate to say that what we are seeing now as expressions of homosexuality were completely unknown to the biblical authors.
Should Same-Sex Marriage Be Legal?
This is an issue about which Christians should not be indifferent.
Should I Attend My Homosexual Friend's Wedding?
A thoughtful answer to a question that we all—sooner or later—may need to face, and how to honor Christ with our response.
Were David and Jonathan Lovers?
That‘s a fair question, though it’s a question that would have been strange to anyone in the biblical world.
What Does the Bible Say about Being Born Gay?
How to respond biblically to the question of natural-born homosexuality with grace and truth.
What Does "Arsenokoitai" Mean?
That word is an unusual word. It’s a new word; we don’t know of any other instances of the word until Paul coins the word in 1 Corinthians 6 and 1 Timothy 1.
Is Homosexual Orientation Sinful?
The Bible is somewhat ambiguous about orientation as such, only because that language is relatively new language. Here's what the Bible does say clearly.
The Church and Homosexuality: 10 Commitments
Of the many complexities involving the church and homosexuality, one of the most difficult is how the former should speak of the latter.
The word of God is more than enough for the people of God to live their lives to the glory of God.
Filthy Rags or Fully Pleasing?
There is no righteousness that makes us right with God except for the righteousness of Christ.
What Makes Evangelicals Different?
What is it that separates evangelicals from the rest of the world, even some other branches of Christianity? The fundamental dividing line is the belief in the inerrancy and authority of Scripture. Why does it matter if we believe this or not?