Indulgence is easy. Endurance is painful. Indulging in another piece of chocolate cake is easy; enduring all 26.2 miles of a marathon is painful. Indulging in a credit card purchase is easy; enduring chemotherapy is painful. Indulging in a lavish vacation is easy; enduring the death of your spouse is painful. Indulgence is easy; endurance is painful. But it’s interesting. Though indulgence is easy, it often doesn’t lead to true joy. In fact, indulgence often leads to guilt, shame, and...
I often think of my own deliverance from sin in terms of how it affects or benefits me. In one sense, that’s good. I should think about how I’m redeemed, justified, forgiven, set free, loved, and so forth, and how God’s love benefits me. It would be quite concerning if I didn’t think about my own relationship with God and the advantage and delight it brings me. However, I should also give thought to how my deliverance from sin and relationship with God should affect and benefit...
On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the presidential election. Some people are elated. Other people are devastated. Many are in between. And as my Election Day Special episode suggested, all people should trust in God’s sovereignty and providence. Are you elated? Are you devastated? Are you somewhere in between? Make sure your eyes haven’t shifted from Christ and his absolute supremacy in and over all things. Make sure your mind hasn’t shifted from the...
Today is another opportunity to trust in God’s sovereignty and providence. You will be tempted today to think just like unbelievers. Don’t! Be on guard. To honor your Lord today, you must keep your eyes on him who is the living and reigning King of kings. Christ is preeminent in all things. Do you believe this? Brothers and sisters, you must believe that whatever unfolds today will be according to your heavenly Father’s sovereignty and providence. Will today unfold according to God’s...
I’ve taken several wood projects to a Lancaster County woodshop to be sanded. Their massive belt sander is cool. On the wall of the woodshop is the saying: “There is no such thing as a cursing Christian! If you do curse and call yourself a Christian, stop and think.” I assume they’re referring to obscene language. What do you think of that saying? Have you ever used obscene language? Have you ever thought obscene thoughts? Let’s consider a few angles. As a...
Out of any nation on earth, the US has the highest rate of children in single-parent households, 80% of which are missing the father. [1] Over 18 million children in the US do not have a dad at home with them. [2] That’s a significant problem that has an immeasurably negative effect on children. Listen to these sad US statistics from the America First Policy Institute: [3] 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. 85% of children who exhibit behavior disorders are from...
I know from personal experience that it’s much easier to complain and whine than it is to talk to leaders about concerns and problems. I can complain and whine with the best of sinners. And when it comes to church leadership, it’s often easier to avoid confrontation than to have open and honest conversation with those over you in the Lord (1 Thess. 5:12-13). Sadly, it’s easier to sin than it is to do what’s right. We need Psalm 112:1 which says, “Blessed is the man who fears...
Thomas Jefferson once wrote to his friend Benjamin Rush, “I am a Christian, in the only sense he [Jesus] wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others; ascribing to himself every human excellence; and believing he never claimed any other.” Was Jefferson’s claim to be a Christian trustworthy? Jefferson highly esteemed the ethics of Jesus Christ, and yet he didn’t believe Jesus Christ was God. How should we think about someone’s confession of...
Well, here we are again. The world has mocked the one true living God again. This past Friday, France commenced the Olympic Games with a wild opening ceremony. My family didn’t see it; we were in Philadelphia watching the Phillies play disappointing baseball. One feature of the ceremony caused no small uproar: an immodest transgender and drag queen spectacle that strikingly resembled Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting. Was this scene offensive? Yes. Anytime anything is flaunted and...
In his excellent book With Heart and Mouth, Daniel Hyde writes: “When we allow soloists into worship, it is a performance, no matter how well intentioned or biblical the words are. Worship is to be an offering of the people’s praise to the Lord, not the individual’s.” [1] [1] Daniel Hyde, With Heart and Mouth: An Exposition of the Belgic Confession (Grandville: Reformed Fellowship, Inc., 2008), 431.
