Practicing the Pleasure of Prayer
Some of you may be asking how to practice praying, or how to make prayer a more regular part of your Christian walk? Here are a nine ways to foster a life of prayer....
Keep ReadingCourage, Dear Heart
We all face various trials—from minor frustrations at home to tremendous grief; from small setbacks at work to great heartache; from slight opposition from the world to severe persecution. All of us have the need for patient endurance. But a patient endurance that glorifies God doesn’t come so easily in trial. God's word through James gives courage to persevere....
How does the New Covenant Surpass the Old?
Hebrews 8 teaches that Jesus mediates "a better covenant." How exactly is the new covenant better than the old covenant?...
How Does the NT Use the OT?
We’ve all experienced it. Matthew 2:15 asserts that Jesus fulfills the prophet’s words. Then, flipping back to Hosea 11:1, we discover Israel coming out of Egypt. “How did Matthew get that?” we wonder. When comparing the historical, contextual meaning of an Old Testament verse with its appearance in a New Testament context, we often feel tension. How are the NT authors using the OT?...
Preaching the Gospel to Yourself & Others (Part 2)
So what does preaching the gospel to yourself look like? We learned in Part 1 that amazing news that God changes the heart. Yet we also know that change comes through hearing, treasuring, and heeding his word....
Preaching the Gospel to Yourself & Others (Part 1)
I want to explore how the gospel functions in the life of the church. No matter what the church faced, the apostles wove the gospel into the very fabric of the church’s life, ministries, and mission. The gospel never amounted to a “shelved” message for the church. It has ongoing significance....
Killing Racism & Ethnic Prejudice
The Lord’s word speaks pointedly to so many issues we face. Some months ago, our church studied Paul’s speech before the Areopagus in Acts 17:16-34. It took two Sundays, but we drew several inferences. One inference spoke directly to an issue that many, for varying reasons, have been thinking about afresh: racism. Acts 17 gives us at least four truths about all people that, when embraced rightly and applied comprehensively, kill racism....
The Importance of Church Membership
What is the biblical rationale for church membership? ...
8 Ways to Fight Sexual Temptation (Part 2)
Pornography is one expression of sexual immorality inundating our culture.[i] Grievously, it’s far too common in the church as well. Covenant Eyes reports that “64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women say they watch porn at least once a month.”[ii] Such statistics hardly represent the biblical imperative: “sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints” (Eph 5:3). Are you among the 64% or the 15%? By God’s grace, you don’t have to be. Are others you know among them? By God’s grace, you can help them not to be. Contrary to popular resolve, Christians can say No to pornography and to any other sexual temptation....
8 Reasons You Must Flee Pornography (Part 1)
The following reasons remain part of my own arsenal in the fight against lust and sexual immorality. I share them to equip you in the same fight. Part two will come soon, where I develop eight ways to fight sexual temptation. Until then please consider these seriously, especially those of you who may be looking at and thinking about porn. Some of my comments are geared toward men, but much of this post also applies to women....
What is the church?
What is the church? While certainly not exhaustive, here's a brief portrait of the church based on numerous texts from Scripture....
The Gospel & Our Giving
The gospel of Jesus Christ motivates our giving. Giving is motivated not by looking at another ‘law’ for a minimum amount I’m constrained or required to give, but by looking at Jesus’ person and work for the maximum amount I’m freed to give. When we look at the gospel, we find at least four principles that guide our giving....
Responding to Biblical Eldership (Part 3)
The Bible implies that every believer knows which elders he/she is accountable to obey under the Lord and that elders know which believers are directly under their pastoral care. Insofar as these appointed men follow Jesus Christ and extend his shepherdly care, members of a local church should submit to the elders God has placed over them in particular. But what does such submission to one’s elders include?...
Introducing Biblical Eldership (Part 1)
Part and parcel to God’s design in building the church and equipping her members is providing exemplary leadership through whom he administers his own shepherdly care. The Lord uses these leaders to press the truth and grace of his character into the life of the congregation. Insofar as these appointed men look like Christ and follow him, the congregation will benefit. ...
The Nature of Biblical Eldership (Part 2)
When we discuss the nature of biblical eldership, we are seeking to answer the question, What should Jesus Christ’s care for the church look like when it comes through the elders? Using terms often associated with shephering in the Scriptures, we could summarize the nature of eldership under four headings: lead, feed, protect, and care....
Glorifying God on Social Media (or Before you post that on Facebook...)
Social media also for some (and I want to emphasize for some) an avenue to vent frustrations quite apart from lifting high the cross of Christ. In light of this potential for social media as well as its abuses, I want to offer the following counsel. I’m a bit late to the game. But I pastor a local church in Fort Worth. I love them dearly. I think of them often. And I’ve written these things first to equip myself and them....
Baltimore, Nepal, #SCOTUS...What Can I Possibly Do?
Rachel and I sat to talk last night about the people suffering the aftermath of an earthquake in Nepal, the decision regarding marriage before the Supreme Court, and even longer about the situation in Baltimore and the hurt we feel for all involved. The events seem so huge; the issues involved, so complex; the people needing help, so many. We both wanted so badly to do som...
Keep ReadingResponding to News of ISIS
I don’t pretend to have all the answers when circumstances such as the one with ISIS transpire, but the Bible instructs us to respond in at least the following five ways. These are not five additional things to “tack on” to your Christian walk; they are the overflow of who God has already made us to be in Christ....
Keep Reading