Self-reliance is one of the most prized American virtues, and there is certainly nothing wrong with learning to support yourself. However, the kind of isolated, lone-ranger self-reliance celebrated in our society is quite opposite to the mutual lifestyle Paul…
One reality that amazes me more and more as I grow in my relationship with King Jesus is how the very same life He lived for me and offered to the Father as the atoning sacrifice for my sins…
The Bible uses a variety of words pictures to describe our salvation in Jesus. Justification pictures us as offenders pardoned in a courtroom. Adoption depicts us as orphans brought into a family. Redemption imagines us purchased at a slave…
When I served as a missionary, I carried with me a brown and yellow backpack I had since the 8th grade. It was functional, but it showed the marks of time. The top handle had broken off back in…
Thomas Watson is one of my favorite Puritans to read. His works are very descriptive and have very concise and short illustrations. He puts repentance into 6 ingredients to be true repentance. Dear church, Jesus declares that unless you repent…
In 1738, Charles Wesley wrote a hymn called And Can It Be? and penned these words that describe the natural state of the human heart and what it takes to change it: Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound…
Dear church, it has been one of my greatest joys to teach and disciple our youth for almost seven years now, and I want to thank you for all the prayer and practical support you have invested in the…
The world has mauled biblical standards. In my time through high school, hardly anyone I met wanted a mature partner or a godly relationship; I’ve seen many seek the opposite (and with much desperation). I’ve seen relationships that were terribly…
In the silence that falls on my spiritWhen the clamor of life loudest seems,Comes a voice that floats in tremulous notesFar over my sea of dreams.I remember the dim old vestry,And my father kneeling there;And the old hymns thrill with…
A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. Here are 12 promises for the Christian to claim. God’s presence — “I will never leave thee” (Heb. 13:5) God’s protection — “I am thy shield”…