Almighty Father, you have sent your Son as the Prince of Peace[1] having made war with sin and our lawless hearts you have crucified the old man[2] that we might walk in newness of life.[3] Indeed, Father, the old is gone the new has come[4], and thus, being justified, we have peace with You, our holy God through our Lord…
Christian Joe Posts
My daughter is nearly three years old and living in a house with three older brothers, it can get kind of confusing for her. She loves and idolizes her brothers, wanting to do everything they do. Recently she told me that when she grows up she wants to be a boy. I don’t blame her, those brothers of hers have…
Some people have asked me what my political leanings are for the upcoming elections and who I am voting for. One of the greatest parts about living in a democratic society as a Christian who believes in the sovereign authority and righteousness of God, is that I can cast my vote that affords me a clear conscience and then trust…
This is Part 2 of the two part series on the difficulties and blessings of systematic exposition. You can read Part 1 here. “. . .So is it worth it? Should we abandon systematic, passage by passage, exposition of entire books of the Bible? Should we go to a topical approach of preaching? Or perhaps one popular method today is…
This is a two part post. Part 2 will be posted tomorrow. My target audience is my fellow pastors/preachers and those who would desire this office of “Overseer.” There are real difficulties in committing to preach systematically through entire books of the Bible in what we call passage by passage or verse by verse exposition. Part 1 will deal with…
In the “Western” world, we are success driven. This is not a bad thing of its own accord. We all want to be successful and we ought to desire success. No one wants to be a loser. But how we define success makes all the difference in this life and the life to come. When Jesus was teaching the Sermon…
I have always liked the children’s song, “Jesus Loves Me,” but was thinking about a greater truth this week, something that is more fundamental than the love that Jesus has for us as his children. It is what Jesus said in John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep, and am known of mine.” Jesus knows…
*of course there are valid reasons why someone cannot go to church on any given Sunday (illness, out-of-town, work, etc.) that is not what is being addressed in this article. The intent of this article list is to deal with the avoidable excuses for not being faithful to attend your local church. You need to be around other Christians. “Let…
I am relentlessly challenged by the magnificence of the Psalms, especially those penned by David while he was in despair. To those Christians who have or do struggle with the gloomy darkness of depression, these Psalms are like a sweet salve to the soul. I love the way David’s writing always begins with sincere honesty of his depressive struggle, but…
The phrase “derived authority” is a good way to explain pastoral authority, in that the authority pastors have, is derived first from the Scripture and second from the congregation who asks them to lead them. “Delegated authority” is a good way to explain deacon authority. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul instructs Timothy on the quality of men who should occupy…