Can God change your circumstances? Sure. But you can experience the blessing of Numbers 6 even in the wilderness. You can know that God is providing for you and protecting you, that he is favorable toward you. You can experience a deep sense of wellbeing even in a wheelchair or wherever you are, because you are... Continue Reading

Saying we want to enjoy today is great in theory, but it’s difficult when we see the struggles that ‘today’ brings. That’s when our eyes begin looking toward another day. Continually, we must recognize that even the struggles of today are being used by God to sanctify us and purify our faith through the fiery... Continue Reading

I believe a pastor needs to move on from the local church you served, so staying at our old church was not an option. But I came to realize that going to a variety of churches was not enough. You need to have your own church. You need to be part of a body of... Continue Reading

The shifting tide of culture is all it would take to change which groups people love. Christians, though, are not only justified in their love towards all people, but that justification will never change because it’s based on God’s eternal truth.   There’s an important point I begin with when I teach on homosexuality and... Continue Reading

We are incapable of “opening our hands” to receive what God has promised to give for fear that we might lose what we think we have grasped. And so we pray with Jeremy Taylor that God would “open our hands for us. And [that he would] not only open [our] hand, but also open [our]... Continue Reading

Jesus has true authority. He is the One who has all dominion and authority and majesty and might. He is the One who sees the nations as a drop in the bucket and commands the heavenly army. He is the One who has real glory. He is the Lord. So, don’t fear when you see men... Continue Reading

Sometimes I read passages I’ve read hundreds of times before, and a new insight leaps off the page. I puzzle over passages, and find that the longer I look at them, the more they yield. I never finish looking at a passage and think, “Yep. Got that one down.” And then there are the relationships between... Continue Reading

The blood of animals never covered any sinner’s sins. Instead, they pointed forward to the once for all sacrifice that Christ would make for us. Although they did not know His name, all the Israelites who sacrificed and believed by faith that Yahweh had forgiven their sins were truly placing their faith in Christ. In... Continue Reading

In Genesis 12, God chooses Abraham from the midst of the nations — or, more specifically, from the midst of the descendants of Shem. God does not, however, simply give Abraham the same command he gave to Adam and Noah. Instead, he gives Abraham a promise: “I will make you exceedingly fruitful,” he says (Genesis 17:6),... Continue Reading

We can now face death with such confidence that we can even talk back to it as Luther did when his precious Magdalene died. As both John McClean and Martin Luther declared in their own way: “Death, you are defeated, for the Author of Life has risen again from the grave!” And that means that... Continue Reading