Straying sheep must be found and carried home with compassion and care. This is the picture Jesus paints in Matthew 18 as He describes the church discipline process. He begins with a parable about a lost sheep and then transitions to His instruction on church discipline (Matthew 18:12-18).    I was sent only to the... Continue Reading

There is a definite chain of events that happen when it comes to love. The last link in the chain is that we love others. Back up on, and you get that we love God. And then back up to the beginning and you find that God loves us. Put it in reverse order and... Continue Reading

After Genesis one briefly records six days of creation, chapter two backs up to emphasize the significance of God’s creation of humans. What essential truths can we learn about ourselves from the creation of the first two people?   Have you ever told someone, “I must have missed the first part of your story. I... Continue Reading

Our hope and confidence is the heavenly calling that we share because Jesus shared in our humanity to bring us to glory with Him as the captain of our salvation. Our boasting is in love and might of our great Savior and that He is our merciful and faithful high priest who is able to help us whenever... Continue Reading

As the reader probably has noticed, there is now a great divide between Evangelicals and Progressives. Can that divide be bridged? It is impossible to know, though it doesn’t appear likely at this time. Our understanding of God and His word are very different.   In our book, A Matter of Basic Principles: Bill Gothard and... Continue Reading

The Bible is very clear that God’s election of particular sinners is based upon God’s good pleasure and purpose, that election is “in Christ” (which means that all those who presently trust in Christ were chosen in Christ before time), and that God provides the merits of Jesus Christ (through his suffering and obedience) to... Continue Reading

The self-sufficiency of God has huge implications for our understanding of worship. When we gather on a Sunday, who is gaining? Not God, but us. We don’t come because he needs us but because we need him. We come ultimately not to give but to gain. How else could needy, dependent sinners approach the God... Continue Reading

‌As you continue to pursue holiness and Christlikeness, don’t simply strive to acquire theological knowledge alone, but let your love abound more and more, with knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus... Continue Reading

We need Jesus. Job’s faith in his redeemer in chapter 19 is one of the most staggering examples of gospel hope in the Old Testament. His confidence that his Redeemer lives and will stand on the earth and rise over it conquering the dust/death and then he will see God is astounding. It shows us... Continue Reading

While many Reformed writers, especially recently, make the scriptural case for wine, our question is specifically one of polity: how have Presbyterian Churches used grape juice without running afoul of the Westminster Standards and their respective Books of Church Order? Was the change in American Presbyterian polity merely a matter of disobedience?   In the first 1,800 years... Continue Reading