Of late I've been reading Mark Dever's book The Church: The Gospel Made Visible. While I personally want to quibble with the good Dr.'s title a little bit (ask me about that another time), since I've gotten past the title page, I've been agreeing with him over and over again. Too often today, Christians are apologizing for the Church, as if she is the black sheep of Christ...

As I began last week's sermon preparation, I prayed. For some reason, last week I scribbled down the major headings of the prayer that I brought before the Lord that day, and I discovered them again today. I thought that I would share the rough outlines of that prayer because I believe that it is one that we can all offer to God when we are endeavoring to understand his Wo...

On Tuesdays, I am reading through Sinclair Ferguson's The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction with another brother in the church. This past week we talked about chapters 8 and 9, but I was particularly encouraged by chapter 8, "True Repentance." One of the things that struck me, as it has before, is how wonderful God's mercy is. In the course of identifying elements i...

This past Sunday evening I preached on the first two words of the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father." From the truth that God is our Father, I drew out five implications for our prayer lives as Christians and churches. I want to share with you the first implication because I need to preach it to myself over and over again. The first and most obvious implication is that since God ...

A friend was recently confessing to me some struggles, and he was surprised when I mentioned that the Devil might be involved. We easily forget that he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). This is one of the "weird" things that we as Christians believe that is, it is weird in the eyes of the world. What is the Devil's main aim in att...

In his book Holiness by Grace, Dr. Bryan Chapell wrote, "The tears of confession and the joy of pardon are required to produce the gratitude that empowers the Christian life" (p.35). I've only just started reading Dr. Chapell's book, but I expect it to be a good one by what I've read so far. Many years ago a dear friend taught me the principle that Dr. Chapell propounds, ...

I've been sitting in lectures on the Christian life over the last couple of days, and we've basically been circling around one theme that ought to have a profound impact on every area of our lives as Christians. That one theme can really be summed up or presented in a couple of Scripture passages: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (R...

Sunday, I participated in a prayer service with other pastors from the SBCV. Our goal was to gather together to praise God, confess sin, give thanks, and make our requests known to God in and through prayer. It was a wonderful evening, but perhaps the thing that warms my heart the most from last Sunday evening was the response of a young girl when she once again held her l...

Are you quick to judge others with severity? Just admit it. You know you are. I am. So let's hear and heed this gentle word from Charles Spurgeon together: "Eyes that have wept over our own sin will always be most ready to weep over the sins of others. If you have judged yourselves with candor, you will not judge others with severity. You will be more ready to pity than t...

I treasure our church's Statement of Faith. I carry a copy of it around in my Bible. You can call me weird for doing that, but you probably should have called me weird a long time ago for a number of other things. Anyway, our church's Statement of Faith is based in large part upon the 1853 New Hampshire Confession of Faith. It is a wonderful confession that aptly summarize...