Sometimes I fear that you (my dear congregation) get J.C. Ryle overload, if that were possible. I quote him often and in virtually every forum possible (sermons, blog, newsletter, etc.), but that is because I try to read him a lot. Why do I read him a lot? I read him a lot because time and time again I am challenged, instructed, rebuked, and encouraged to love Christ more ...

A few weeks ago I learned that I shouldn't worship concrete. Now perhaps you're thinking, "Wait, aren't you a pastor? You should have known that already, right?" Well, yes, of course I should have. One Saturday morning, not too long ago, the concrete truck pulled up to our home to pour our new sidewalk. We previously had some luxurious gravel (sarcasm alert), but decided ...

This past Monday was the 494th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg. His first theses declared that the whole of the Christian life ought to be one of repentance, but so often we find it difficult to turn from our sin. Instead of looking to Christ, we turn inward and look upon ourselves and our sin. Christian, take to h...

I've often pushed an agenda of meditating on God's grace to us in Christ. I'm not sure that we can do that enough, so I'm going to push that agenda again. Take 10 minutes this week, maybe even today, and reflect on God's grace to you. Marvel at God's grace and pray that he would give you more of it for your good and his glory. In Volume 2 of his Reformed Dogmatics, Herman...

One of the most fundamental aspects of the Lord's Supper is fellowship. The Lord's Supper is a display of our fellowship with Christ and our fellowship in Christ with other believers. As we partake of the bread and the fruit of the vine in faith, we display that we have been united to Christ by trusting in his life, death, and resurrection on our behalf. But we don't do th...

I have a chance to walk with sinners every day, but I've got to tell you about my most difficult case me. I am the most difficult sinner that I walk with because I know myself and my heart. There is still far too much darkness in my own heart that I need the light of Christ to dispel. So, I can say with Paul in Romans 7:24, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me fro...

One of the hidden snares that this world tempts us with is idealism. We are invited to believe that the ship is not sinking. Instead we are encouraged to sit, make ourselves comfortable, and listen to the beautiful chamber music being played as we sail on under the starlit sky. When all is said and done, we are in effect invited to, as some have said, "surrender realism fo...

From time to time, we have music playing in the house. Usually we just keep going about our day and business, but every once in a while, I will stop and listen and consider what is being said or sung. Earlier in the week, or perhaps it was last week, I stopped and listened to a song by Sara Groves entitled "Rain." The song unfolds her paradigm for wrestling with suffering ...

I don't know about you, but sometimes a song will get into my head and then have difficulty getting out. For songs with redeeming content that can be a glorious thing. Of late I've been listening to Daniel Renstrom's rendition of John Newton's wonderful hymn "Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder." You can get a copy here or listen it here, but Daniel's verse 3 (Newton's verse 4...

For the past few weeks, I've been attempting to reflect on Matthew 22:37. I've attempted to answer the questions "What is love?" and "Who are you to love?" Now, I'm going to attempt to answer the question "How we are to love?" The natural temptation at this point would be to reflect on how to love the Lord with our hearts, and then to think about how to love the Lord with...