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 ...

As part of my sermon preparation each week, I try to think of questions that Christians and non-Christians might have about the passage. For example, John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Perhaps you remember this verse from when you memorized it in Sunday school many years ...

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...

As we were studying John 8, I spent some time reflecting on what it means to be enslaved to sin. I encouraged non-Christians to be set free by embracing Christ, and I encouraged Christians to keep living in their freedom. While I didn't have the time at the time, I wanted to spend more time dwelling on sin and slavery. I wanted to do so in part to help us as Christians rel...

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...

Last week I mentioned that Matthew 22:37 kept coming up in personal study, conversations with friends, and in planning for future services. Reflecting on Jesus' words, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," I raised three questions: What is love? Who are you to love? How are you to love him? I at least made an ...

Perhaps the Lord has been prodding me over the past few days. In my personal study, planning for future services, and in conversations with others, Matthew 22:37 keeps coming up. There, Jesus says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Three questions keep coming to mind, and while I'll offer my own initial an...

On Sunday, we had the privilege of reflecting on Christ's love from John 13. We learned not only about Christ's love toward us, but we also learned from our Savior that we are to love as he loved. We then spent some time reflecting on how Christ loves. I specifically pointed out that while Christ's love could be described in many words, that for the moment I would attempt ...

"As a matter of fact, the redeemed man gains more through redemption in Christ than he lost through the fall of Adam" [Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Faith, p.15]. That is good and glorious news packed into one sentence. While I love a good turn of phrase, sometimes it takes a paragraph to unpack an immensely glorious point. Such is the case when trying to explain the bibl...