Each and every day you and I interact with people who exude wisdom and foolishness, which includes you and me. With that dissonance (not living out what we confess to believe) we are reminded of our daily need of Jesus’ rescuing and empowering grace seen in the Spirit to help us not gratify the works…
Yesterday a friend of mine sent me a question one of his students had asked him in class. The student wanted to know how to reconcile Calvin’s definition of faith with that of the Westminister Confession of Faith (WCF). Here is how Calvin defines faith. “Now we shall possess a right definition of faith if…
For the past decade or more, I have had an interest in the concept of holiness. The interest was piqued by Dr. Peter Gentry, now retired Old Testament professor from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in Louisville, KY. Years ago, I listened to a lecture by Dr. Gentry where he challenged the idea that…
Thomas Case was a 16th/17th century Puritan. I recently ran across something he wrote that encourages the regular practice of morning devotions. It is not small advantage to the holy life to “begin the day with God.” The saints are want to leave their hearts with Him over night, that they may find them with…
Lent is first mentioned in the fifth canon produced at the Council of Nicea (canons were practical directions in addition to the Creed). Nicea took place when the Christian church was unified — before the East/West split of 1054, & before the Reformation in 1517. In this fifth canon, Lent is not explained, just mentioned,…
No one enjoys feeling trapped. When you feel trapped, you feel suffocated, pressed in, like there’s no way to escape. Many Christians live feeling like they are trapped in sin. While we experience the joy of Christ changing us through the power of the Spirit, there always seems to be certain sins from which each…
Adultery doesn’t just happen. More often than not, there’s a slow drip of relational disconnectedness and over months and years, the drip becomes a cascade of deep, relational conflict culminating in the decision to commit adultery. A Christian needs to be aware of the chain of events that often leads to adultery and realize that this…
Photo by youssef naddam on Unsplash “I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” Psalm 121:1-4…
Photo by Isabella and Zsa Fischer on Unsplash Consider these specific practices that can lessen your stress from Charles Stone in his book, “Every Pastor’s First 180 Days: How to Start and Stay Strong in a New Church.” Exercise. For decades, we’ve known how exercise benefits our body. But recent research26 has discovered that it benefits…
Photo by Isabella and Zsa Fischer on Unsplash Consider these specific practices that can lessen your stress from Charles Stone in his book, “Every Pastor’s First 180 Days: How to Start and Stay Strong in a New Church.” Exercise. For decades, we’ve known how exercise benefits our body. But recent research26 has discovered that it benefits…
Theology Along the Way 