Proverbs 18:1 reads, “whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.” Bruce Waltke in his commentary on Proverbs says this, “the fool alienates himself from society by his self-indulgent pursuit and bares his teeth against the sage’s proficient thinking.” The person who isolates himself can also be translated antisocial…
SAY NO…The grace of God has appeared . . . training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions (Titus 2: 11-12). Grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness. Ungodliness in its broadest form basically comprises disregarding God, ignoring Him, or not taking Him into account in one’s life. It’s a lack of fear and…
What is the purpose of our salvation? The following videos put out by the Acton Institute are extremely well done, aestetically pleasing to watch and biblically solid. I highly encourage you to watch the trailer below and then to purchase the whole video , which is $1.99 BUT with the Gospel Coalition code “TGC2” you…
The title of this post is a subheading from John Piper’s book Finally Alive (for a PDF version of this book click here). Why the new birth? Here are ten descriptions of our condition apart from the new birth: Apart from the new birth, we are dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1-2). Apart from the new birth, we are…
DeYoung in his book Taking God At His Word walks through several doctrines of Scripture that if rightly understood should foster confidence in a Christian concerning the Bible. One doctrine is the clarity of Scripture. Here’s several things that the clarity of Scripture means: Some portions of Scripture are clearer than others. Not every passage has a simple…
What are the attributes of Scripture? DeYoung shares that Christians have traditionally highlighted four characteristics: Sufficiency: The Scriptures contain everything we need for knowledge of salvation and godly living. We don’t need any new revelation from heaven. Clarity: The saving message of Jesus Christ is plainly taught in the Scriptures and can be understood by all…
Dr. Bruce Ware, in his book Father, Son, & Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles and Relevance gives ten reasons to focus on the wonder of the Trinity that I found helpful and insightful. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most distinguishing doctrines of the Christian faith and therefore is deserving of our careful study, passionate…
Christians are individuals who have been born again by God’s great mercy (1 Peter 1:3). This new life will conclude in an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading (1 Peter 1:4). This inheritance is kept, protected and preserved by the power of God (1 Peter 1:5). How else does Peter describe what Christians have? Here…
What can we learn from the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35? Forgiveness cancels a debt. The practice of canceling a debt serves as a metaphor for practicing forgiveness. Forgiveness presupposes that someone bear the cost of what is owed Forgiveness makes a three-fold promise: (1) I will not bring up this offense again or use…
In a previous post we discussed the “why” of making a transition to an elder-led model. In this post we’ll share some insights, as well as some principles and practices that are indespensable in how you are to make such a transition. We have served in several churches over the last twelve years all of which were in…
