One of the things the church continually needs is focus. This year has, it seems, hampered our focus in various ways. We are either focused on the wrong things or simply lack focus on anything. However, one thing is certain. We need to focus more and more on Jesus in the present evil age.…
According to the Reformed Tradition (I’m aware that in the RT some diversity exists), upon the exercise of faith, a person is united to Christ by the powerful working of the Spirit. This union with Christ has at least two results. Calvin would note that union with Christ contains a duplex gratia (i.e. double grace).…
Historically, in the Western Christian tradition, the good news of the saving message of Jesus Christ has been linked closely to the doctrine of justification by faith alone.[1] In short, according to the Reformed tradition, upon the exercise of faith, a person is united to Christ by the powerful working of the Spirit. Having been…
My firstborn child turned 10 years old today. Today I have been a father for a decade. So, Dustin, what have you learned? I can sum up the majority of the lessons I’ve learned in this one sentence: if you want to be a father, you have to be a man. And I don’t mean…
Here are a few lessons Psalm 51 teaches us about God: He is just in His judgments. Our sins our before Him and against Him. He breaks our bones and convicts us of sin. Then He restores us so we can rejoice in our salvation. His mercy is abundant. His love is steady and enduring.…
This Sunday I’m starting to preach through Galatians. I think the main thing Paul is doing in Galatians is calling his readers back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the theology of Galatians, it seems the gospel is unpacked in terms of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. In short,…
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…
*This post is by Stacy Thorpe, Ministerial Coordinator for Care & Counseling, South Campus (Bethlehem Baptist Church). Empathy is being talked about a lot in our culture right now. It is simply defined as the ability to understand and share in the feelings of others. This sounds like a good thing, yet as Christians, how…
