The world is a messy, and often wicked, place. Just turn on the news. They never have to cancel investigative shows that reveal injustice because there is so much around. That’s nothing new. The Teacher of Ecclesiastes noted the same kind of things around 3000 years ago. In Ecclesiastes 8, he noted that governments can …
I have recently returned from the General Assembly of the World Reformed Fellowship. As I mentioned in my previous post, this was a wonderful opportunity to meet with like-minded people from around the world, to encourage one another, and to consider carefully the challenges we face in the modern world. The theme of the GA …
Think back to the last time you had to pack a suitcase when you last went on holidays. You usually have more things to take than whatever room you have in your case. You have a pile of things on the bed and an empty suitcase in front of you. How do you begin? Well, …
It’s flu season. It’s a bad one this year. Many of our friends and family members are sick or will be; perhaps we will suffer sickness ourselves. And that is on top of those who suffer other types of illnesses and disabilities; there are always people in our families and churches who have an obvious …
Our church accepted six people into membership yesterday. This is always an encouraging time as we think about what it means to be a church together. It means not just attending a place to get teaching and sing some songs, but being part of a family and serving one another. It involves commitment, and membership …
We are only saved by grace. That is a wonderful truth. We can only be counted as one of God’s people by what Jesus has done for us in his death and resurrection. He paid the debt we could not pay. Jesus took our sins upon himself. All we need to do is trust in …
As part of a recent sermon on false teaching based on Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7, I mentioned that many of the bestselling books in Christian bookstores could be classified as false teaching. There are books that advocate for a non-orthodox and unbiblical view of the Trinity (the Shack), are based on a concept not …
It all sounds so easy. Come to Jesus, and all will be fine. God does it all; you are saved by grace; it is all about what God does and not what you do. Just trust Jesus, and you’re in! And it’s true. It is wonderful news. The only way to be saved and get …
In my last blog post (which you can read here), I noted that we should be praying to our Father often, making the most of the privilege we have to speak directly to God. We should actually ask and not keep censoring ourselves. God, in his wisdom, will decide which requests to grant and what …
As part of working through the Sermon on the Mount recently, it has struck me how difficult this blueprint for being a disciple really is. It is indeed a narrow and difficult road spent following Jesus. All the values that kingdom people are supposed to hold to are the opposite of what our sinful natures …