Think About It

Is sin a private matter? I’m sure we’d all like it to be but unfortunately, that’s not the case.If King David were to know 3000 years later we’d be reading the record we have at our disposal from 2 Samuel 11 and 12, he might still wince at therecounting of his transgressions. You’d think with the news…

We have a constant tendency to stop remembering the cross . . . . and to start depending on legalism and self-effort to make our way in life. It’s natural, not supernatural as in “God-inspired.” Just natural, reverting to the old pathways which lead us away from God’s transforming embrace instead of towards Him. The cross should…

I am who “who” says I am? Granted, we enthusiastically sing the lyrics “I am who You say I am,” but who is the “who” you really default to when you don’t act or feel like God’s child . . .  when the enemy and the power of sin and memories of past failures rail against your faith and your identity in Christ?…

When Jesus was saying “goodbye until I see you again,” he gave some comforting and reassuring words which John recorded in his gospel at John 14:26. He said “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Jesus…

Do “Spirit-controlled” Christians still sin? The short answer is yes, but not while they are “controlled” by the Holy Spirit. That’s precisely why the Apostle Paul prescribes in Ephesians 5:18 that we be “filled with the Spirit.” The verb tense Paul elects to use is that of a pursuit to be continuously filled, not simply a “one and done” filling. Now…

“And such were some of you,” the Apostle Paul goes on to say after listing a litany of sins that were present in his day and ours. Then he goes on to proclaim the good news “but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor.…

Jesus pulled no punches in his speeches to recruit disciples. How are these for examples? To the man who said, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father,“ Jesus responded without a heaping dose of empathy saying, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” (Lk. 9:59-60) When another prospective disciple…

Jesus was called “A friend of sinners.” Am I? For that matter, are you? Just look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:18-19 that say “For John (the Baptist) came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon.” The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Here is a glutton and…

Does the motivation  behind your efforts to please God insult the cross? The writer of Hebrews in Chapter 10 has much to say to us. There are some beautiful and convincing truths here that we would do well to read and  remember as we consider our relationship with God. I think there are some parallels we can…

Are you ever suffering alone? You may think, how can I survive my suffering? Certainly survival is a goal for all of us because to some degree at some unwelcome time we will suffer again. You may be suffering now. As Pastor D.A. Carson points out, “All you have to do is live long enough and you’ll suffer.”  Have…