Communion is a whole church gathering event.  Not home groups.  Not family groups, not for groups of friends.  To share communion like that is actually a denial of what communion symbolises. But we also need to guard against becoming too familiar with this meal and its symbolism. There’s a danger of that happening for us... Continue Reading

When we suffer, we can—and should—cry out to our sovereign God to relieve our pain and remove the source of our suffering. But God did not answer Paul’s prayer in the way Paul expected. Sometimes we think that if we do not receive a specific answer from God in the time we want, God is... Continue Reading

Paul the apostle could have become the greatest teacher and leader in the religious/political life of his own Jewish people, but he said, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”... Continue Reading

I am not told to bear it alone, but rather to cast it into stronger arms. Arms that never tire. Strength that never wanes. He is the Rock. He is the true bearer of burdens. Christ is the man who has borne the heaviest thing. He has borne our sins in His own body on... Continue Reading

When Christ commissions Paul, he tells Ananias exactly what Paul’s ministry will involve: “He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Notice that: kings. From the beginning, Paul’s calling was to bring the name of Jesus Christ to those who... Continue Reading

Just as we were not created to be alone, we were not saved to be alone. The issue that Paul was dealing with in the Corinthian church was not an issue of some members neglecting the local gathering, but what he tells them in correction of their problem applies to this one as well. One... Continue Reading

Understanding the history of human societies is part of God’s design for how we tend and keep his creation and fill the earth with civilization that glorifies him. And this understanding isn’t limited to professional historians. The Bible calls us all to do the priestly work of stewarding the past. On the one hand, this... Continue Reading

Paul connects truthfulness with our new identity in Christ: “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another” (Ephesians 4:25). Similarly, he writes, “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:9).  ... Continue Reading

God brings glory to himself in our lives by sanctifying us—by making us more like Jesus Christ in the inner man so we can act more like Jesus in the outer man. God means to have a witness in this world, and though Christ has ascended, he has left us here to act as his... Continue Reading

When Paul wrote his letters, many of the issues he dealt with were not outlined in the Old Testament Scriptures he had in front of him. He wrote about meat sacrificed to idols, about speaking in tongues, and about a man who slept with his stepmother, none of which were dealt with directly in another... Continue Reading

Do you give your mind a chance to free itself from the shock and horror of the news, the way in which advertising infects you with envy, and the banality of much of modern culture? As never before in human history, our minds are under assault.     So, what do you think about? What... Continue Reading

After celebrating God’s word, David responds with a prayer. “Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults” (Psalm 19:12). The word of God doesn’t merely inform us; it actually exposes us (Hebrews 4:12-13). It reveals our sin, hidden motives and our need for God’s mercy. Yet this is precisely why God’s word... Continue Reading

Take these simple, five-word sentences and share them with one another.   Did you know that five words can change your life? Paul says that he’d rather speak five intelligible words than ten thousand unintelligible words. And whether he meant that literally or figuratively, it is amazing how spot on this is. To speak with... Continue Reading

The founding of America. The shaping of Europe. We still live in a world that bears the imprint of Whitefield and the Great Awakening. The question is, for how long? Very few people today know who George Whitefield was. The message he preached is becoming decreasingly familiar. Men have forgotten Whitefield. Now they are forgetting... Continue Reading

The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to look away from ourselves and up to God. It teaches us to put God at the center and ourselves at the periphery.  And this is the great secret: When we do this, we find happiness. We are miserable because we put ourselves first. When we don’t get what we... Continue Reading

Pain can create spiritual amnesia. To avoid sinning in suffering, we need to be reminded of who God is. One of the ordinary means God has given us to fight sin and remember his character week in and week out is through gathering with the local church. There was a time during our wait for... Continue Reading

Get up and go to Bethel. God is waiting there. If you will turn in humility, confession, and repentance to Him, He will help you.   What do you do when your life or your family is in a terrible tangle? When everything is out of sorts? When the problem is insurmountable and the solutions... Continue Reading

The Lord has gifted you with an instrument, your voice. Raise it up in faithful adoration and praise, and use it to His glory. Its result will be for your good.   The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. —Psalm... Continue Reading

The apostles are Christ’s instruments and organs for the fulfillment of revelation. As a second Mosaic ministry they share in establishing Christ Himself. Together with Him they constitute the rock, the foundation, the pillars of the church, of which Paul is the last.   While this suggestion might strike you as quite strange, even irresponsible,... Continue Reading

Scripture gives no indication that natural winsomeness or comfort before people marks the gift of teaching. This warns those who treat natural gifts as proof of a calling to teach God’s Word, while encouraging the reserved that a lack of such ease does not disqualify them.   Sound teaching is the lifeblood of the church.... Continue Reading