Category: Christian Life
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Malignancy of Sin
Sin is a spiritual and moral malignancy. Left unchecked it can spread throughout our entire being and contaminate every area of our lives. Even worse, it will often metasticize from us into the lives of others around us. ~ Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins
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Sojourn Thru This World
“We are not citizens of this world trying to make our way to heaven; we are citizens of heaven trying to make our way through this world.” That radical Christian insight can be life-changing. We are not to live so as to earn God’s love, inherit heaven, and purchase our salvation. All those are given…
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Poem of Your Life
The Bible tells us that each of our lives tell a story. We are like masterpieces of God’s artistry. The greek word is poiema, from which we get our English word “poem”. We are God’s poems. (Ephesians 2.10) We are living epistles (2 Corinthians 3.3). In this video Phil Keaggy joins Michael Card to play Poem of Your…
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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
In the Preface to Joe Thorn‘s book, Note to Self, Sam Storms penned a paragraph that strikes at the heart of the difference between those with a vital Chrisian faith, and those who show little if any hint of actually being a follower of Jesus Christ. Here is what Storms says about the functional place…
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Your Will Be Done in My Life
This prayer from Thomas a Kempis has really touched me where I am today: O Lord, blessed be your name forever, for it is your will that this temptation and trouble come to me. I cannot escape it, but must run to you so that you can help me and turn it to my good. Lord, I am now being afflicted, and my…
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Tongue-in-Check
Let me share a story about an old mountain minister and a young boy in the congregation. During the children’s message this old pastor was trying to convey the sovereignty of God to his young parishioners – and to the listening ears of the rest of the congregation. As he began his summation one precocious…
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Who Does What?
Reading Jerry Bridges’ book Discipline of Grace, especially chapter 6, prompted me to think about the importance of understanding “Who does What?” in our salvation. Here are a few observations that I hope will provide some clarification: Many are frustrated to unfortunate degree because they do not understand that sanctification is a process. Many are…
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Gospel-Driven Sanctification
The first thing to remember is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their…
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My Lukewarm Heart
Here are a couple of question to ponder from Ole Hallesby: Do I really desire to be set free from the lukewarmness of my heart and worldly life? Is not my Christian life always lukewarm and half-hearted for the simple reason that deep down in my heart I desire it to be that way? If you…
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The Call to Discipleship Is…
Colin Marshall & Tony Payne give us a good concise definition of what it means to be a follower of Jesus: The call to discipleship is thus a call to confess our allegiance to Jesus in the face of a hostel world; to serve him and his mission, whatever the cost. ~ from The Trellis…
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A Paradox of God’s Intentions
A paradox of the Christian faith worth pondering, from John Flavel: When God intends to fill a soul, he first makes it empty. When God intends to enrich a soul, he first makes it poor. When he intends to exalt a soul, he first makes it sensible to it’s own miseries, wants, and nothingness.
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Call to Discipleship: Same for All
At the most basic level, the Bible says that Jesus does not have two classes of disciples: Those who abandon their lives to his service. Those who do not. The call to discipleship is the same for all. ~ Colin Marshall & Tony Payne, from The Trellis and the Vine
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5 Truths About Forgiveness
Mark Twain describes forgiveness this way: Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it. What beautifully apropos imagery. In a recent post I listed 5 Myths About Forgiveness, taken from an article by Sam Storms. What I didn’t do in that post is describe what forgiveness is. So in this…
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5 Myths About Forgiveness
In the movie Just Friends pop singer Samantha James (Anna Faris) lyrically muses: “Forgiveness is more than saying ‘Sorry’” Earlier this week I had a conversation with a friend who had been accused by a woman from his church of being “unforgiving” because he was hesitant to re-hire a man who had been fired for cause…
