Attendance is necessary, but members should do more than just attend. They should serve. They should  “do the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12). They use their gifts to serve God and other members, building up the church in the process. Great encouragement comes from knowing you’re not the only one on the team. Great comfort comes... Continue Reading

If we fixate upon the tone of the service—stamping out laughter and mirth—making sure we have the proper atmosphere of being around the holy, we’ll never arrive at anything more than contrived stillness. Because when you focus upon being blood-earnest you’re no longer really preaching.   C.S. Lewis once spoke about the difficulty of sustaining... Continue Reading

Amid the New Year’s hubbub about self-focused resolutions and self-improvement and self-care and self-whatever, don’t forget that 2023 is not about you. It’s about Jesus. It’s good to ask how this year could be different than the one before—but for Jesus’ sake, not just ours. Whatever our plans, intentions, hopes, or fears are as we... Continue Reading

As Paul makes clear in Romans 1, our sinful nature makes excusing and even justifying our sins all too easy. Each person’s conscience is certainly a common grace from God that restrains much evil, yet the conscience may be easily seared by continual sin, making good judgment and proper knowledge unavailable. That is why the psalmist... Continue Reading

The circumstance in which a baby is conceived may be wicked, but that does not make the unborn baby less valuable. Murdering an unborn baby who is conceived by rape does not righteously fix a situation but only adds crime upon crime. Punish the rapist—not the baby. Justice is getting what you deserve and giving... Continue Reading

I thank God for modern writers of hymns and songs, committed to producing music that is true and excellent for the glory of God and the people of God.  Music is a gift of God, a unique way of connecting His revelation with our hearts and minds. St. Augustine is thought to have said, “he who... Continue Reading

Though sanctification is based on what Christ accomplished in His death and resurrection and is experienced in the lives of believers by the power of the Holy Spirit, God has appointed certain means to assist believers in the pursuit of growth in grace. The believer’s progressive sanctification will be commensurate with his employment of the... Continue Reading

This is not just true of Joe Pagan. It is true of those claiming to be Christians yet absolutely deny God, his truth, and what his Word clearly teaches. No wonder the Bible repeatedly warns about how easy it is to be deceived, how active the devil is, and how we must all be on... Continue Reading

As we revisit the truths that Thomas Brooks discovered in 1652, let us be reinvigorated by them today. Let us make war with our sin. Let us avoid the veneer of virtue signaling and resist the temptation to tuck them away like poison without dealing with it adequately. Let us flee to the arms of... Continue Reading

Whether we are tempted to leave one church for another over a matter of mere preference, whether we are tempted to remove an element of our worship service because it no longer resonates with people, whether we are tempted to try something novel and new, we must always turn first to the Word, first to... Continue Reading