What is the purpose of unbelievers?
What is the purpose of unbelievers? Thankfully, there are several clear answers to this intriguing question, though, as one might expect, those answers directly confront and agitate the man-centered way of measuring reality that we, as people, tend to prefer. We want to believe that God’s plans center on us, we want to believe that the measure of His success […]
The Lord of the ends is the Lord of the means.
As fallen people, we like to imagine ourselves as being much more important than we really are. Don’t get me wrong. As purposefully made image-bearers of God, each and every person is of great value and importance. It’s just that we’re nowhere near as important as we imagine ourselves to be in certain critical contexts. […]
Yes, everything is purposeful. And that shouldn’t necessarily make you comfortable.
Yes, everything is purposeful. And that shouldn’t necessarily make us all comfortable. It is certainly true that everything – every thought, act, consequence and benefit to ever occur anywhere at any time in God’s creation – is perfectly ordained by Him to accomplish His purposes. There is not, as RC Sproul is known for saying, […]
God Is Fixing This (On *His* Terms)
As if we needed yet another sign that American culture is both presently under the wrath of God and begging for more, we got the following gem this week from The New York Daily News: To which a biblically literate person might well respond: God is fixing this, and perfectly so. An American culture that believes its […]
Jesus isn’t anybody’s co-pilot.
Everything wrong with us springs from our personal refusal to submit to Christ as King in practice. Everything wrong with our culture flows from our corporate rejection of Christ as Lord in practice. One of the cutesy (and therefore most repulsive) ways we’re naturally wired to express contempt for Christ’s rule over all of creation is by paying lip service to Him as […]
Happy Earth as the Lord’s Footstool Day!
Isn’t it awesome to live in the real world? And by “real world” I do not mean the real world as the world and worldly like to imagine and portray it to be. I mean the real world as it is. Really. More specifically, I mean the world – the creation – that is right […]
The Gospel, the Great Commission, and the accomplished victory of Christ the King.
Whatever one’s views on seasonal celebrations in general or Christmas in particular, two general truths that we are well served to not only remember but cherish are: Everything in Christ’s creation was made by, through, and for Him. . While unbelievers are inherently inclined to corrupt the good things throughout Christ’s creation, their acts of corruption are fleeting and temporary. […]
Thank God for challenges!
If there’s one thing we’re not inclined to be thankful for, it’s challenges. I’m not talking about the “challenge” of stiff competition in a board game, on the ball field, or at the shooting range. I’m talking about the big and sometimes scary ones that come our way: Cancer. Starvation. Serious persecution. The loss of a loved one. […]
Would the Great Commission seem impossible if we believed in God?
Imagine, if you will, the following game-show scenario: The production features ten intelligent, honest, and sincere adults. These people, though they are very well educated in every other area of inquiry, have absolutely no knowledge of the Bible or Christianity whatsoever. One last bit of info on our ten hypothetical folks: They have a perfect […]
What do we naturally hate most about God?
What do we naturally hate most about God? Now that’s a tough one. After all, the list of things that we inherently despise about God is, according to Scripture, quite long; comprehensive, you might say. We’re born with a thoroughly anti-God, self-centered perspective on pretty much everything. We hate His holiness. We hate His justice. We […]
Candy Christianity: The Counterfeit Gospel of the American Church (Part 1 of 4)
Our pews are full, but our heads are empty. Our spirits starve for truth.
Perhaps these pews are full because our heads are empty, having been spoon-fed a gospel of convenience, ease and worldly accommodation. The hollow theology pouring forth from American pulpits today may have attracted quite a crowd, but for the most part these are little more than gatherings of rebels come to loot the honor of God as they relentlessly seek to conform Him to their will.