Behind every New Testament command (often issued as an imperative) is the assumption that God’s Spirit is present in us to empower our will to act. It is by the Holy Spirit’s strength that we fulfill God’s righteous requirements for holy living (Rom 8:3-4; 13-14). In fact, without the Spirit’sRead More
I’ve read a great deal on, taught through, and, most importantly, practiced the spiritual disciplines over the course of my new life in Christ (some 35+ years). Though practicing the spiritual disciplines often churn and agitate slowly, they are without doubt the most important habits to help form and transformRead More
Reading through Simply Good News, I discovered one other important idea that I want to mention. The idea did not strike me as significant on first swipe. It wasn’t until several pages beyond that it hit me how impactful this idea was, so I turned back the pages, re-read, and then pondered for some time. It has toRead More
Does Scripture support two classes of Christians? A few observations: 1) Spiritual maturity is always a goal to be achieved, not a quality that we possess (Eph 4:13; Philip 3:12-16). Maturity is a process in you, not a character trait of you. Until we are glorified in Christ’s presence, weRead More
As a hearty “THANKS” to everyone visiting my blog in 2014, I thought I’d offer a free eBook, which is one of my all-time favorite reads. With invaluable pastoral wisdom and theological strength, D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge give us Letters Along the Way: A Novel of the ChristianRead More
I’ve been thinking about a quote from Jerry Bridge’s The Pursuit of Holiness (pp. 25-26, 1st ed.). He writes: Many Christians have what we might call a “cultural holiness”. They adapt to the character and behavior pattern of Christians around them. As the Christian culture around them is more orRead More
“I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. HeRead More
I’ve been charged with being too analytical. Two real-life cases in point. First, a while ago I was cleaning the kitchen after dinner and my daughter was sitting at the dining table with her Macbook. She said, “Dad listen…” She then read this to me “Do everything without complaining orRead More
Discussions continue around the departure of Tullian Tchividjian’s presence from The Gospel Coalition website. The reason stated by TGC involved a significant disagreement over sanctification (broadly defined as a a divine-human operation prompted, enabled, and ultimately completed by God the Holy Spirit). TGC states: In Tullian’s case, it was obvious to observers thatRead More
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Matthew 5:13 I’ve been reading through Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship with a goodRead More
A common question around 1 Peter 3:18-22 involves where Christ was between his death and his resurrection. Many argue this text suggests that Christ did indeed descend into hell and the earliest creed of Christendom in fact says so! But, is this the case? Did Christ go into hell andRead More
