Unbelievers often argue that the presence of suffering (what they call “evil”) proves Christianity false. After all, if God is loving, why does he not prevent suffering? And if he could prevent suffering but does not prevent it, then he is not good.
Read MoreWhat gives you the hope that things will go well for you? Where do you find comfort when life is chaotic and heartbreaking? Our only comfort is in God’s steadfast love and faithfulness.
Read MoreIt is so easy to love the gifts more than the Giver of the gifts. How absurd is that? It makes about as much sense as a woman who loves her engagement ring more than her fiancé. We would certainly say that this is indicative of a deep problem. Sadly, however, this was the repeated fault of the Old Testament Israel.
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What is wisdom? It is knowing that when our life is done and over with, the only things of our lives that will endure are what we have built upon God. How terrible it will be to see on that day that nothing we have loved and adored matter, because we have loved and adored the things that are ultimately less than nothing? And how sweet our joy and how glorious our reward will be when we see our service to God is remembered forever by him!
Read MoreJesus the light has come. We look with wonder the light that pierces the gloom of darkness with beauty. We find safety in his light, for by his light, and only in his light, we have a safe passage way through life.
Read MoreA reading list for the year 2018.
Read MoreIndeed, in time God’s Love became a human baby. The birth of Jesus Christ brings to the sinful and fallen mankind the love that overcomes all sin. Jesus’ birth brings to us that faithfulness of God. That is why when we celebrate Christ’s Advent, we celebrate God’s love.
Read MoreChristmas is the season when believers and unbelievers alike speak often of joy. But it is only the believers who understand and experience this joy.
Read MoreWhen man raises a battle cry against God, what peace can we know? So the fallen man lives his whole life in fear and steps into eternity filled with dread.
But God has given us a gift of Peace.
Read MoreOur celebration of Christ’s first advent is much the same. We gather as God’s family, and retell the stories that have shaped us and continue to mold us. So as we enter into the Advent season, we remember the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Read MoreThe transcendent God who is not immanent would leave us in despair of ever knowing him. The immanent God without transcendence would leave us unsatisfied and bored. But God is both, and fills us with both awe and comfort. Indeed, this psalm gives us a written description of Jesus Christ, the exalted God over all creation who became a man. The transcendent God has drawn near us in Jesus Christ, and he is the friend of all in need, who humbly seek his gracious presence.
Read MoreWe know in our own lives God-fearing people who grieve for their children, who toil through difficult life. In view of such realities Psalm 112 seems to overpromise and underdeliver. What is to be done about this, then?
Read MoreAre you wise or are you a fool? How we participate in corporate and public worship of God is the answer to this important question.
Read MoreMaking Christ central in our worship and life is the only way we can truly honor the legacy of the Protestant Reformation and be the heirs of its legacy.
Read MoreWhen Scripture says God remembers, it means he acts in keeping with what has either been promised or done. Thus when people pray, “Remember me,” they are asking the LORD to act in keeping with his promises. Likewise, when the psalmist prays “Remember not the sins of my youth” or when we read “I will not remember your sins,” it does not mean the LORD’s mind somehow blanks out, but rather that he will not act in accordance to what we have done.
Read Morenot remember our sins in that he does not act as our sins deserve. But Scripture also lists our sins as the context of understanding God’s steadfast love. That is how the Holy Spirit uses our sins for our sanctification. In the remembrance of our sins we see fresh evidence of God’s steadfast love. And in the remembrance of our sins we remember why we sing our songs of thanks.
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We are often haunted by the remembrance of our sins, and try hard to forget them. But we may benefit from reviewing our sins. Our sins are the grounds for shame and guilt. They are also the backdrop to God’s goodness and steadfast love. So we give thanks. And we hope for better things to come. Praise the LORD!
Read MoreNewton wrote, “whoever is well read in these four books, is a wise person, how little soever he may know of what men of the world call science. On the other hand, though a man should be master of the whole circle of classical, polite, and philosophical knowledge, if he has no taste for the Bible, and has no ability to apply it to the works of creation and providence, and his own experience, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. I have pointed out a treasure more wroth than all the volumes in the Vatican.”
Read MoreOur worship becomes man-centered when it is built around our needs and comforts. Ironically, when man looms large over the horizon of worship, then there can be no real or lasting comfort.
Read MoreWhat makes an ideal king? Does it take a large army? Great luxuries of his court? A large harem? These are all the things that godless pagan kings crave after.
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