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  One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4).

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Doctrine is to the spiritual world what wisdom is to the visible world.
God hardwired the world we live in to work in particular ways.  This means that there are certain observable realities that can be ignored at your own risk. If you don’t work hard to tend your garden, God’s design [...]

Doctrine is important the way roads are important.
I’ve recently driven across several states–all through the night, in fact. Why? Not because I love driving (which I don’t). Not because the roads through Pennsylvania are models of engineering (which they’re not).
No, I spent seven hours on dark roads in order to spend time with extended family. [...]

This past two weekends in Sunday School, we have studied the Passion Week—the final week of our Savior’s earthly ministry. We noted how roundly Jesus condemned Israel and its leaders for being Israel for the sake of Israel. They longed for God to set them free from pagan oppression and bring in the kingdom He [...]

In July 2008 the musical team at Sovereign Grace Ministries (lead by Bob Kauflin) released an entire CD of psalm settings in a contemporary style.
Revisiting Monday’s post (“Psalmic Imagery”), here are the lyrics and audio of their remix of Psalm 130 (“Out of the Depths”).
Out of the depths, O Lord, I cry to You
When I [...]

Following yesterday’s post, I also have appreciated the imagery of Psalm 131:2, which Pastor Jon read last Sunday.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with its mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me (ESV).
On this verse Charles Spurgeon quotes the following comments from Thomas Manton:
 Though the weaned child has [...]

There are a couple passages from the Psalms whose imagery deeply ministers to my soul. One I love is found in Psalm 130:6.
My soul waits for the Lord
More than watchmen for the morning,
More than watchmen for the morning.
A night guard walking his post on the top of a city might greatly long for morning to [...]

As we’ve been going through Stott’s book on mission(s) and have learned that it’s best not to bait our evangelistic hook with the lure of social help, the following scenario has come up in conversation.
If you were running a homeless shelter in your town, which provided temporary room, board, and work skills training to men [...]

To be honest, the title was meant to grab your attention. Technically, all spiritual gifts are “charismatic” (from the Greek charismata/charisma, a grace gift). And, while speaking of Spirit-given, grace-gifts (1 Corinthians 12 & 14), Paul puts these gifts in their proper context.
Spiritual gifts should be lived out on the road of life . . [...]

Here’s a working definition of spiritual gifts: “Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities which are channels of grace and result in building up God’s people and glorifying God.”
1 Peter 4:10-11 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever [...]

Actually, . . . yes, you are.
If you’re a Christian—you’re gifted! God has given “grace-gifts” to everyone of His children—some have many, some a few, some one.
Although every believer is gifted, the nature of the distributed grace-gifts vary. They can be natural abilities or propensities which are empowered by His Spirit (e.g., “leading,” Romans 12:8). [...]

1 Peter 4:10-11 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the [...]

This weekend’s reading group will meet tomorrow at Tim Hortons on Fodor Road at 8:30 a.m. We’ll be discussing Tim Keller’s article, “The Centrality of the Gospel.” How would you relate the Gospel to various life issues?
Here’s an excerpt which (by first giving two wrong-headed options) discusses a better way to relate the Gospel to [...]

Yesterday’s post introduced Tim Keller’s article, “The Centrality of the Gospel,” which we are reading for our discussion group at Tim Hortons this Saturday. Here is another excerpt from this article which elaborates on how both moralism and relativism are thieves who steal Gospel joy and power.
The moralism-religion thief. How does moralism/religion steal joy and [...]

Nearly every Saturday morning a number from our church meet at a local Tim Hortons to sip coffee and discuss the same article or chapter we’ve read during the previous week. This week’s article is “The Centrality of the Gospel” by Tim Keller—a penetrating discussion of how to apply the Gospel to everyday life. Since [...]

When my father was a young man, he and his brother-in-law were walking through some trails in the mountains of North Carolina. They weren’t dressed for hiking. My dad was just giving my uncle a tour of the area near where we lived.
When they came to a large creek, my dad simply started to wade [...]

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