He who did not spare his own Son…..how will he not also graciously give us all things?

“He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all; how shall he not with him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32). How is it imaginable that God should withhold, after this, spirituals or temporals, from his people? How shall he not call them effectually, justify them freely, sanctify them thoroughly, […]

Reading less could be reading more

I came across this quote in John Piper’s book, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, which I found to be very thought provoking: “I [do not] want to give the impression that I think there is virtue in reading many books. In fact one of my greatest complaints in seminary was that professors trained students in […]

Questions to ask of a film – by John Frame

1. Who wrote the film? Who produced it? Who directed it? Do we know through the writings and previous work of these people anything about their philosophy of life? The previous works of actors are also important. Actors contribute much to the quality of a film, little to its fundamental conception. But actors do tend […]

Gratitude or Grace?

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and indeed, we have so much to be thankful for. This time of the year is just a little reminder of all the ways that God has blessed us. First and foremost, Christians need to be thankful and grateful for the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ. Without […]

God’s Amazing Promises

“God is continually holding out inducements to man to listen to Him, obey Him, and serve Him…..He has….shown His perfect knowledge of human nature, by spreading over the Book a perfect wealth of promises suitable to every kind of experience and every condition of life….Their name is legion. The subject is almost inexhaustible. There is […]

What Does The Lord Require Of You?

“What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and will all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13) We tend to […]

Book Review – “Rules To Live By: 52 Principles for a Better Life”

We all have principles that we live by. These principles guide our lives and determine how successful we become in life. Those who are not committed to sharpening their saw (Ecclesiastes 10:10) and becoming more effective in daily living, will only hinder and limit their potential contribution in this world. As a busy pastor with […]

Is Church Membership Biblical?

The highest moral laws in the secular west today are toleration and non-judgmentalism. The very ideas of inclusion and exclusion in any context make people think of elitism, xenophobia, or racism. Still, church membership is an idea with deep biblical roots: •The garden of Eden had an inside and an outside (Gen. 2:8, 3:24). •Noah’s […]

Martin Luther on Pastoral Diligence

“Some pastors and preachers are lazy and no good. They do not pray; they do not read; they do not search the Scripture…..The call is: watch, study, attend to reading. In truth you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot […]

What Happens When the Bible is Studied Seriously and Applied to Daily Life?

By James Montgomery Boice, who was pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church for over 30 years. Between 1963 and 1966, when I was studying at the University of Basel in Switzerland, my wife and I were invited to attend a Bible study group that met on Friday evenings. It was a small group at first, but […]