There are so many problems in our culture that it is easy to become overwhelmed just by listening to the news. Certainly, to get improved ratings the news curators pick stories based on their shock value, so things are likely not as bad as what the media outlets portray. But still, our own experience validates […]

In a sermon not long ago, I heard a definition of Biblical joy that I would like to share with you: ”Biblical joy is the conviction that God sovereignly controls the events of life for his glory and our good.” I think of the words in James, “consider it all joy when you encounter various […]

J Gresham Machen published a book in the 1920s describing the challenge facing the church of his day. I’m finding that some of what he predicted as the result of cultural trends in his time is impressively applicable 100 years after his writing. For example, consider this paragraph: The whole development of modern society has […]

What hit me this morning is that none of the conditions listed by Jesus are tied to the current situation of the one to be blessed. The conditions for blessing are internal and not external. They are based on choices we can make, not circumstances forced upon us.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5, ESV I read the opening verses of John this morning and the phrase quoted above grabbed my attention. Later in the same Gospel, John records Jesus acknowledging that the world brings us plenty of tribulation and trouble (John 16:33) but […]

It is hard to condemn others when we understand that flaws and rebellion are deeply seated in our own hearts and we all have need to God’s grace which has been extended to us through Jesus Christ.