Feb 28
2013
South Africa 2013 - Recap of Days 5-8
Update from Mike and the South Africa Team
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Be Careful About Wanting to be Pleased
Dear Christian, we seem too often to wrongly think that everything and everyone must align to please us, or all is loss and everything is a failure. This is painful idolatry and must be replaced with sincere worship.
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WHY CHRISTIANS CARE SO MUCH ABOUT THE LOST AND WANDERING
When Jesus changes your heart, your motives and affections and desires change.
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How to Know if You are Really a Christian
People wonder all the time if they are really a believer. Sometimes other people see a person who says they are Christian and wonder if that is a true profession of faith. This can be for any number of reasons. But there is one specific way found in 2 Timothy 2:19 where are you can know if a person is truly a Christian.
Keep ReadingWhy Baptism and Church Membership Go Together
Let’s pattern our baptisms and church membership as closely to the scriptural pattern as we can. Let's link baptism and church membership more closely. Let's see them as part of a unified process to glorify God, build up believers, and reach the world.
Keep Reading As we live a Christ-honoring life…
As we live a Christ-honoring life… Pure gospel living looks different than posing for pictures It stands in stark contrast to life lived under lights A sovereign God changes our motives The authoritative Word renews our minds
Keep ReadingGod’s Magnificent Grace
As I am alive, raised, and seated with Christ by God’s grace… 5 ongoing outcomes I observe about God’s grace towards me.
Keep Reading Hope of Forgiveness is Real
Has life put a lot of mileage on you? Are you weighed down by the toll it has taken? Are you weary? Are you troubled? Do you feel hopeless? There is hope of forgiveness in Jesus.
Keep ReadingHow You Should Speak of Predestination
How should a wise and discerning Christian speak about predestination?
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Blessing the God Who Blesses
One of the best things you can do is speak well of God for what He has done in Christ for every believer.
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Why You Should Read Through the Bible in 2023
5 reasons why you should read through the Bible (Gen. to Rev.) in 2023.
Keep ReadingA Veteran’s Day Observation
On this Veterans Day 2022, I encourage every believer to remember our American veterans and also commit ourselves once again to the service of the King of kings and Lord of lords, seeking to reach others with the life-saving and peace-giving gospel of Jesus Christ.
Keep ReadingSpurgeon and Owen on Joining a Church
Charles Spurgeon and John Owen on church membership.
Keep Reading“How Should a Christian Respond to Roe V. Wade Being Overturned?”
A Christian ought to rejoice when something good happens. We should not gloat and we should not be hateful to anyone, but continue to trumpet the gospel call that all who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved.
Keep ReadingFour Guidelines for Dating Without Regrets
Helpful advice for relationships that honor God.
Keep Reading“A Christian’s Prayer for Understanding”
We can’t make sense of this world. We can’t wrap our minds or hearts around the endless parade of depravity that we have access to at a moment’s notice today.
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7 Ways Pain Drives Us to God (and how to get out of the depths of despair)
7 Ways Pain Drives us to God? (And how you can get out of the depths of despair)
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Choosing the Startling Beauty that Defeats Disunity
In a moment like Covid and it’s aftermath, churches and Christians will be tempted to try anything and everything to recapture momentum and reignite the hearts of people.
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Of Wolves and Weeds
Christ protects His flock through the local church and if God's people stand firm they will be opposed by those who'd rather not bow to Christ (Acts 20:26-35. 2 Tim. 1-4).
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Encouraged To Continue With Christ’s Church
There are so many things in life that you just have to get up and do it even when it’s tough, because the rewards are worth it.
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How to Please God as a Christian Right Now
God’s beloved become beloved to one another. We love our family in Christ. Yet this present moment we have been living and struggling through has tested the bonds of that love, almost to the breaking point.
Keep Reading The Best Summer Book Club
Read Jude every day, all summer long? I remember when I first had the thought, I thought that maybe people wouldn’t want to do it. Perish that thought! I am calling people to read the inspired, inerrant, infallible, authoritative, powerful, conscience-binding Word of God!
Keep ReadingHuman Depravity Goes From Bad to Worse
Human depravity has a way of going from bad to worse. But the Christian’s hope is in the gospel.
Keep Reading Understanding the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is God with you and in you, empowering you to serve Christ.
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Wrapping Up Ecclesiastes
We just finished a one-year-plus verse-by-verse preaching series through Ecclesiastes! Only our sovereign God, who providentially orchestrates everything, could have it start when Covid19 stopped life, and end when things are somewhat getting back to normal. Wow.
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The Perfect Word and the God-pleasing Believer
What if you are the one who seeks to be pleasing to God in all your ways and you cling to the Word every day? What if you are the person that’s in the Word all the time? You know you aren’t perfect but you want to please God and you are living your life carefully and for God’s glory.
Keep Reading Fatherhood Moment: The Trials of Family Time for Young Families
God intends for Christian parents to teach their children the Word of God, systematically reading through Scripture and explaining it to them, teaching them the faith from the earliest age and praying in dependence on the Lord.
Keep Reading Christian Citizenship
As a Christian, I am a citizen of heaven. I belong heart, soul, mind, and strength to the Lord Jesus Christ. I am saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as seen in Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone. As an American Christian, I am a citizen of the USA.
Keep Reading Death is a Preacher: Life-Lessons from a Funeral
In Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 we see that death is a preacher giving us crucial life-lessons. We do not eagerly anticipate funerals, yet we learn from them.
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Blessed are the Merciful
In a season of international pandemic, we now face national waves of injustice and unrest. We are seeing what an invisible virus can do. And every day, we are seeing what sin in human hearts can do.
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A Thousand Sorrows for a Humble Servant
Christian, God will bring you through a thousand sorrows to make you the humble servant He wants you to be.
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Christ’s Abundant Conduits of Comfort
God provides us with multiple conduits of comfort in Christ. Some additional thoughts on 2 Cor. 1:3-5.
Keep Reading Christian Civil Obedience and Disobedience
For Christians, Civil Obedience is the norm. Civil Disobedience is the exception. Sometimes it becomes necessary to disobey civil rulers.
Keep Reading Jonathon Edwards on Christian Citizenship
Jonathon Edwards on Christian Citizenship. Six important things to bear in mind.
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Coronavirus and Relationships: 4 Keys To Health
This Coronavirus crisis, especially the shelter-in-place aspect, has affected many relationships. It has tested many families and friendships. An over-abundance of stress and frazzled nerves, plus dwelling in closer quarters, almost always results in increased friction. If we are honest, we have all contributed. How can you make a positive, godly impact in your home, church, neighborhood, and the larger community? Here are 4 Keys to Relational Health you can practice during this Coronavirus pandemic.
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Finding Pleasure in God by Doing the Word
Take the opportunity to find your pleasure in God today, rather than wallowing in self-pity, or pontificating about your opinions. Read Hebrews 13:1-19 and see how many exhortations you can practice during this shelter-in-place, social distancing, quarantine time.
Keep Reading Easter has Tuesday Significance
It is easy to miss the point of significant days; to get so emotionally attached to an event we miss their daily importance.
Keep Reading Why is Jesus’s Resurrection so Important?
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most important event in history.
Keep Reading “Good” Friday?
Good Friday starts in seeming defeat, yet leads to victory on Resurrection Sunday. Christ’s separation and suffering led to the greatest victory imaginable.
Keep Reading How Can Christians Navigate Wisely Through This Coronavirus Crisis?
Opinions on how to respond right now are many. The right and wrong of all this is really tricky. Some are more clear cut and all are wisdom issues.
Keep Reading Homebound Helps Relationally and Devotionally
You’re homebound now. If it’s not a regular occurrence you might be getting cabin fever. If you’re not used to it you might be getting annoyed with one another. Especially when the schedule gets so upended. What can you do?
Keep ReadingThe Great Physician Knows
I don’t know about you, but it’s kind of nice to know you get to just rest a while. We are so crazy busy in our lives that sometimes we don’t stop to take a breather. So, a forced pause might be just what the Great Physician ordered.
Keep ReadingChristian Parenting: Thirsty Sponges, Wet Cement, and Empty Jars
Christian parents, buckle up. It’s a sometimes bumpy road and a long and winding one, this journey of shaping future generations. It’s a tough row to hoe to raise godly givers not greedy takers.
Keep ReadingRealistic Goal: Read through the Bible at least once in 2020!
God uses the Word to change and transform us. The Word does the work, so let the work of the Word be seen in your life. Start today!
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Christmas Points to the Gospel
The Gospel is the good news of the grace and power of God to redeem undeserving sinners to eternal life through Jesus’ perfect, sinless life; substitutional, sacrificial death; and resurrection from the grave.
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A Thanksgiving Devotional
A Thanksgiving Devotional - “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Ps. 136:1
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Romans Revisited
For the past 2+ years in Romans we have seen God’s glory, greatness, and power towards us who believe.
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Imitating Christ Leads to Unified Worship and Witness
The number one reason to live in unity in Christ is Jesus Christ. The number one source of unity is Jesus Christ.
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Sermon in a Nutshell: Romans 12:9-21 "Real Christianity"
Romans 12:9-21 gives us a very practical picture of real Christianity.
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Seriously? What???? One Step Closer to Home
Seriously? What???? The latest notable Christian who is leaving the faith made his de-profession today.
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Steadied by Grace
The to-and-fro seesaw of human emotion steadied by Christ’s good hand of grace.
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Sermon in a Nutshell: Romans 10:14-15 - “Why Anyone Recieves, or Rejects, Christ”
God sends people to preach so others will hear the gospel, believe, and call on Christ.
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Sermon in a Nutshell: Romans 10:11-13 “Calling on Christ: From Sin and Shame to Salvation”
Sermon in a Nutshell: Romans 10:11-13 “Calling on Christ: From Sin and Shame to Salvation”
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Sermon in a Nutshell: Romans 10:8-10
Sermon in a Nutshell: Romans 10:8-10 “Believe and Confess and You will be Saved”
Keep Reading Sermon in a Nutshell: Rom. 10:5-7
This past Sunday’s sermon in a nutshell*: Rom. 10:5-7. “The Impossible Made Available.”
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Glorifying God via Romans 9:19-21
We glorify God by believing His Word, speaking well of Him, and accepting His ways and decrees.
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Jesus, Our Soul’s Rest
Jesus is a balm for the Gospel-hungry soul. Jesus is our only hope and our soul’s rest.
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Press on Towards the Goal
Run the race with Christ in sight. Pour all your energy into following him. You will never be put to shame. Wait for His upward call. Praise the glories of God’s grace in Christ forever.
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Strong Assurance in Christ
Rest assured, God graciously and sovereignly chose you, and nothing can separate you from His love in Christ. Nothing means nothing. God doesn’t deal in man-determined situational destinies, He is the God of unconditional election. He put no conditions on you. Your salvation doesn’t depend even 1% on you. He decided and acted upon His choice. Salvation is all of God. All means all; what God decrees stands forever.
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Setting Your Mind on the Spirit
If you want to put your mind on the things of the Spirit then put your mind on, think about, focus on, get preoccupied with, everything that the Spirit is preoccupied with.
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Proclaiming Grace to Broken Hearts
God proclaims grace to broken, breaking, bending, beloved, beautiful hearts. It is costly, painful, eternal, and free. He saves and secures suffering souls. He applies essential truth and meets the deepest need in Christ.
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Only Jesus Can Unwaste A Life
Don’t waste your life on trifling things; things destined to burn. Invest your energy, resources, gifts, and talents on eternally significant pursuits.
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Sad but True, Christian Parents can be Helicopter Parents Too
Here’s an article I wrote for Christian parents recently. I hope it is helpful.
Keep ReadingThe Offense of the Cross
THE OFFENSE OF THE CROSS” Excerpt of A SERMON DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT NEW PARK STREET CHAPEL, SOUTHWARK, ON A LORD’S-DAY EVENING IN THE YEAR 1856.
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No One Will Take Your Joy From You
Joy is a gift from God in Christ that cannot be stolen.
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The Bruised Reed
We are to stand back in wonder and awe at the goodness of God in Christ. He is so merciful and gracious.
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The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Scripture
If you believe Scripture is supreme and sufficient you won't be content with reading the Bible a little bit every day. You'll immerse yourself in the Word, think about it, talk about it, pray about it, let it wash over every aspect of your being.
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How Not to be Ashamed of the Gospel
How true believers can be not ashamed, offended by, or stingy with the Gospel.
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Jesus Loves You!
Jesus loves you because He made you, chose you, and saved you; not because of your good behavior.
Keep Reading Serving Everyday
May the Gospel be displayed like water to thirsty and desperate souls, just like mine, through all who believe.
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Self-Righteous, Hypocritical, Weird Fanatics
Christians need a come-to-Jesus heart check. Jesus is the only answer.
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A Call to Loving Christian Conviction
Every family has been and is affected by many sins. That should make us more loving and empathetic; and also more convinced of the wrongness and sinfulness of certain choices and behaviors. We should be more intent to rescue those in danger of perishing. Wherever depraved humans live, sin will rear its ugly head (and that ugly head will often be covered with a deceptive mask). We would do well to speak truth in an atmosphere of love rather than hide or obscure truth in an atmosphere of the fear of man or false acceptance.
Keep Reading Love Initiates Friendly Engagement.
Love Initiates Friendly Engagement. A good way of life.
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Thoughts on Christ-centered Preaching
The undermining and ignoring of Biblical preaching in the American church today is a travesty.
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Thoughts on Gospel-Changed Relationships
Has the Gospel changed your heart? Then your relationships will change because you will work hard with the Lord's strength to do what you know is right. It's part of being in the family.
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Taking the High Road in Heated Times
It's a fine line we walk in this world, being in it but not of it. As we live in Christ we are called to communicate truth while not condemning or condoning people's sinful lifestyles, or caving in to temptations to sin.
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God's Extravagant Gift Giving
God doesn't do White Elephant Christmas or Choose-Your-Own-Gift. God doesn't fulfill your selfish requests. God gives what you need.
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Praise Jesus Joyfully
The stones are on standby in case we don’t do what we were made to do.
Keep Reading God's Love and Our Pain
Why is Christmas so hard when you have lost a loved one or gone through some other huge relational pain? Because you love.
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Preaching is a Holy and Shared Privilege
Preaching God's Word is a holy privilege, a truly weighty calling.
Keep Reading Thanksgiving: A Time for Reflection
As I reflect upon my life I can see the hand of God leading, guiding, protecting, and providing for me in ways that are nothing short of miraculous, because God has done it. I'm sure you can see these things in your own life as well.
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Thinking about God's Sovereign and Commanded Will
I'm thinking more and more about the sovereign will of God that unfolds before our eyes but is hidden from our sight until it comes to pass. And I'm thinking about the commanded will of God that is right there front and center waiting for us in the Word of God.
Keep Reading Risky Business
You can see why people might be suspicious of Christ's followers. They are simultaneously seen as a blessing and a curse.
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Hold Your Tongue
I don't know how many times I have spoken words that I ought not to have uttered. Far too many times to count, and far too many times I have needed to repent of words foolishly spoken. I think it's really easy for us to say what does it matter what I say in any given moment? Jesus said we'd give an account for every word carelessly spoken (Matthew 12:36). That's why it matters.
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Sharpening the Peopling
Making sure your people interactions are encouraging and edifying rather than selfish and insincere comes only when the people of God continually come to the realization that it is not by might nor by power that they live but by God's Spirit (Zech. 4:6).
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Self-Serve?
I think a lot of people ascribe to the adage that they need to serve themselves. Because no one else will. But I found there's a better way. Wake up in the morning and ask God who you can bless.
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Working it Out
Based on the exalted preeminence of the crucified, risen, returning Lord Jesus Christ, we are to intentionally be and do what God calls us to be and do, in His strength, for His glory.
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Loving People Like Jesus Loves Us
Loving people like Jesus loves us leaves lots of room for understanding before evaluation and curbs our tendency to blast others.
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Dealing with the Searing Pain of Loss
What should we remember when we're going through pain or helping others going through it?
Keep ReadingReformation, Revival, and Preaching
Reformation and Revival is marked by true preaching.
Keep ReadingKilling Christians
The killing of Christians exposes our sin and need of Gospel repentance and redemptive reengagement with lost and hurting humanity. Jesus said do not fear those who kill your body but cannot touch your soul. Fear Him who has the power over both body and soul (Matt. 10:28). God is Sovereign and Almighty, Terrorists are not.
Keep ReadingHearing From God
A lot of people talk about hearing from God. What does it mean to hear from God? Follow these four steps if you want to hear from God.
Keep ReadingRemembering to Obey
Blue cords aside, what helps you remember to obey God's instructions? Check out these 4 primary built-in reminders.
Keep ReadingHow to Stay Consistent in God's Word
It's the beginning of February and right about now there are plenty of people feeling guilty about already abandoning their resolve to read the Bible every day this year. They stumbled and they fallen and can't get up.
Keep ReadingPreaching is Almost an Alien Activity
Preaching is almost an alien activity. We get up, frail humans holding the perfect Word of God, trusting God to do something that we could never do.
Keep ReadingHear and Do Everyday
HEAR AND DO GOD'S WORD EVERYDAY. Commit to start or continue a daily discipline of time in God's Word and prayer.
Keep ReadingBeing a Christian
Being a Christian is about trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation apart from anything you can do.
Keep ReadingHow Should Christians Respond to the Threat of Terrorism?
Rockets launching, bombs blasting, people hating, people dying. It's the world in which we live. From the garden of Eden to the neighborhood where you live. What are we to do? The answer for Christians is not simple, it is simply Biblical.
Keep ReadingWhy Christians Don't Read the Bible
Wait a minute! I thought all Christians read their Bibles. Aren't we "people of the Book"? Isn't it "the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible" for us? If only that were true. More and more professing Christians are not reading their Bibles in a context where there are literally multitudes of Bibles at their fingertips on their smart phone. We can read it or listen to it anytime of the day or night and we ignore it. There are people overseas who still have no Bible, they are starving for the Word of God, and here we are with a proverbial refrigerator full and we walk away. We are starving too. Biblical illiteracy amongst Christians is at an all-time high. Ouch. What are the reasons for this and how might we stem the tide?
Keep ReadingAn Important Lesson
I am so thankful for Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior and for the people He has put in my life who are not afraid to tell me the truth about myself.
Keep ReadingEmbracing an Expositional Life
Expositional living is living that is centered on reading the Word, finding out the explanation of a passage, and applying that to daily life. That is done in context of following Jesus and in the context of the particular passage. That should be a less self-centered way of living. It is very easy to jump around from need to need and text to text and just seek to have our needs met. Expositional living puts the focus on Jesus Christ and him crucified, risen, and returning. Seize the glory of God is our highest aim.
Keep ReadingPreaching in the Moment
It's easy to only think of preaching's effect as what happens afterwards, but what about the actual preaching moment? The preaching moment is the most crucial and significant.
Keep ReadingPraying and Waiting Expectantly on God to Act
We don't make God do anything. God does as He pleases. He acts according to His sovereign good pleasure and perfect will. And He expects us to pray and wait expectantly on Him to act. True. He taught us to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done" (Matthew 6:10). So where does praying and waiting expectantly for Him to act come in?
Keep ReadingBeyond Acts 2:42
I have been preaching in the book of Acts now for several months and we are 13 sermons into the book. The past four weeks we have focused on four passions of a church devoted to Christ: the apostles' teaching (the Word of God), fellowship (caring community), the breaking of bread (remembering Jesus' death), and the prayers (together and often).
Keep ReadingAre You a Contributor or Consumer?
It is so easy to come to worship with the mindset of a critical consumer rather than a Christ-honoring contributor.
Keep ReadingSpeaking of Repentance, Break Up the Fallow Ground!
True repentance is a change of heart and mind and actions; away from sin and toward God.
Keep ReadingFree Radicals
Christ's Lordship transforms us into free radicals. Free in Christ to live radically for Jesus and the Gospel.
Keep ReadingKnow for Certain that Jesus is Lord
Let the nations rage. Let secularists and humanists boast of their autonomy. Let everyone stand in opposition. Let them drag your name through the mud in the public square. Let the chips fall where they may. You acknowledge Christ's Lordship. You stand for Gospel truth. Because you are eternally safe in Christ.
Keep ReadingFaithful and Kind
Faithfulness and kindness are in short supply and there's nothing like a road trip across our beautiful land to remind you of that truth. Truckers rarely yield and out of state motorists, including me, aren't much better.
Keep ReadingThe Clock and the Dollar
Besides people, what were the greatest causes of stress in your life today? If you are anything like me I'd venture to guess that have to do with the clock and the dollar.
Keep ReadingWhat it Takes to Grow in Christ
Growth in Christ takes God's power and our participation.
Keep ReadingTwo Kinds of Preaching
Often times, believers get really nervous when they hear that they are to preach the Gospel. It should be encouraging to know that there are two kinds of preaching in the book of Acts that believers today ought to engage in as well. Two kinds of preaching means twice as much God-ordained fun.
Keep ReadingThe One Doctrine We Best Not Get Wrong
There is one doctrine we cannot afford to get wrong.
Keep ReadingIt's a Battle for the Bible, Once Again
Thoughts on the Current Cultural Divide and the Ongoing Moral Slide
Keep ReadingPreaching and Teaching
Preaching and teaching the Word of God is not about trying to get Christians to...
Keep ReadingWhat Ever Happened With Memorizing 1 Peter?
Just in case you have been wondering… "Whatever happened to memorizing 1 Peter?", let's just say it hasn't been easy.
Keep ReadingWhat to Do with Your Worries and Concerns
You may sincerely feel like you are at the breaking point. Like everything is crumbling around you and there is nothing to stand on or hold you up. You may grasp frantically for an answer and in a panic look for anything that might answer your wounded heart; some solution that will bring relief. There is one.
Keep ReadingSatisfaction and Substitution
The theological words satisfaction and substitution need to be carefully defined and safeguarded, but they cannot in any circumstances be given up. The biblical gospel of atonement is of God satisfying himself by substituting himself for us.
Keep ReadingA Necessary Death
It was necessary for Christ to die. And it is necessary that we believe in the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. It is necessary that we grasp this truth.
Keep ReadingA Beautifully Strange Journey
It's a beautifully strange journey. Cosmic and mundane. God's providence and blood, sweat, and tears; sovereign Grace working in and through the elect. A Holy God redeeming sinful man. A process for which we praise the glory of God's grace in Christ.
Keep ReadingThe Inerrant Word
Inerrancy is not an optional belief. It is the essential position of Jesus-loving, Bible-believing, Gospel-changed people. We believe every word of God's Word is from God. Full confidence, total sufficiency.
Keep ReadingSweet Comfort in a Time of Pain
We have sweet comfort in a time of pain, to know we are Christ's and that He reigns.
Keep ReadingSweet Comfort in Affliction
Trials are difficult to navigate. Suffering is extremely trying. Hardship is pointedly painful. Persecution can play sneaky tricks on your mind. In the midst of tough times it's easy to spin into a spiritual vertigo. It feels like it's impossible to get your compass calibrated. It's tough to hold onto truth in those moments. That's when we need each other to help in a big way. Often, God uses words of comfort and encouragement to bolster us. In that context I have some words for you, designed to encourage your heart and help you today. And remember this, my words may help you, but God's Word can change you.
Keep ReadingMusings on Spiritual Gifts
Discovery of your God-given gifting (1 Peter 4:10, gift, Greek charisma = spiritual gift) comes from doing the good things that you want to do because you love Jesus and want to serve Him. That's from God.
Keep ReadingWhat Every Christian Needs to Do
If you want to get a handle on what it is that God wants of you, if you want to please God, if you want to follow after Jesus with reckless abandon, then as one chosen by God and trusting in the power of God who has caused you to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has given you a love for His inerrant and infallible Word, you will do something that many think is frivolous and expendable. Something so many believers sell short. Something many think is optional.
Keep ReadingMore Thoughts on Costly Love
1 Peter 4:8 calls for costly love. It takes courage and a fixation on the Cross of Christ.
Keep ReadingCostly Love Thoughts
This agape is not sentimental fluff, but a substance found only in the truly converted, which springs forth in humble outbursts of gospel-infused sacrificial service for, to, and through, Jesus.
Keep ReadingCome, Lord Jesus
A Goapel-infused poem/hymn/song that expresses a longing for Jesus to return.
Keep ReadingInsulted, and Blessed
Most people do not think of an insult as a blessing. But God does. God says that when you are insulted for the name of Christ you are blessed because God's Spirit rests on you.
Keep ReadingRejoice as You Share Christ's Sufferings
We hate to suffer, but God loves to cause us to rejoice in suffering.
Keep ReadingDo Not Be Surprised at the Fiery Trial
There was and is a fiery trial for believers in the Lord Jesus. It is to test our faith.
Keep ReadingSpeaking, Serving, Praising
As we use our God-given gifts to serve the body of Christ, it is to be for the praise and glory of God.
Keep ReadingGood Stewards of God's Grace
1 Peter 4:10 is focused on Christians serving one another in the body of Christ.
Keep ReadingGod's People Share God's Mission
God's people share God's mission. We may not always feel, look, or act like it, but when God reconciled us to Himself through Christ we became ambassadors for Christ in a very needy world (2 Cor. 5:17-21).
Keep ReadingThe Heart of Hospitality
Hospitality is more than inviting people over and entertaining lots of people in your home. It's more than being ready, willing, and able to make a meal for someone at a moment's notice. Those things are very helpful and often a great blessing. but the heart of hospitality goes much deeper.
Keep ReadingGod's Love Protects from Sin's Damaging Effects
The love of God shown by His people to one another provides a protective covering from sin's damaging effects.
Keep ReadingJust Pray About It?!
Why would God give us a stock answer and what does 1 Peter 4:7 have to do with our daily life?
Keep ReadingBe On the Alert
Don't be swayed by the evil of man. God's greatness is always on display.
Keep ReadingNot Worth the Loss of All Things
Sin is not worth the loss of all things. Only Jesus is.
Keep ReadingHow to Avoid Post-Christmas Letdown
Why do we experience the letdown? How can we keep from experiencing the letdown? What does God want us to know that were missing? That is what we need to think about today.
Keep ReadingA CHRISTMAS EDITORIAL
We love Christmas but hate what it has become. Our rally cry "God with us!" still stands.
Keep ReadingThe Importance of Believer's Baptism
Why is Believer's Baptism so Important for Christians? Why do Believers Wait So Long or Never Get Baptized? What Level of Commitment and Understanding is Necessary for Baptism? Why do Unbaptized Believers Need to Be Baptized As Soon As Possible? Are you convinced yet? I hope so. If so, what should you do?
Keep ReadingNo Loitering, This Pleasing Pain is Necessary
Those who trust in Christ face many pitfalls and God brings them through to victory.
Keep ReadingThankfulness Abounds
I am thankful for the precious blood of Christ by which I'm saved.
Keep ReadingEternal Treasure
There is only one way to show that we truly believe this: we consider eternal things of greater value and temporal things. Don't spend all your time and effort collecting garbage, but true riches.
Keep ReadingAre You Ready?
The world needs Christians ready to humbly and boldly believe, speak, and live in Christ.
Keep ReadingSeeking the True
Pour your life into what will last: people made in God's image and the Word of God. Fixate on what Jesus has done and how that transforms everything it touches. Work for what the world says at best is secondary, you will be misunderstood and maligned here, but richer there, and fulfilled in Christ, content with Him.
Keep ReadingWives, Be Subject to Your Own Husbands
You take a sensitive subject, with many opinions, strong emotions, highly subjective, and place God's objective Word next to it, and everything becomes clear. God cares and is kind and his instructions are good. Therefore we want to do what he says.
Keep ReadingFriendliness and Gospel Tracts
I'm really glad people interact with other people in friendly ways and give them little cards with Bible verses on them to point them to faith in Christ. I'm glad that we have the freedom and I'm glad that God puts it on the hearts of many to step outside their selfish bubble and reach out with the love of Jesus.
Keep ReadingLike Newborn Babies
God wants you to be like a newborn baby in your desire for His Word so that you would grow in Christ.
Keep ReadingReal Growth in Christ or False?
Growing in Christ can be a really tricky proposition. Sometimes we can even truck ourselves into thinking that good healthy growth is happening when it is not.
Keep ReadingGospel Love and the Abiding Word
God brings about a beautiful change and resulting commitment to His family, in the lives of all He has chosen.
Keep ReadingHealthy Fear
What 1 Peter 1:17-21 teaches us about a healthy fear of God, a.k.a. fear of displeasing God and incurring His discipline on our lives (a la Heb. 12:3-11).
Keep ReadingCan Man be Good Apart From God?
Can man be good apart from God? Can people be good without use of the Bible? Some say Yes emphatically. I say an equally emphatic No. Where's the objective standard of proof that people can do that? Actually, here's the deal: Only God is truly good. His is the only truly objective standard of goodness.
Keep ReadingHoliness is the New Flossing
DeYoung calls holiness the new camping. I call it the new flossing. What everybody knows they need to do, but don't really want to do, and only does when they have to.
Keep ReadingThe Annoyance of Holiness
C.S. Lewis, in one of his letters wrote, “How little people know who think holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing…it is irresistible.†Jonathon Edwards commented, “Holiness is a most beautiful and lovely thing. We drink in strange notions of holiness from our childhood, as if it were a melancholy, morose, sour and unpleasant thing; but there is nothing in it but what is sweet and ravishingly lovely.†Ahhh. Abject, rapturous, captivating beauty.
Keep ReadingHoliness Reinvisioned
I can't help but think that within the Christian community we often think of holiness in the wrong ways. We think of it as a human ideal to measure up to rather than what it really is, a divine character to imitate and align with. It hasn't helped that through the years holiness has meant many things to many people, and it usually has to do with the standard of behavior that is expected and even forced upon adherants.
Keep ReadingScheming to Bless
Doesn't it always seem like we are scheming to get our needs met? We are angling, we are conniving, we are trying to work the angles so that we get what we want.
Keep ReadingTiming, Desire, and Gospel Truth
It takes timing, desire, and gospel truth to preach Jesus to people that you meet.
Keep ReadingWhat Really Doesn't Matter
It's so easy to get wrapped up in things that really don't matter all that much.
Keep ReadingNo Easy Answers
As a pastor I often have the privilege of meeting with people are dealing with questions that are not easily answered. They need to process their thoughts, and I am given the privilege to engage those thoughts. I do so because I care. My God-given calling, my vocation, my reason to care, is simply stated, for Jesus and the Gospel and the good of all people. I do not perfectly fulfill my calling, but most of the time I do embrace it eagerly.
Keep ReadingSalvation Views: A Call to Love and Conviction
At the end of the day, when all is said and done, and we are taking our rest, what will make any difference, what will be the significance, what will matter most? Not what I have said and done, not what I have determined, not what I have called significant, not what I deemed as matter-some. Because I am a child of the King of the Universe.
Keep ReadingChosen, therefore Comforted, Assured and Free
The elect are chosen in Christ, therefore comforted and assured of their eternal standing with God.
Keep ReadingChrist-Centered Community
We exist to...Glorify God through lives transformed by the Gospel...in Christ-Centered Community.
Keep ReadingGrace Orange Basics: What? Why? How?
What are we doing? Why are we doing it? How are we communicating it?
Keep ReadingTag-Team Preaching and the Body of Christ
Tag-team preaching is not the norm. At best, it is a once-in-a-long-while way to present a unified front to a congregation and expose them to the entire pastor/elder leadership team in concentrated form. In the month of May at Grace Orange you'll hear our team preaching our new vision.
Keep ReadingDaily Family Worship: What Convinced Me
Here's my story of why my mailbox reminds me daily of something really important, a ministry that is often ignored, looked down upon and thought unimportant or just impossible.
Keep ReadingChrist and Marriage
Why should Jesus Christ be the focus of a Christian marriage? Actually the real question should be how can any marriage be considered Christian if it isn't focused on Christ?
Keep ReadingDo You Feel Condemned?
I know that some people celebrate and condone sin. But most people I know, and most people that would show up to a church, feel more condemned for their sins.
Keep ReadingBelievers Must Beware, Believers Must Share
Believers Must Beware, Believers Must Share
Keep ReadingThe Clock and the Dollar: Greedy Tyrants or Gospel Tools?
Are you serving the clock and the dollar, or are they serving God's good gospel purposes? What's the reality in your life? Would you like to know how you can break free?
Keep ReadingJesus Cures Delusion
Malachi 2:17-3:6 is all about a faithful Father (God) graciously dealing with His foolish children (His covenant people).
Keep ReadingGood Grace Awakens Frozen Hearts
God's Grace in Christ regenerates us and gives us new life. We desire Christ and He keeps His Word. All who come to Him will never be cast out. Here is a poem that explains in prose the process of acknowledging sin and turning to Jesus.
Keep ReadingLife Change is a Work of God's Grace
The very bright and powerful hope of the gospel is that lasting life change is really possible. The finished work of Christ at the Cross means that restarts can and actually do happen by the miraculous working of God.
Keep ReadingBorn Again?
Do you think 'born again' Christians come across as obnoxious, self righteous, hypocritical and weirdly fanatical about non-essential things? I do too. I am one and am guilty of all those things and more.
Keep ReadingWhat Christians Really Want
What do born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ really really want?
Keep ReadingGospel-transformed Serving
One of the things that the gospel does in transforming our lives is give us the best possible reason to give our lives in service to God and others.
Keep ReadingA Christian Perspective on Death
How is a Christian to view death? It helps to start with how a Christian is to view life.
Keep ReadingA Worshippers' Journey
How is it that praise to God for His saving acts on our behalf can so quickly turn to complaining against Him because we do not get what we want? How quickly God's people forget. How quickly the idol factory gets back to business.
Keep ReadingOne Step Closer
We are on the brink of a brand new year. We are about to turn the page on the calendar and add a new number to the date. We are one moment closer to Jesus' return or our promotion. We are another second, minute, hour, day, month, and year closer to closing up shop here on earth. We are one step closer to Home.
Keep ReadingPromises, Promises
No one is talking about the condition of your soul, except marketing directors and ad execs of course.
Keep ReadingSo, What's Next?
People I know at Grace Orange want to know what I'll be preaching next. It's a fair question. It reflects anticipation, hunger for God's Word and a humble-bold learner's mentality. So what is next? I will be unveiling that in coming weeks.
Keep ReadingThe Death of Christ Brings Peace and Life
What do you do with a life filled with pain and misery? How about the person who expresses no need for God? How about the one who like a train to nowhere wanders aimlessly; or the one who recycles trouble like a continuous loop, an unbroken circle of missing links? Where do you point the person, the couple, the family, or even the church or community that seems to have lost their way, seems like they have hit a dead-end?
Keep ReadingThe Precious Blood of Christ
Going to the Cross Jesus' life was innocent, devalued and hated. We were guilty, puffed up and self-absorbed.
Keep ReadingHe Who Has Ears
The faculty of hearing is a precious gift only truly cherished by those bereft. The rest of the population take it for granted. It is the way of the depraved. Not until we are deprived do we realize what we had.
Keep ReadingHow to Live a Life Your Kids (and others) Can Follow
Ten things that, if practiced , will transform your life.
Keep ReadingAre You a Judas or a Peter?
Judas found no place for repentance; Peter did. We all sin, but we aren't all being saved.
Keep ReadingThe Harsh Reality of Betrayal
Jesus, Judas, Betrayal, Sin. It's easy to condemn Judas. God does. Think about it. He was a weed among the wheat, a wolf among the sheep, a fake among the real, a pretender, an imposter, he was acting. He wasn't the real deal. A pawn in Satan's hand. Jesus pronounced Woe on him. "The Son of man goes as it has been decreed, but woe to the one by whom He is betrayed." (Luke 22:22).
Keep ReadingThe Scandal of Extravagant Waste
Cost-cutting measures don't fit into God's sovereign plans.
Keep ReadingDeath Could Not Hold Him
God made evil boomerang on itself at the cross. It was forced by man but foreordained by God.
Keep ReadingDo Something Now
I don't know what you should do but you should do something to bless someone.
Keep ReadingRepentance Revisited: The Other Half of the Gospel
Some people get disillusioned and say this Jesus thing doesn't work. It's because they are walking around with only half a gospel.
Keep ReadingRepentance is Heart Work
Repentance is ongoing heart work. It is a way of life enabled by the Holy Spirit.
Keep ReadingThe Gospel Implications of Repentance
The gospel of the grace of God in Christ is drenched in mercifully provided repentance that not only restores vitality of faith but health in Christ's body the Church. It is something for which we must pray and rejoice when it comes. It is needed like air, on a moment by moment basis. For the flourishing of Christ's Bride and for the nations to be made glad in God (Acts 5:31; 2 Tim. 2:24-26).
Keep ReadingWell Done, Church!
God's people need to be commended more often! This is one of those times.
Keep ReadingMissing the Scenery
Sometimes it is easy to be so fixated on the task at hand that we miss the bigger picture. Myopic, we microscope on minute details and miss the boat, train, plane, automobile; whatever it was on the horizon that we were supposed to keep one eye on. A deadline, a curfew, a due date, a marker point where we were supposed to be ready. We get diverted, rerouted, or derailed. We miss something significant or important.
Keep ReadingSovereign Orchestration
Every Christian needs to know with assurance that God is in control.
Keep ReadingScars and a Story to Tell
Pain is a part of every life and God gives believers an amazing story to tell. .
Keep ReadingYou have Gospel Work to Do!
Every Christian has gospel work to do. And every Christian is called to do that work in the Church and the world.
Keep ReadingLoving Jesus and Longing for His Return
Christians love Jesus and must long for His return.
Keep ReadingLiving in the Last Days
Christians must be eagerly awaiting Christ's return while remaining engaged in gospel opportunities.
Keep ReadingPrepare Your Hearts for Easter
We should take time to grasp and savor the true significance of Easter.
Keep ReadingSouth Africa 2013 - Recap of Days 1, 3 & 4!
What's happening in South Africa? Check it out!
Keep ReadingThe Meek are not Weak
God blesses the humble meek who may be bold as a lion but know where their true power comes from.
Keep ReadingAssurance of Salvation
Many Christians lack assurance of salvation, while some unbelievers live with false assurance. How can you know for sure if you are saved?
Keep ReadingSeven Words, Seven Woes, Part 2: Jesus' Word to Door-Closers
Jesus' Word to Door Closers
Keep ReadingWhat You Need to Know in a Peace-starved World
Knowing if you have peace with God and the peace of God is of extreme importance.
Keep ReadingJesus is the Wonderful Counselor
Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor who tells us what we need to hear.
Keep ReadingFor Christ and the Kingdom
Ask yourself what is best for the Kingdom of Jesus, not what is best for you.
Keep ReadingDangerous Pursuits
Matthew 22:23-33 continues an unfriendly trend. Next in line to try to trip Jesus up with a whopper of a question? Enter the Sadducees, lesser-known counterparts of the more numerous Pharisees. different yet similar, control freaks in love with their own ideas.
Keep ReadingIn Christ, Mockers Become Imitators
Bonhoeffer said, "The follower of Jesus is the imitator of God". So the rejecter of Jesus is the mocker of God. In Christ enemies become friends, and mockers imitators.
Keep ReadingA Word of Encouragement
Everyone loves encouragement. Everyone needs it too. I want to commend you for the many things I see you doing right, the things the Holy Spirit is doing in and through you.
Keep ReadingFeb 23
2013
South Africa 2013 - Recap of Days 1, 3 & 4!
What's happening in South Africa? Check it out!
Feb 14
2013
Clean
God cleanses repentant hearts and changes their lives.