Yearly Archives: 2018

128 posts

God Is Not In Need Of Man’s Approval

The character of God, the wonder of God, the holiness of God is not dependent upon the recognition of man. Just because people may dismiss the Person of God and the truth of Scripture does not in any way the detract from the greatness of both! Joshua Bell, world class violinist, played for 43 minutes at the Washington DC subway. During that time over 1,000 people passed by where he was playing. 7 people paused to listen, 7! Does this mean that Bell is not a great violinist? The fact that people do not acknowledge God’s greatness or the Bible’s veracity does not change reality. Don’t trust the opinion of people who dismiss God. It is a fatal error. Don’t […]

God Or Random?

A conversation between a mom and her 12-year-old daughter. “Hey, Mom.” “Yes, Erin.” “You have a minute?” “Sure, what’s up?’ “I watched another program on the Science Channel that was talking about how life began on earth. I’m good with what you and dad have told me, but I just want to make sure I have it down. Can you help me by going over things again?” “No problem, glad you asked! You remember that there are really only a few ways that modern science thinks how life could have begun?” “Yeah, uh, one is that over a long time, like billions of years, stuff that was all organic…” “Erin, I think you mean inorganic.” “Right, inorganic, that means not […]

Delight In God’s Commands — Really?

Law and delight — these are two words seldom seen as companions. You can have the law or you can have fun. Young people excited about God’s laws is not exactly the first thought that comes to mind. Instruction over iPads? I don’t think so. These comments are both comical and sad. Why? Because they both ring true. We don’t typically expect our young people to be excited about obeying God. And you can agree there is sadness connected to this fact. So how do we address this? Allow me to suggest one way. You can’t expect your children to delight in God’s direction for life if you it is not something that you also delight in. Jesus says the […]

Doing good to get good

Manipulation is a subtle trap that will lead you and your children away from the grace of God and the gospel. Jesus delivers a subtle warning in the Sermon on the Mount about the danger of manipulation. Look at Luke 6:32-33: “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that…” Manipulation is doing good to get something good. If your parental discipline is primarily designed to make things at home go more smoothly, you are doing good to get good. The rich young man in Matthew 19 […]

A Necklace To Adorn

You care about your children. You want to protect them from harm. So you take the obvious precautions: you use car seats, you dress them in warm clothing, you install a security system, you take them to the doctor, you do everything possible to keep them physically safe. The same care must be given to protect their hearts. You want to protect them from the deception of the world, the flesh, and the devil. However, it is only God’s word that can accomplish this! Solomon says as much when he says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7 It is the fear of the Lord that will keep your […]

The Nearness of God Is Your Good

You often say that God is good. You often hear that he is good. For these statements to be relevant, especially for your children, you must know why he is good. It is a potentially unsettling to believe God is good based upon your interpretation of the circumstances of your life. God is good because that is who and what he is. He remains good regardless of how circumstances appear. His goodness is determined by his own character and nothing else! You and I may affirm his goodness, but we do not determine his goodness. Why is this important? Because any attempt to understand the goodness of God without reference to his character will leave you with a twisted view […]

Is Holy Boring?

You tell your friends that your main focus for 2018 is to make holiness more a part of your lifestyle. It would not be surprising for the response to be, even from your Christian friends, “how boring is that!” Boring? This is the way the enemy of your soul wants holiness to be understood – as drab, boring, and uneventful. Our culture has totally bought into this lie. If you are holy: you can’t enjoy life, you can’t enjoy sex, you can’t have fun, you will be intolerant and self-righteous, you won’t have any friends, your life will be boring! It is no wonder holiness is not an appealing character quality. Even if you don’t believe these things, don’t be […]

A Clothing Makeover for a New Year

2018 is just hours into its existence. Talk of resolutions for the coming year is everywhere. This new year, why not forget about resolutions and go for a clothing makeover! Don’t worry, this new set of clothes won’t break the bank. In fact, it won’t cost you anything, except your pride! What store offers this kind of makeover? This makeover is not about physical clothing. These new clothes are fashioned by the Holy Spirit. Putting them on will change the way people look at you and make you a more attractive person! They will do more to enhance your appearance to others than any piece of material clothing could ever do. They will never go out of style or wear […]