The Christian's battle against fear and anxiety is a blessed struggle — so says biblical counselor and author Ed Welch. But why is this struggle blessed?

We asked him that question during our recent trip to the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) in Philadelphia. He answers in this 2-minute clip:

 

Ed Welch is a speaker at our upcoming National Conference. Visit the event page to learn more and register.

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Here are some recent posts from Welch related to our National Conference:

• Fear, Anxiety, and Growing in Sanctification (video)
• A Broken Past and the Miracle of Sanctification
• Power in Weakness: Living Out the Miracle of Sanctification
  

After revealing his free electing grace toward sinners like us, what does God intend to do with his children now? What is the aim of our election?

This is the question we asked of respected Bible scholar Richard Gaffin, Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology (emeritus) at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.

He answered by expounding Paul’s words in Romans 8:29–30:

²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

In this …

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Ed Welch is a biblical counselor and the author of several books including Running Scared: Fear, Worry & the God of Rest. He serves on the faculty of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) in Philadelphia, where we recently connected. We asked him how fear, anxiety, and worry short-circuit the Christian life, and how we can gauge growth in these struggles. He answered in this brief 2-minute video:

 

Ed Welch is a speaker at our upcoming National Conference, September 28–30. Register for the conference before this Friday, 11:59 PM (CDT) for the discounted rate of $175. The final price increase begins on September 1.

Recent posts related to our National Conf…

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We recently traveled to the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) in Philadelphia in search of some answers to our burning questions about sanctification. While there, we asked counselor and author David Powlison what role the local church plays in our sanctification. He explains in this video clip —

This is a theme we will return to at the upcoming National Conference. Russell Moore will deliver a plenary talk titled, “Acting the Miracle Together: Corporate Dynamics in Christian Sanctification.”

Puritan Thomas Watson says it well. “After the fall, the affections were misplaced on wrong objects; in sanctification, they are turned into a sweet order and harmony, the grief placed on sin, the love on God, the joy on heaven.”*

Regeneration is the awakening and enlivening of the spiritual heart, and sanctification is the ongoing work of recalibrating the affections to cherish what God cherishes. And because we are becoming like what we worship, this is a critical work of grace in our hearts.

Sanctification is more than saying “no” to sin. Sanctification says “yes” to holiness and glad obedience to Jesus. Sanctification says yes to loving God and what he loves. Sanctification is all a…

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Greg Beale titled his landmark book We Become What We Worship. His thesis is simple: “What people revere, they resemble, either for ruin or for restoration.” He traces the theme throughout Scripture to show that we are worshippers, and that our worship exposes us and changes us. We either revere the world and are conformed to the sinful patterns of the world, or we revere God and are progressively conformed into his likeness.

Take the book of Romans. Beale points out that the Greek word for representation or image (εἰκόνος) occurs in two places (Romans 1:23, 8:29).

In the first reference, Paul begins with the objects and effects of pagan worship. The pagan worship of an image is an act …

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Mondays are notoriously difficult for pastors. If you are not a pastor, pray for your pastor today as you read through this post. If you are a pastor, listen to the words of pastor Jared Wilson as he describes the structure of his Mondays, along with the personal challenges he faces as another week begins. Here’s what he writes:

The fatigue begins for me as soon as the sermon is done. More often than not, I have “left it all out on the field.” But the gathering is not over. There are people to greet, visitors to meet, often times theological questions to answer and short counseling sessions to conduct. Many times there are impromptu meetings or executive decisions to be made.

At Middl…

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For much of my Christian life I have had a one-sided view of “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). I assumed that the verse meant only that when hard news or rebuke needed to be brought, it should be done with tenderness and sensitivity. I was wrong.

Not totally wrong. I understood correctly the verb and the love: that hard news and rebuke should always be brought with appropriate sobriety, humility, and never with arrogance and harshness.

But I neglected to focus on the other part of Paul’s phrase: the noun and “the truth.” The context of the passage helps to explain Paul’s meaning.

In his sermon, “How the Saints Minister to the Body” (1992), Pastor John explains the earlier …

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At the beginning of the month we announced that Andrew Peterson will be in concert at Bethlehem Baptist Church on Thursday night, September 27 (tickets here). Peterson's new album, Light for the Lost Boy, releases on August 28.

In light of the upcoming album release we have been given permission to offer track 3, "Rest Easy," to our blog readers. You can download it here, or listen here:

Peterson says, "This song is an exhortation to myself to anyone else out there who might be struggling to believe that God can both know them completely and love them completely." For more on the background of this song, see this video:

We received 153 designs in the Act the Miracle art contest. They came in from all over the world and in all forms and shapes and colors. We initially considered whittling the entries down to the top 10 to simplify the contest, but there were so many excellent designs that we decided to post them all online so you can vote on the entire collection. And now you can.

All 153 entries have been uploaded to the Desiring God Facebook page and collected into the "Act the Miracle" Art Gallery. There you can view each entry and vote on your favorites. Each of the designs are numbered based on the time of submission, from 001 (the first) to 153 (the last).

Each “like” = one vote. (“Shares” carry no…

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