The Deadly Team of Sin and Law …
Sin fools us in two ways: it makes us hopeless of ever being righteous or it persuades us that we can do it on our own.
How Great Is the Honor of Israel? …
Recognizing Israel's privileges only underlines the tragedy that so many Jews are accursed and cut off from Christ because of unbelief.
The Present Effects of Trembling at the Wrath of God …
Believing that God is furious against sin produces a good fear that transforms everything in life.
Do Not Destroy the Work of God …
Faith is what really matters in Christian behavior, not just whether you accomplish certain things or abstain from others.
How to Argue with God …
Summer Psalms
Sunday Evening Message
Don't let your sinfulness hinder your prayers. Run into the arms of God and fill his ear with arguments that aim for His honor.
Who Should We Invite to Thanksgiving Dinner? …
Who you invite to share in your abundance shows where your treasure is.
What Do Answers to Prayer Depend On?, Part 1 …
Obedience
If we are unloving and unrepentant then we should not think that God is likely to answer our prayers.
The Cosmic Church …
The church is the cosmic showcase of God's mercy, but he gets cosmic reproach when we fail to receive his mercy with joy.
Even the Hairs of My Head Are All Numbered …
Reflections on My First Year in the Pastorate
Do not fear the work God calls you to. He loves you deeply, knows you fully, and will turn all for your good.
Why the Law Was Given …
The law is a description of the obedience of faith; it is not a job description for how to earn the wages of God's blessings.
Jesus Is Precious Because Through Him We Become Authentic …
We don't have a deep sense of peace and fulfillment when we have successfully deluded everybody about who we really are or what we really feel or think. There is a deep (and I believe God-given) longing to be authentic, not to be hypocrites.
Grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of Our Lord …
The best fertilizer for our hope and godliness is the knowledge of our future in God's grace.
Go and Make Disciples, Baptizing Them... …
When we make disciples, we bid people to come and die to their old, destructive ways and to live for Jesus, who loved them and gave himself for them.
Those Who Have Faith Are the Sons of Abraham …
The central concern of your life is to ensure that you are a child of Abraham.
The War Within: Flesh Vs. Spirit …
A Christian is not a person who experiences no bad desires. A Christian is a person who is at war with those desires by the power of the Spirit.
Money: Currency for Christian Hedonism …
What you do with it—or desire to do with it—can make or break your happiness forever.
Holy, Holy, Holy Is the Lord of Hosts …
Revival happens when we see God majestic in holiness, and when we see ourselves disobedient dust.
Tell How Much the Lord Has Done for You! …
Strategies and actions to seek and save the lost must have high priority in the life of our church.
How the Spirit Sanctifies …
Sanctification is obeying the Commander-in-Chief. Sanctification is a wartime word.
I Will Be Gracious to Whom I Will Be Gracious …
When I choose God, it is because he has first chosen me. My will is not sovereign and self-determining. God's is.
The Son of God Appeared to Destroy the Works of the Devil …
The reason there is a Christmas is because God aims to destroy something.
Job: Rebuked in Suffering …
The suffering of the righteous is not a token of God's enmity but of his love. It is not a punishment of their sins but a refinement of their righteousness.
Far More Than You Think …
When the massive weather front of God's love meets the massive weather front of God's power in the heart of a believer, it produces a hurricane of doxology.
My Prayer to God Is That They Might Be Saved …
Paul does not pray for ineffectual influences, but for effectual influences. And that is how we should pray too.
How Can I Keep on Hoping? The Scriptures! …
The strength to endure comes from the hope before us. And the hope before us comes from the Scriptures.
Let All the Peoples Praise Thee …
Missions Week
God's purpose is to be known and praised and enjoyed and feared among all the nations of the earth.
Good Deeds and the Glory of God …
Sunday Evening Message
God has given us the joy of spiritual sight so that we might spread the reputation of our eye doctor.
Rebuilt Ruins Will Reach the World …
We are ruins being rebuilt by the grace of God. And we are here that the rest of men may seek the Lord.
The Curse of Priestly Failure …
A great danger to the pastoral ministry is that the voice of God in Scripture may be drowned out by other voices.
Natural People and Spiritual People …
Without the Spirit, we are so rebellious against the Lord that we cannot recognize the truth and beauty of a crucified Christ.
When I Fall, I Will Rise! …
Since we sin against God every day, we should be broken; and, since the throne of God is a throne of grace, we should be bold.
Battling the Unbelief of Bitterness …
Anger is very dangerous. If it takes root in your heart and becomes a grudge or an unforgiving spirit, it can destroy you.
The Prayer of an Old Saint …
Some Scriptures can only be fulfilled by recognizing the generation gap and owning up to the fact that it is good.
The Word Became Flesh …
Christmas Eve
God came to live in a tent so we can watch him more closely. God wants to be seen and known in his Son.
"You Will See the Son of Man Seated at the Right Hand of Power and Coming on the Clouds of Heaven" …
Palm Sunday
Deep down we know so much truth that we fear and therefore deny.
A Call for Courage in the Cause of Truth …
Bethel College Chapel
Twin Cities, MN
Repentance, Forgiveness, and the Gift of the Spirit …
Even if you are a murderer of the Son of God, God himself is ready to forgive you! And not only to forgive you but to give you his Spirit!
The Fear of God and Freedom from Goods …
A holy, happy fear of God makes our material possessions insignificant to us, except as means to serve others.
Serving Widows, Preaching the Word, and Winning Priests …
A major threat to the Christian movement is whatever threatens the ministry of the Word.
Stephen's Crime: "Jesus Will Destroy the Temple" …
Palm Sunday
How did Jesus destroy the temple? Why did saying so cost Stephen his life?
I Will Sing Praises to You Among the Nations …
Something is wrong with a private God. But if our God is great, we go public with our worship.
Looking Back to Witnesses, Up to Jesus, and Forward to Joy …
The author of Hebrews knows nothing of coasting Christianity.
He Saw the Grace of God and Was Glad …
The grace of God does not spare his people suffering in this age, but rather uses suffering to bring people to himself.
Execution, Escape, and Eaten by Worms …
How the Word of God Grew
If we stay with Jesus, we win, and if we oppose him, we lose.
God Sanctifies His People …
Palm Sunday
Assurance does not come from making holiness optional. It comes from knowing God is faithful.
Christ and Those in Him Will Never Die Again …
Easter Sunday
What if it's true that Christ rose from the dead?
Beautifying the Body of Christ …
Christ did not simply die for an unworthy woman or for a reluctant woman, but for a woman who found him repulsive.
Why the Saints Minister to the Body …
The aim of your ministry as a Christian is to build up the body as a whole.
The New Covenant and the New Covenant People …
The covenant that makes us belong to God makes us belong to each other.
Advancing and Sustaining the Covenant Community …
Every Christian has a crucial need for covenant relationships, regardless of how un-American it may be.
Anxieties: to Be Cast Not Carried …
Humble yourselves under the hand of God by casting your anxiety on him.
A Sojourn on Earth in Confident Fear …
God's purpose in the blood of Jesus is our justification and our sanctification. They cannot be separated.
That Your Prayers May Not Be Hindered …
There are ways live that hinder prayers and there is a way to live that helps prayer.
Do Not Forsake Your Mother's Teaching …
Mother's Day
All the commandments are full of promise, but God goes out of his way to emphasize that of honoring mother and father.
Why We Can Rejoice in Suffering …
The Great King keeps his finest wine in the cellar of affliction.
Cities of Ruthless Nations Will Revere Thee …
Missions Week
Great affliction + deep poverty + abundant joy = great generosity.
A Fast for Waters That Do Not Fail, Part 1 …
Be ware of substituting religious fervor for righteous living.
Dying as a Means of Loving, Part 2 …
We simply cannot love the way Paul describes until we die.
Diversity in God-Centered Worship …
Unfolding Bethlehem's Fresh Initiative #4
The abiding foundation of our corporate worship is God-centeredness.
In These Last Days, God Has Spoken by a Son …
Palm Sunday
Do you want to hear God speak? God has now spoken not just by prophets, but by his Son.
World Missions and the End of History …
Missions Week
The price will be high, but God's promise that the gospel will spread to all nations will be fulfilled by his omnipotent hand.
Where Does Child Killing Come From? …
Sanctity of Life Sunday
Not Ashamed of the Gospel …
The gospel elicits shaming behavior in those who will not believe it and it gives freedom from shame to those who do.
God's Response to Hypocrisy: Kindness and Judgment …
God's justice does not demand that he punish us for our sins immediately. His kindness leads him to forbear and to be patient with us, to a point.
Let God Be True Though Every Man a Liar …
Who are they whose condemnation is just? Those who play games with the Word of God.
Why Did Christ Come? …
Be Ready This Advent Season with the Meaning of Christmas
Wilderness, Worship, Treason and God …
Learn from David what to do in a brokenhearted, terrifying moment: Worship.
Truth and Love …
Truth aims at love; love aims at truth. Love shapes how to speak the truth; truth shapes how to show love.
Hope-Giving Promises for Triumph over Sin …
If God works to bring about obedience in our heart, then sin will not be lord over us, God will.
Pierced By the Word of God …
Use the Bible to know yourself and confirm your own spiritual life.
Teaching Doctrine to a Six-Year-Old …
How and why to teach kids the complex and essential doctrines of the Bible.
Lessons from Lisa …
A 9/11 Widow Trusts in the Sovereign Goodness of God
September 11, 2001 has served to prove at least these ten truths about the sovereign love of God.
How to Query God …
It is okay to question God if you do it humbly and teachably.
Taking the Swagger Out of Christian Cultural Influence …
Being exiles does not mean being cynical. Christians should be concerned about culture and involved in it.
Lilias Trotter and the Language Nobody Knows …
We shouldn't be afraid to use the spiritual vocabulary of the Bible even where it is foreign.
When Gratitude Gets Complicated …
Thoughts on Saying Thank You at Bethlehem and Desiring God
When you are in a position of receiving blessing from many people, knowing how to express gratitude can be challenging.
