Theology (Page 3)
How Long, O Lord?
Recently, I have been asking myself the question, as I’m sure you have too: “How long, O Lord,” will this social distancing/shelter-in-place order last? At this point, we do not know. And not knowing is driving us crazy! Of course, if you have read the last paragraph with attentiveness, and if you’re familiar with the Bible, particularly the Psalms, you know that I made an allusion to an often repeated line: “How long, O Lord” (Psalm 13:1; 79:5; 89:46). Take,…
Bearing Burdens
Bill Withers, writer of the famous song ‘Lean on Me,’ died Monday March 30th at the age of 81. I had just referenced a specific lyric of this song (we all need somebody to lean on) the day before in a sermon on bearing one another’s burdens from Galatians 6:2-5. In this passage, Christians are called to bear the burdens of others because they have a biblical view about self. To bear the burdens of others, a Christian must look…
Doctrines of Power
At Grace Community Bible Church, we believe the Canons of Dordt are an accurate summary of what the Bible teaches about key doctrines regarding salvation. Sometimes the Canons of Dordt are referred to as the “Doctrines of Grace.” But I have always wondered how my Arminian friends feel about this title. Is their system not “doctrines of grace”? It wasn’t until a recent study of the Canons of Dordt, I found that it might be better to refer to the…
Human Love Versus God’s Love
How is God’s love different than our love? There are at least four ways God’s love is different than human love. I’m borrowing these four ways from a sermon by William Cooper, author of many well-known hymns including “There is a Fountain.” God’s love is eternal; ours is not. It is hard to fathom in our finite minds, but, if you are a Christian, from before time began, God loved you. This means his choice of you is an effect…
Life Is Fragile
Three years ago on Easter Sunday 2017, I was so sick that I could not get out of bed. The day before I was in full health; on Easter Sunday morning, I was hardly able to move. I can only recall two other times in my entire life being so sick. More recently, due to a herniated disc, I have been on my back more in the last few weeks than I have ever been. Both sickness and injury have…
What Is Christmas About?
What is Christmas about? Christmas is about the incarnation of the glory of God. Allow me to unpack this. What is the glory of God? The glory of God is the display of all that he is. Each of God’s attributes (e.g., holiness, goodness, justice, etc.) tell us what God is like; they tell us about who he is. The glory of God is the display of his attributes, of all that he is. To use an imperfect analogy, on…
Your Work Is Service to Christ
The Scripture teaches us that as we work, we are to work for God, doing the best at what he has called us to do (Colossians 3:23). If we can do our work—whether outside the home or inside the home, paid or unpaid—“as for the Lord,” then it follows that our work is in some sense service to God. And this is exactly what the Bible teaches: “It is the Lord Christ whom your serve” in your work (Colossians 3:24).…
Should We Use the Term “Born Again?”
Many people use the term “born again.” The term is heavily utilized both by evangelicals and the news. When Christians use the term “born again,” it is often shorthand for an evangelical Christian, as opposed to a Roman Catholic. However, many Christians use the term with little thought of their context and audience. Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus is illustrative and instructive for us. When Jesus meets Nicodemus, he says to him that “unless one is born again he cannot see…
Advice on Killing Sin
The definitive treatment on killing sin is a series of sermons John Owen preached on Romans 8:13 that eventually became Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers (1656). In the book, Owen has several pithy statements of advice on killing sin. “Be killing sin or it will be killing you” According to Romans 8:13, Christians are to actively kill sin in their lives. The reason is simple: sin is serious. If we do not kill sin, it will kill us!…
When Desires Aren’t Fulfilled
What do you do when God implants a desire to do something or have something and that desire is not fulfilled? For example, God gives you the desire to serve him as a pastor or missionary or engineer or military officer, and the desire isn’t fulfilled? Or, God gives you the desire to be married or to have children, and the desire isn’t fulfilled? How do you process these disappointments, especially considering Psalm 145:19, which states: “He will fulfill the…
Should We Follow Our Heart?
There is a modern-day way of life that says: “Follow your heart.” According to this philosophy, the way to happiness and freedom is to follow what your heart tells you to do. In a nutshell: if it feels good, do it. The problem is that this concept is fundamentally flawed for two important reasons. First, the philosophy of “follow your heart” is inherently inconsistent. No loving person would let a five-year-old eat an entire 64-ounce bag of tootsie rolls in…
How Do You Know God Loves You?
In human relationships, love is expressed in blessing people. I wash the van, shovel the snow, and clean the house, in part, because I love my wife; I know these things bless her. In human relationships blessings demonstrate love. But in relation to God, blessings alone cannot serve as the measure of his love. Why? Because if we have affliction, pain, and sorrow, we cannot say that God hates us (or loves us less) than if we have health, wealth,…
Comfort and Christ
I inherited, for better or worse, cold blood and poor circulation. What I mean is that I often feel cold rather than warm. Consequently, I love warm weather . . . and space heaters! The other day while I was praying in my study, I literally laid right in front of my space heater, so my cold hands would warmup. Immediately, upon beginning my prayer, this thought crossed my mind: I am as pathetic as Jonah! If you remember the…
The First Commandment in the First Petition
Christians of previous generations have considered the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer to be very important portions of Scripture. For example, in the 17th century Westminster Shorter Catechism, a summary of the Christian faith, roughly fifty percent is dedicated to the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. This is a relatively high percentage if you consider all the other important doctrines (e.g., Trinity, Jesus Christ, salvation, the church, etc.) the Catechism must contain to be a summary of the…
Don’t Reduce Sin to Acts
We often reduce sin to what we do or don’t do; for example, lie, steal, or cheat. Let me be clear: sin is what we do or don’t do. But sin is much deeper. Sin is who we are. We commit acts of sin because we are sinners. The famous fifth-century pastor in North Africa, Augustine, understood this well. In his Confessions, he recounts of how he stole some pears when he was sixteen. Listen to what he says: “I…
Is God Great?
I remember where I was standing in a local bookstore several years ago when the New York Times bestselling book, God is Not Great, appeared on the bookshelf. Scanning through the pages, I learned about the late Christopher Hitchens. The premise of Hitchen’s book is outlined in the subtitle: How Religion Poisons Everything. He asserts that religion is the main source of hatred in the world. I agree with Hitchens that religion is the main source of hatred in…
The Bible – the Greatest Literary Paradox
I love the Bible. I believe the Bible is the word of the Creator of the Universe to humankind. Because I believe the Bible is the very words of God, I believe it is inspired and inerrant without contradiction. I also believe the Bible is the greatest literary paradox known to man. Why is the Bible the greatest literary paradox? Because it has the greatest author—God himself. Here are a few paradoxes we find in the…
Do You Have a Right to Be Angry?
What a penetrating question! Is it right for you to be angry? Of course, if you’re familiar with the Bible, you might recall that God asked the prophet Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry” (Jonah 4:4)? Because of the context of this question, God was not expecting a response – the question was a rebuke! And the question also serves as a rebuke for us. Why? Because of the nature of anger. Anger is…
Human Growth and Christian Growth
I was listening to a show on Minnesota Public Radio discussing character development in Young Adult fiction. They said that for a Young Adult book to sell, the character(s) have to experience genuine harm and difficulty, yet show growth in the midst of the trial. In real life, human beings grow and change. Human nature changes: it’s our nature. To be human is to change. We change our viewpoints and values, concerns and character, and interests and ideas. Unlike God…
Five Reasons God May Delay in Answering Your Prayer
God always answers prayer. Period. Yet, he does not always answer in the way we would like. Sometimes he answers with a “yes” or “yes and even better.” Sometimes, however, he answers with a “no,” or “not yet.” Why does God answer with a “not yet?” Why does he delay in answering prayer? Puritan Richard Sibbes helped me to see four reasons God may delay in answering prayer. I’ve added a fifth. To try your faith. Like the Canaanite woman…