This is a good century to be a sinner. You get all the perks of grace and none of the brutality of God’s severity. All of this rides on an overworked phrase that goes a little something like this: “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner.” Quaint. But is it biblical? Sinners 3,000 Years Ago…
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Introducing the 1/60 best books on the gospel. A 62-week long series. The title. It is a joke. See, there is something you need to know about Matt. He’s tall. Like six five. And lanky–long in arm, long in fingers and long in legs. I knew this back when I first heard him preach via…
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Part of a weekly series on Matthew. This week: Matthew 1:1-17. From the top. A homeless man, schemer and incestuous sexual predator. Then a prostitute and a Gentile woman. An adulterer and murderer. Devout kings and apostate rulers. Slaves and masters. Poor and rich. Men and women. This, my friends, is . It would be…
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Last week I published a monster cheat sheet to John Owen’s Mortification of Sin in Believers. As promised here is a list of reasons why every Christian should read the original book. 1. Understand it is your duty to kill sin Ask most Christians and they don’t have a clue what you mean when you…
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One of the better lessons I learned from the book was to pray that God would make your wife the model of beauty. An apt prayer in a culture steeped in the cult of self-image and supermodels. The point behind Gary Thomas’ statement is two-fold: one, to steer us away from the temptation to compare…
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Part of a new weekly series on the book of Matthew. This week: Matthew 12:38-41 Jonah had no idea what to expect the day he walked into Nineveh. As the capital of the Assyrian Empire, it was quite possibly the largest city in the known world. The inner city was surrounded by walls 8 miles…
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Our relationship with our wives and each other is small potatoes compared to our relationship with God. If we sin against each other, the worst thing that can happen is a busted relationship and a mark on our reputation. Sin against God and we are at odds with the sinless being who created and rules…
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Haunted. Convicted. Blessed. Condemned. These are words that often describe people’s response to Jesus’ death. But before we can even talk about that, we first need to establish what Jesus’ death accomplished. We need to talk about propitiation. What DID Jesus’ Death Accomplish? Propitiation. Big word. Probably means nothing to you. But this is…
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Does the Bible really teach that judging others is smart and vital? Indeed, it does. Here’s my case. One of the most common objections I get to my critique of Jason Westerfield is this: Do not judge. The preferred text to back up their objection is : Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and…
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Sexual temptation is one of the most potent challenges young men face. This was true in ancient Israel. It’s true in 21st America. Unique to our culture, however, is the time span between puberty and marriage. In ancient Israel, young men were often married at 16. The . Depending on when puberty starts in boys,…
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