Helping you grow in God's all-sufficient grace and truth
Fearing man is common among pastors, but the struggle is not new; it’s been a temptation since the days of the prophets and the apostles. Paul confessed in the book of Galatians, “For am I now seeking the favor of
Continue readingThe past few days, I’ve been reading One Cry by Byron Paulus and Bill Elliff (See yesterday’s post). At the end of the chapter that focuses on returning to our first love—loving Christ—Elliff penned this poem as he reflected on
Continue readingI’m thinking about love for Christ, tonight. How easy it is for us as believers to fall out of love with Jesus in the same sense as the Ephesian believers did. “You have left your first love,” Jesus said to
Continue readingYesterday, my considerate wife made a special trip into town to deliver to my workplace the replacement phone for which I had (impatiently!) waited 8 days. At first, those days seemed like forever, but the more time passed by the
Continue readingWe learned this new song, based on Luke 18:9-14, in corporate worship yesterday. It reminds us of where we stand without Christ and exalts Him as the only true source of righteousness. No list of sins I have not done,
Continue readingOn a regular basis, I receive inquiries as to how to obtain copies of my book Comfort Those Who Grieve: Ministering God’s Grace in Times of Loss (It’s been hard to find since stock was intentionally allowed to run out
Continue readingIn the past couple weeks, I have picked up one of Paul Tripp’s devotional books, A Shelter in the Time of Storm, and again my heart has been ministered to in simple, yet deep ways. God has gifted Paul Tripp
Continue readingIt has been long understood that Charles Spurgeon, the famed preacher at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in the 1800’s, wrestled against this darkness through much of his pastoral ministry. As a result, many of us who fight this same aspect of
Continue readingShortly after Christmas, I received the following email from a reader of this blog. I’m wondering if you can help me. I have prayed to be saved multiple times, knowing it is not by human effort. I was raised in
Continue readingAs the counseling book review editor for Books At a Glance, I’m regularly asked to review new books related to one-another ministry. Thus far, the books have been chosen by others for me to review, as it is with the
Continue readingThis morning, I found myself stirred to take off my shelf a copy of my favorite R.C. Sproul book, One Holy Passion: The Consuming Thirst to Know God. I remember buying this book in the fall of 1988 at our
Continue readingMy WordPress annual report notice has been flashing on my dashboard for a few days, so I finally took a look at it last night. I was immediately surprised by one statistic and yet should not have been. February 3rd
Continue readingThis morning, I awoke with the desire to page through a Moleskine journal that I recently filled up; my soul needed to feed upon the workings of the Spirit in my mind and heart in the past—taking in, again, spiritual
Continue readingAs a new year rapidly approaches, we think and hear non-stop messages about cranking up our motivation to change. We have a resolution for this and that, for everything except what we need most, that is, to think biblically about
Continue readingVirtually every December, I take off the shelf my favorite Christmas book; God with Us: The Miracle of Christmas by John MacArthur. I still remember where I was when I first saw and purchased the book. I was standing in
Continue reading[The following testimony was submitted by a woman in the state of Georgia whose pastor, Kevin Hurt, gave her biblical hope and counsel in her time of trial.] As I think about my journey of being diagnosed with breast cancer,
Continue readingIn his excellent mini-book, HELP! My Friend Is Suicidal, police chaplain and pastor Bruce Ray, writes, “There is ultimately only one reason why people commit suicide. Most of them have not lost their minds, but all of them have lost
Continue readingFaith battles are fought in the mind. In other words, what we say to ourselves controls much of what we do, whether right or wrong, true or false, which is the fruit of what we believe. Therefore, counseling ourselves with
Continue reading
By God’s grace, I’m a husband, dad, grandpa, and pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Mayfield Hts, OH. I love Christ because He first loved me.
