Helping you grow in God's all-sufficient grace and truth
“To have love as the guiding principle of our lives means that our continual mindset in all we do should be “What will serve the other person?” So writes Matt Perman in his excellent book, What’s Best Next. “It is
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If you love someone, you discipline your mind to assume the best about that person’s words or actions until you have the facts to prove otherwise. While such mental discipline may not seem to fit modern sentimental concepts of love,
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For the past few months, I’ve mentioned a couple times (here and here) the profit that our church staff is receiving from reading a book together, Graciousness: Tempering Truth with Love, by John Crotts. In Chapter 7, “Cultivating a Gracious
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A challenge that complicates the journey towards a godly response to abuse is the mass of popular literature which counsels victims from a feelings-centered position. Much of the literature available focuses on self-protection, rather than holiness, as a primary goal.
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Last week, I was blessed to teach a two-hour seminar in our church’s discipleship counseling training center on the subject of depression. First, I shared my own personal experience with depression and anxiety, and then drew attention to the experiences
Continue readingYesterday, during a radio interview about dealing with grief and loneliness during the holidays, I mentioned a wonderful resource from Deborah Howard, RN. She writes, “Loneliness takes many forms and its causes are almost endless. There’s loneliness from: Losing a
Continue readingWhen Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church, he was calling all believers to a ministry of corrective love, which he faithfully modeled as a minister of God. A key verse to consider regarding this one-another ministry is found in Paul’s
Continue readingThere are many virtues we see in the Scriptures, but the highest and grandest virtue is love. Faith, hope, and love are Christian virtues, but the greatest is love (1 Cor. 13:13). Jesus summarized all the commandments of God in
Continue readingMany times, it is the simplest truths that are the most profound and the simplest truths that are most easily forgotten, such as the truth “God is love.” The truth is so simple that people hear it and ignore it.
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Is it a sin to talk too much? Well, that depends. Years ago, my men’s small group discussed the discipline of the tongue. After reading a chapter in Disciplines of a Godly Man by Kent Hughes, and verses from Proverbs
Continue readingFive years ago, this month, I published this article. Since then 44,000 people have read it. Therefore, I thought it may make a good Flashback Friday post. I trust it will encourage your growth in grace. A local church is
Continue readingBrethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and
Continue readingOne of the unexpected blessings of being called to a new ministry and moving from Wisconsin to Ohio has been the process of unpacking and reorganizing my library. In doing so, I’ve found a couple boxes of books that I’ve
Continue readingEarlier this month, David Murray posted a list entitled 10 Ways to Hate People. The list struck me, especially since these sins are all too common among those who profess to know Jesus Christ. The list has come back to
Continue readingThe Bible indicates that a person’s attitude toward material possessions is a reflector of his true spiritual condition. For example, when Jesus challenged the rich young ruler to leave his wealth and follow Him, the man “became very sad, for
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 readingThe following biblical encouragement and exhortation is from a fellow husband striving to grow in Christ, Larry McCall, in his book Loving Your Wife as Christ Loves the Church. As I read through it a second time, I am reflecting
Continue readingA few weeks ago, I ran a series of posts on the major areas of theology and how they should impact our personal ministry of the Word to one another. Astutely, one regular reader emailed me to inquire why there
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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.
