Helping you grow in God's all-sufficient grace and truth
As believers, we long to be more like Christ but some days we feel we are taking three steps forward and two steps back. How do we approach the Christian life? How do we make steady progress in our spiritual
Continue readingToday, many Christians believe they are entitled to a trouble-free life. This mindset may be at least partly due to having been sold a bill of goods. Many have been told “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for
Continue readingThe resurrection of Jesus Christ is the well from which the fountain of new life springs. Those who are united to Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection possess this new living water in their innermost being (Jn 7:38). This
Continue reading
In 1994, I was given Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges. Immediately, I read the first few chapters and set it aside for no memorable reason (Providence had another plan to use it later). There it sat until 2006 when I
Continue readingWhat is godliness? Is it measured by conformity to a list of man-made rules and regulations? Does it consist primarily of prohibitions? These are questions that Jerry Bridges answered for me many years ago in his book The Practice of
Continue readingLast week, when I posted a brief tribute to an unseen mentor, I mentioned that I would be posting more thoughts about how the writings of Jerry Bridges have impacted my thinking about the Christian life and practical theology. One
Continue readingFor 32 years, Jerry Bridges was a spiritual mentor to me. It began in the spring of 1984, when the home Bible study group that was instrumental in my conversion morphed into a Navigators 2:7 discipleship group, where I was
Continue readingChristians are crashing and burning on the runways of life. Through the TV, Internet, cell phones, newspapers, books, and magazines we are bombarded by the world’s temptations and attractions. The response of choosing isolation from the world doesn’t work: we fail to reach the
Continue readingA few nuggets of wisdom to edify your soul and strengthen your one-another ministry… A Good Shepherd for Needy Sheep – Here’s a beautiful article from Marshall Segal. “When today may be my last day and everything I have gives
Continue readingYesterday, during one of the plenary sessions at the ACBC conference, Dr. Stuart Scott taught on the process of change and the possibility of sexual purity (Titus 2:11-15). As he wrapped up his message, he summarized how inner change takes
Continue readingThe Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, continues to be a devotional treasure that I turn to over and over again. This afternoon, as I was paging through it, my eyes zeroed in on a phrase
Continue readingDiscipleship takes place most naturally and with greatest fruitfulness when the members of a local church understand biblical, mutual ministry. The cultivation of this culture of growth is the responsibility of the church’s shepherds, by means of the faithful preaching
Continue readingA couple weeks ago, I was unpacking boxes of books and files in my new office at Cornerstone Community Church when a lesson plan caught my eye. It was on the Tri-Unity of God, which I had put together in
Continue readingThis morning, after spending time in the Psalms, my eye glanced to my left and caught a volume that I’ve not pulled off the shelf in quite some time. So, I picked up A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life and
Continue reading
While meditating on John 15:1-8 the past few mornings, it has occurred to me that our interpretation of the sanctifying work that God accomplishes in the Christian’s life—especially during times of trial—is directly related to our understanding of pruning, which
Continue readingUnderstanding the role of the Holy Spirit and our role in sanctification is critical to a proper, practical outworking of the Christian life. In my twenty-two years as a pastor, I perhaps preached on this “necessary tension” more than any
Continue readingIn the blockbuster film Frozen, one of the mother trolls believes, “people don’t really change.” But is this true, biblically? No, of course it isn’t. Salvation is about transformation, not merely forgiveness and eternal life. The good news of the
Continue readingThis morning, while reading a chapter in Wayne and Joshua Mack’s newest book, God’s Solutions to Life’s Problems (P&R, 2014), I was blessed by a wonderful excerpt from one of Charles Spurgeon’s sermons, “The Priest Dispensed With,” preached sometime in
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.
