O Refuge Near
[A pastor friend of mine is going through deep waters of grief this week. As I was praying for him this poem came back to my mind.] O refuge near, our strength in weakness, forever in His hands secure; Emmanuel,
Continue reading“Your testimonies also are my delight; they are my counselors.” – Psalm 119:24
4 Tips for Communicating in a Digital World
Today, I again draw your attention to the very helpful book by Tim Challies, The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion. In the application wrap-up for the chapter on Speaking, Truthing, Loving, Living, Tim asks, “How can we ensure
Continue readingDADs 1:13 – Parents, Read “The Next Story”
“No parent would ever put his child into the driver’s seat of a car without first teaching him how to drive,” writes Tim Challies, “Yet far too many parents are sending their children into an increasingly digital reality without proper
Continue readingNuggets – on theology [12/2/11]
As biblical counselors, we often have the bad habit of continually craving after that which is practical. “Let’s get through all this theological stuff so we can get to what’s practical!” is what I once heard come out of one
Continue reading“The Next Story”—Important Highlights
There is so much good to be said about Tim Challies’ new book, The Next Story: Life and Faith after the Digital Explosion. This is not a book review. If that’s what you want you can find one at Covenant
Continue readingTwo Examples of Heart-Searching Homework
Let’s face it, fellow counselors, if we don’t help people get to the heart of their behavior we have done nothing more than rearrange the order of their functional gods or taught them to hang a new variety of plastic
Continue readingDouble Representation
Each Wednesday at 5:30 a.m. my men’s small group meets in a member’s home for prayer, study, accountability, and encouragement. It’s been the intentional strategy of our church’s Men of Iron groups (Prov 27:17) to repeatedly study the practical theology
Continue readingThe Restrained Fury of Jesus
Continuing our study of The Emotional Life of Our Lord, Warfield now moves to “another phase of angry emotion [that] is ascribed to Jesus by Mark, but in this case not by Mark alone.” I will call this expression of
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12 Examples of Harshness in Husbands (Lou Priolo)
The past few months, the Holy Spirit has been convicting my heart in the area of what it means to love my wife and and live with her in an understanding way (Eph 5:25; 1 Pet 3:7). As a result,
Continue readingAnger Lite: Being Annoyed but without Sin
Please excuse me for taking a few days away from B. B. Warfield’s theological essay, The Emotional Life of Our Lord. The long holiday weekend threw my schedule off a bit and I was not able to spend as much
Continue readingFresh Mercies for Today
The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness (Lam 3:22-23). “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease.” The plural form of the Hebrew word chesed is the first word
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How to Prepare for Sunday Worship
When we reflect on Hebrews 12:18-29 it’s obvious that God considers corporate worship a serious matter, not the game that the modern church so often plays. Take a few minutes to open your Bible and read that portion of God’s
Continue readingBounty
THOU GREAT AND ONLY POTENTATE, Thou hast made summer and winter, day and night; each of these revolutions serves our welfare and is full of they care and kindness. Thy bounty is seen in the relations that train us, the laws
Continue readingNuggets — [11/23/11]
Here’s 5 more nuggets of help for your encouragement and edification in the Lord. Garments of Joy – I’ve been listening and singing to “Shelter,” one of my favorite CDs from Sons of Korah. One of my favorite songs on
Continue readingThe Anger of Jesus – Some Initial Thoughts
Getting back to B. B. Warfield’s essay, The Emotional Life of Our Lord, this week we will explore what we may learn from the anger of Jesus. However, before looking at the qualities of righteous anger, which, of course, Jesus
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The Attitude of Gratitude: A Bible Study Suggestion
In our Lord’s Day service yesterday morning we studied Luke 17:11-19 together. In this text, Jesus heals ten lepers, but only one returns to give glory to God by thanking Christ. The root reason the one man returned to thank
Continue readingDADs 1:12 – Disabled Children & Biblical Doctrine
As the father of four hearing-impaired children, one of whom has other yet-unidentifiable genetic issues going on, I really appreciated this post from Justin Taylor. Been there. Done that. Oh, yeah…still doing that. Fellow dad, do you fully embrace the
Continue readingFriendships of Jesus
The past couple days we’ve been allowing B. B. Warfield’s essay, The Emotional Life of our Lord, to help us think more intentionally about the emotions of Jesus, specifically His compassion. Now, before moving on to Warfield’s next major section (anger),
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