Helping you grow in God's all-sufficient grace and truth
“Your testimonies also are my delight; they are my counselors.” – Psalm 119:24
Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray,but now I keep your word. Psalm 119:67 Mrs. Schmidt was my favorite childhood teacher. Not only did she get me interested
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In the past two months, I’ve taken our congregation through a thorough explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by using a visual known as the bridge illustration. This illustration is a simple tool for personal evangelism and discipleship. I
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Two posts ago, we began thinking about what the Bible teaches about bitterness. Namely, that Scripture presents bitterness first as an experience and then as a response—first as something that happens to us, and then something that arises within us.
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Life in this fallen, broken world can be very hard, even dangerous at times. Therefore, we all face various kinds of bitter tasting experiences. That’s what we began thinking about in the last post. Today, I draw your attention to
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About twenty years ago, I was a bitter Christian. As far as I can tell, it all began around the time we made an offer to purchase a big farmhouse in the country. We had just spent five years renovating
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A year ago, I first picked up A Painful Past because I’m always trying to grow as a minister of grace and truth to those whom the Lord calls me to serve. However, as is almost always the case, my
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A recent article in the Journal of Biblical Counseling helped, convicted, and gently counseled me. In this post, I summarize it briefly, using Ed Welch’s own words. But I also encourage you to consider purchasing the entire article here (only
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Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the
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Most teenagers don’t walk into the family room and say, “You know, Dad, I was just thinking how wise you are and what a good thing it is that God put you in my life so that I could gain
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In our society, we avoid suffering—running away from it if we can or numbing its effects if we can’t. Even Christ-followers struggle with this. At the onset of a life-transforming injury or the birth of a child with disabilities, our
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As a biblical counselor, my heart’s desire is to help others get to the heart of their struggles—to help them to experience life-transforming change wrought by the Spirit of God through the Word of God. The Confessional Statement of the
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The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Ex. 34:6 “Thank you for your patience.” The reply from my out-of-office coworker landed
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“You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (Luke 7:47)
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Yesterday, I was thrilled to learn that my 31-day devotional is now available as an audio book on all major platforms including Amazon and Apple. Special thanks to ministry partners at P&R Publishing and ChristianAudio for making this project a
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This morning, at our weekly staff meeting, I read today’s devotional from The Quiet Place by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. Today’s reading was entitle “When Prayer Weeps,” and ministered to all of us. So, I thought I’d pass it on. Nancy’s
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Dear reader and friend, The fact that you are reading this post is a great encouragement. For me, writing is a necessity—a means to personal growth and soul survival in this fallen world. It’s part of the way God has
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[The following article, The Unrepenting Repenter, is an outstanding tool for counseling and discipleship, as well as personal evaluation of our own hearts. It is written by Jim Elliff and published by Christian Communicators Worldwide.] The believer in Christ is
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But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us Titus 3:4 And Can it Be, that I Should Gain?[1]is one of my favorite hymns because it preserves the mystery and wonder of salvation—the marvel
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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.
