From Harper's Magazine: SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED From the website of You've Been Left Behind, a service that for a $40 fee provides customers who expect to be raptured the chance to send messages to loved ones on earth. We all have family and friends who have failed to receive the Good News of the...

Do you ever wonder why God does not fully explain the reality of pain? John Piper has written an excellent post on that topic. He writes: "One of the reasons God rarely gives micro reasons for his painful providences, but regularly gives magnificent macro reasons, is that there are too many micro...

This Sunday I am preaching on Acts 6:1-7. It is the account of the first real challenge to the church's unity. The incident that Luke recounts exposed an ugly division within the body of Christ in Jerusalem. The division, which was along cultural lines, was a greater threat to the young church than...

"You might be an emergent Christian: if you listen to U2, Moby, and Johnny Cash's Hurt (sometimes in church), use sermon illustrations from The Sopranos , drink lattes in the afternoon and Guinness in the evenings, and always use a Mac; if your reading list consists primarily of Stanley Hauerwas,...

Take time to listen to this edition of the Albert Mohler Program . Dr. Russell Moore is the host and his two guests are Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and Stanley Hauerwas of Duke University. The question the program addresses is whether or not patriotic services are appropriate for...

Given that the primary season is over I thought I would re-post an entry I wrote in 2007. I think this will also help to answer questions I sometimes receive about why Metro East does not have an American flag in our worship center or hold "God and Country" services. *Note: Today (July 16th) I...

Check out this excellent article by Gene Veith posted at Ligonier.

Alan at Truth In Context offers this very helpful test for determining whether or not a sermon is truly Christian.

Check out this excellent article by Dr. Vern Poythress on what the weather says about God.

Please take time to read this post from Tim Challies . It is a letter written by Dennis Rainey concerning the death of his baby granddaughter. It is a model of the mysterious wedding of grief mixed with joy which is only possible in Christ. It is a moving meditation on the sovereign goodness of God...

http://youtube.com/v/V4wFWbNDUZQ

As a follow-up to my last post, check out this excellent article by Nathin Finn on the conservative resurgence in the SBC. Dr. Finn is a church historian at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. I think you will find his words helpful.

Check out this recommended reading list from Ligonier Ministries.

This story illustrates well what happens when Christians build a subculture rather than living as resident aliens within the culture.

"From the New Testament's point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety...

It has been said that the two words in the Bible are "law" and "gospel." The point is that everything in Scripture can ultimately be placed either in the category of law or gospel. Law is anything that God requires. The law is God's commandments; His righteous demands. The gospel, on the other hand...

"Be sure, moreover, that you do not make Christ into a Moses, as if Christ did nothing more than teach and provide examples as the other saints do, as if the gospel were simply a textbook of teachings or laws. Therefore you should grasp Christ, his words, works, and sufferings, in a twofold manner...

Thanks to Justin Taylor for posting a link to these great sermons . Sinclair Ferguson is one of my favorite preachers and writers. Be blessed and listen to this pastor/theologian preach these wonderful sermons.

http://youtube.com/v/Uv392BC95OM

"Doctrine is heaven, life is earth. In life there is sin, error, uncleanness, and misery, mixed, as the saying goes, 'with vinegar.' Here love should condone, tolerate, be deceived, trust, hope, and endure all things (1 Cor. 13:7); here the forgiveness of sins should have complete sway, provided...

I am thankful that a resolution on church membership was adopted at the SBC's annual meeting this week. Perhaps it could signal a change in our sloppy accounting. What will be needed however is for pastors like myself to cease worshipping at the feet of our idol: the crowd. Check out these helpful...

http://youtube.com/v/nW085dPRczQ

Following the horrific Asian tsunami that occurred on December 26, 2004, The Herald of Glasgow, Scotland printed a commentary that read in part: “God, if there is a God, should be ashamed of himself. The sheer enormity of the Asian tsunami disaster, the death, destruction, and havoc it has wreaked...

Check out these great resources from Monergism on the subject of guidance and God's will. Very helpful!