Adoption and the Image of God
When I was in my early 20s, I met a college friend of my parents for the first time. After a short conversation, she smiled and commented, “You’re just like your dad!” She wasn’t just referring to my appearance, but…
Tag Christ
All the Hell You Shall Ever Have
For the better part of my Christian life, I’ve had a visceral reaction–driven by internal disapproval–whenever I’ve heard someone describe the hardships he or she experienced in life in the following ways: “It was like hell on earth,” or “I…
The Unthinkable Sin
One day I had the opportunity to preach with John Barros outside of an abortion mill in Orlando. In the message I preached, I made the point that I am also a murderer because Jesus said: “You have heard that…
A Call for Gospel Centered Preaching
God saved me at a conference at which John Piper was speaking in Atlanta in 2001. Through his public ministry, Dr. Piper has been one of the most influential men in my life. Last month, he wrote a post, Should We…
The Incarnate Confrontation
We’ve all given and received gifts this past year, and I imagine the majority of those gifts were probably intended to be used in some way, not just owned or placed on a shelf unopened. But it’s likely you’ve had…
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
Think back on an exciting time in your life when you were overwhelmed with emotion at the sight of something beautiful, a sudden surprise that captured your attention, or a moment of intense grief that seemed to cause your heart…
The Statement on SJ&G Explained: Article 14, Racism
[Editorial Note: This is the fourteenth post in a series of posts in which we have invited the authors of “The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel” to expound upon the statement’s affirmations and denials. We encourage our readers to…
Confessing Christ, Good for the Soul
The importance of confessing the faith can be seen from the earliest days of the church to the present. It was on the occasion of Peter’s confession of who Jesus is that Christ said to him: “Blessed are you, Simon…
Counselor, Comforter, Keeper?
One exegetical consideration upon which I have never truly been settled is that which concerns the meaning of the word παράκλητος (Paraklete)–as it appears in such places in Scripture as 1 John 2:1 and John 14:16. The list of translation…
Godly (Dis)contentment
Nineteenth-century author and hymn-writer Elizabeth Payson Prentiss lived a life of exemplary faith in the midst of serious trials. For most of her life, she was confined to bed as an invalid, and her husband also suffered from ill health.…