Take a mental Thanksgiving snapshot. What does it look like? For me, it’s a cornucopia overflowing with vegetables (although I’m an unabashed carnivore). It’s the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, complete with its giant, inflatable, pilgrim-duds-wearing turkey. It’s NFL games featuring the Lions and Cowboys, always. It’s family and way too much food, both of which […]
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Gospel Meditations for Voters
(Available to download as a FREE handout.) “There is no authority except from God.” Romans 13:1 (read also Romans 13:1–7) Election day is upon us. I hope you will vote. It’s proper for Christian citizens to exercise the rights of citizenship (as Paul did in Acts 16:37– 39; 21:39; 22:25–29; 25:10–11). So vote! And vote in […]
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Brick by Brick: The Lasting Benefits of Expository Preaching
I recently read an excerpt from Paul Wolfe’s My God Is True! which provides an encouraging reminder of the importance and power of patient, long-term faithfulness in preaching the Word. Wolfe encourages preachers not to seek to “wow” our hearers with something novel and life-changing every week, but instead to nourish people with line-upon-line exposition […]
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People Need the Lord
Pastor Alex Montoya has ministered in the inner city of Los Angeles for almost 50 years. In his book Preaching with Passion he addresses the need of the pastor to proclaim the Word of God with zeal, not a dry, cold stoicism. Chapter 3 urges the pastor to “Preach with Compassion,” and it ends with this moving testimony […]
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My First Stillborn Memorial Service
I have led a lot of funeral services during my twenty-plus years of ministry. Each one is painful and beautiful in its own way. Each one gives a unique opportunity to comfort the family, honor the deceased, and preach the gospel. But the service I led this last Sunday was an unusual one. It was […]
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Grace > Race
As if our country weren’t facing enough challenges with COVID-19 and the economic downturn it caused, racial tensions have again erupted. I say “again,” because they never completely disappear, and perhaps they won’t on this side of heaven; they just retreat for a time until another event causes them to boil over. Watching the needless […]
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The Virtue of Gentleness
This reading by Chris Anderson comes from Gospel Meditations for Fathers (Day 16), but it’s fitting for all Christians—perhaps especially church leaders—as we try to emerge from quarantine with our varied opinions, consciences, and fears. Read Matthew 11:25–12:21 “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy […]
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Galaxies and Glitter: A Parable on Preaching
Imagine enrolling in a course on astronomy. Say you’re curious about what’s out there—the identity of prominent stars, the vastness of the Milky Way, and so on. You want to be able to point out more than the moon and the Big Dipper. As the class approaches, you anticipate looking through powerful telescopes at the […]
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“I Scarce Can Take It In”
We just introduced Gospel Meditations on Creation (available now to order). Here is a preview of Day 3 from Chris Anderson. Read John 19:1–30 “There was darkness over all the land.” (Matthew 27:45) For some, the topic of creation is a call to arms—a war with atheism, evolution, humanism, or even science. That’s not my […]
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Endorsements for GOSPEL MEDITATIONS ON CREATION
We’re grateful for these kind endorsements of our newest devotional Gospel Meditations on Creation. Grace! “Full of biblical wisdom, these short meditations offer both challenge and comfort. More, they lift your daily perspective by putting all things in the light of the gospel. They will help you enjoy creation and our glorious Creator in a […]
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