The Heart-Cry of the Christian
Every Christian heart cries, "Give me more of Christ." We long to see Him. David said, "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all…
Category Christward Collective
7 Ingredients of God’s Perfect Happiness
"He is not so happy as he may be, who has not the pleasure of making others so, and of seeing them put into a happy condition by his means, which is the highest pleasure of a good and great…
The Sheep Aren’t Stupid
Pastors sometimes say stupid things. Sometimes those stupid things are catchy and wind up being repeated by many other pastors. One of the more preposterous pithy statements I have heard many preachers say is, “Sheep are dumb.” They say this…
For Everything, A Season
“For Everything There Is A Season…” So says the Preacher in Ecclesiastes 3:1. Our God has ordained whatsoever shall come to pass, according to His most wise and free counsel. He has set the limits for every hour, day, week, month…
The Necessity of the New Birth
Why do we make the decisions that we do? What is the motivational structure of the human heart that forms the foundation for the decisions we make? According to Scripture, people choose to do what they love. The desires of…
Martin Bucer: Carer of Souls (Part 2)
In the previous post in this series, we considered what Martin Bucer taught in his pastoral manual, Concerning the True Care of Souls, about what it means to be true Seelsorgers–true carers of souls. Among the variegated tasks of pastoral care, Bucer set…
The Visible Word
I was visiting a church once and heard an exchange between a pastor and one of his congregants that has stayed with me ever since. A woman asked the pastor before the service, "Is the video this morning going to…
Christocentric or Christomonic?
Many of us have joyfully welcomed the renaissance of Christ-centered preaching that churches in North America have undergone in recent decades. For some it has been an old practice to saturate their ministry with the person and work of the…
Biblical Inerrancy and the Greener Pastures Fallacy
There has been quite a lot of discussion in recent years about evangelical scholarship in the Old Testament and the validity of the doctrine of Scriptural inerrancy. As I watch from my perch in an evangelical and Reformed seminary, I…
Pain in Christian Marriage
Marriage can be painful–and Christian marriage is no exception. When two sinners are in a relationship as intimate as marriage, there is bound to be some measure of hurt. Our flesh will balk at the demands of self-sacrifice, service, and…