Righteous Ruts (Habits of Holiness #1 of 4)

Righteous Ruts (Habits of Holiness #1 of 4)

As we launch into the new year, we talk about one of the trends that always happens anytime we flip the number in the calendar… Namely, people begin showing up at the gym. What can we learn from them? Well, first, showing up is important. But, second, if you...
Urgency and Patience- Wilberforce

Urgency and Patience- Wilberforce

Again and again the Scriptures underline the importance of each moment that passes.  It is an ethical imperative to act and act quickly when lives are at stake, when justice is perverted, when truth is in jeopardy, when mercy is at risk, when souls are...
Chalmers on the Discipline of Time

Chalmers on the Discipline of Time

“O God, may I number my days so as to apply my heart to wisdom. Grant me the guidance of Thy Spirit and the joys of salvation.” “Time is short; and as the years revolve over me, may I learn to prize as the truest of all wisdom, the wisdom of the...
Word Play: Nostalgia

Word Play: Nostalgia

Do you remember when going out to dinner meant spreading a red and white checked tablecloth over a picnic table in the backyard? Remember when playing some music meant gathering the whole family on the front porch with mismatched instruments, everyone singing...
Endurance: From Beginning to End

Endurance: From Beginning to End

The race really does go to the tortoise and not the hare.  It is perseverance that ultimately will win the prize, not knowledge, not talent, and not connections.  It is that undying tenacity that sets itself on the end, that finishes the race, that completes...
Doing Right

Doing Right

According to James Longstreet, “Error lives but a day.  Truth is eternal.”  The truth will prevail.  Right will endure.  Integrity will triumph in the end.  Justice and virtue are able to withstand every charge.  Such things...
Nouveau Pelagianism

Nouveau Pelagianism

In his Confessions, Augustine (354-430) describes mankind’s universal sinful bent as “concupiscence.” The Greek word epithumia (ἐπιθυμία) occurs 38 times in the New Testament. It describes the utter enfeebling of...
Taking Every Thought Captive

Taking Every Thought Captive

“We ought to bring our minds free, unbiased, and teachable, to learn our religion from the Word of God.” Isaac Watts One of the basic demands of Christian discipleship, of following Jesus Christ, is to change our way of thinking.  We are to...
Self-Examination As a Check Against Idolatry

Self-Examination As a Check Against Idolatry

The years leading up to the Scottish Disruption and those immediately afterward produced some of the most remarkable servants of God in the history of the church.  Andrew Alexander Bonar (1810-1892) was a member of that galaxy of brilliant, Reformed Scots...