Does the law empower our sin nature? Are we more sinful after the law arrives? It seems like that’s the case from what we read in the New Testament. The question is from a listener named Sam to Pastor John, who joins us over Skype today. “Pastor John, the more I read Paul, the moreContinue reading “Does the Law Make Me Worse?”
Category Archives: Authority
What’s with This Satan Guy?
Why is there a Satan? Why does a being exist whose name means accuser — a “devil,” which means slanderer, a “deceiver of the whole world” (Revelation 12:9), a “ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), a “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4 NKJV), a “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), a “Beelzebul,Continue reading “What’s with This Satan Guy?”
Every Sin Hides a Lie
“Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar.” So warns C.S. Lewis at the beginning of Screwtape Letters (ix). The warning is apt not only for readers of Lewis’s modern classic, but for all people, everywhere, all the time. No matter how alert we are to spiritual warfare, we are advised to remember thatContinue reading “Every Sin Hides a Lie”
A Chinese Pastor’s Advice to the American Church
Bob Fu is sometimes affectionately called the pastor of China’s underground railroad. He’s the founder and president of ChinaAid, an international human rights organization dedicated to exposing religious persecution by the Communist Party in China and to promoting religious freedom for all in that country. He is also this year’s William Wilberforce Award winner. HeContinue reading “A Chinese Pastor’s Advice to the American Church”
Not One of Ours
“Teacher, we saw someone using your name to force demons out of a person. We told him to stop, because he does not belong to our group.” Mark 9:38 John has a dilemma. He and the other disciples ran into someone who was doing great work. This man was casting out demons (the very actContinue reading “Not One of Ours”
When One Is a Majority
“One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the Lord your God, he it is that fights for you, as he hath promised you.” Joshua 23:10 Why count heads? One man with God is a majority though there be a thousand on the other side. Sometimes our helpers may be too many for GodContinue reading “When One Is a Majority”
Know Full Well What You Are Doing
When we as individuals are confronted by the enormity of the task before us the multitudes of people still unreached by the gospel, the moral apathy of the Christian community, and the appalling poverty and violation of human rights in the global order—we are tempted to see the task as hopeless. What can one individualContinue reading “Know Full Well What You Are Doing”
How About Hercules?
I am a Paul scholar, so I talk a lot about Paul. I once realized I possibly talk too much about Paul when my 4-year-old looked at me and said: “Pawl, Pawl, Pawl, Pawl, Pawl! All you ever do is talk about Pawl. Why don’t you talk about somebody different for a change? How ’boutContinue reading “How About Hercules?”
Don’t Let COVID19 Divide the Church
For church leaders and elder boards everywhere, the last few months have presented a near-constant array of complex challenges related to shepherding a church during the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest complex challenge is perhaps the trickiest yet: how to prudently resume in-person gatherings. As if the logistical details weren’t challenging enough—how to maintain social distanceContinue reading “Don’t Let COVID19 Divide the Church”
It Don’t Make No Sense
In Joshua 6:1-5 we find one of the most bizarre battle plans, but one with an important lesson for you and me, Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand,Continue reading “It Don’t Make No Sense”
Intentional Faith 