Temptation's Source "The devil made him do it!" I still remember hearing those words from a Christian when speaking of another "professing" believer who had completely walked away from Christ to live for the world. According to this other believer, this poor person was a victim of a cruel enemy whom he could not overcome (and God couldn't either!). For some people, the e...
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TRUE PIETY In the Sermon on the Mount, the master teacher offers a master course on true piety. People often think that the sermon is a series of moral lessons, a "how-to" guide on practical religion. However, the main purpose of this pointed discourse is to challenge the traditional perception of holiness. Christ declares that true righteousness is not determined solel...
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Cultivating a Heart of Contentment The other day while out shopping I witnessed yet another little toddler literally smacking his mom because she had the audacity (sarcastic) to tell him "no" to his request for another toy. While cute and humorous to some, this is a microcosm of a deep-seated problem in our society that we must beware of, especially during the "holi...
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Assurance of Faith We all long for certainty. We want our perception of lifeof ourselves and our circumstancesto be accurate. The five-year old wondering what's inside his Christmas presents and the pregnant mother wondering the gender of her baby both desire the same thingassurance of reality. This longing for certainty afflicts many believers who ask an honest questi...
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ALL GLORY TO THE ONE TRUE GOD During the month of October, our special focus has been on contemplating the Solas of the Reformation. These were wonderful themes that with the passing of time were memorialized as theological points of emphases during the Protestant Reformation. If you imagine a building, you might think of Sola Scriptura as the foundation of that buildi...
Keep Reading ALL I HAVE IS CHRIST We all have favorite hymns and songs that have touched our hearts in a very unique way, and perhaps remind us of particular trying seasons of life. Personally, while I have favorite historic hymns, there are also some contemporary songs that were hugely instrumental, and that particularly spoke to me during a season of life. One of those songs is th...
Keep Reading Saving Faith in Christ Faith or belief has become such an ambiguous term in our day and age, hasn't it? It reminds me of my days as a baseball player back in high school. "All you have to do is believe in yourselves!" said my high school baseball coach back in 1993. We were in the semi-final game of the CIF playoffs, one victory away from playing in Anaheim stadium for ...
Keep Reading Grace Greater Than Our Sin Julia Harriette Johnston (1849-1919) was the daughter of a pastor, and faithful to the Lord, serving in her church in various capacities for more than 40 years. She authored several books, and made some important contributions within her denomination in the area of missions. But perhaps her greatest accomplishment was penning hundreds of hymns. ...
Keep Reading The Bible is God's Word I will never forget August 15, 2007. An earthquake of 8.0 magnitude hit Peru's central coast. More than 500 people were killed, and many thousands were left without a home. A few of us arrived in Pisco a few days after the earthquake, in order to help in any way we could. You could smell death everywhere you walked, as many bodies were yet to b...
Keep Reading The Protestant Reformation For Christians, every day of the week, every moment of each day is an opportunity to celebrate our great salvation, and all that we have in Christ Jesus. But there are also particular times of the year when we must pause and reflect upon our Christian heritage in a special way. October of each year is such a time. It's during October when ...
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