Come Down, Lord!

Sometimes when I hear Christians speak about the world, I am reminded of Jesus' words to the disciples. Repulsed by the hardness of the Samaritans, they asked Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven. And Jesus replied simply, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." There are, of course, certain things we are against, and things which we should abhor. But it is too often the case that our attitude and posture toward the thing become our attitude and posture toward the person. Out of a sense of personal disgust, animosity, or disdain, we would like fire to come down and consume them. We no longer see hell merely as a judicial necessity, but as an end for the wicked that we almost relish. In some cases, we no longer see the sinner as an object of compassion, pity, and mercy, but as the deserved object of our disgust, ridicule, and even hate. Because they deserve the torments of eterna...

  In some Christian circles, there is a lot of emphasis on what “God told me.” They don’t mean that they were reading a passage of Scripture and felt convicted by it. It’s not as though they were reading James 4:3, for example, where it says, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts,” and felt the Lord showing them that they had been asking amiss. They mean that they had an inward sense, feeling, or conviction that they are certain came from the Holy Spirit. But in my experience, they rarely mean simply that the Holy Spirit brought some verse or biblical truth to mind. Instead, they mean that God told them to do something, go somewhere, or say something. And when they say it like that, how can you argue with them?  I wonder whether, in some cases, that is the point. You aren’t supposed to.  They might readily acknowledge that their words should be tried by Scripture, but really they expect others to accept what they are...

  “O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee. Thus will I bless Thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in Thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips. When I remember Thee upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night watches, because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after Thee, and Thy right hand upholdeth me. ” - Psalm 63 Notice David says, “Early will I seek Thee” (Psalm 63:1). He is a man who is early at prayer. And what is he doing early? He is seeking God. When David went to the secret place of prayer, he went to find God. He knew, of course, that God is everywhere. That is a great doctrin...

  When I was in seminary, I listened in awe as a professor shared with the class how he had memorized the book of Philippians. I thought he was a prodigy. I knew I couldn't do that! And then, a few years later, I came across a tremendous resource. This website offered a way to memorize the New Testament in five years . * All I had to do was memorize four to six new verses every day. I began that project in 2010. And while I never came very close to memorizing the New Testament, I did manage to memorize whole books of the Bible, including Philippians. For a while, I was very deliberate about my memory work, and I stuck to it. There was a time when each night before going to sleep I would rehearse one of those books. In hindsight, I wish I had never stopped. But eventually, I became busy with other things and let a lot of it slip. Now that I have more time again, I have been going over my old verses, and I am amazed at how much I have retained, and still more amazed by how little w...

  A few months ago I was doing some genealogical work, and it's got me thinking a lot about the Quakers because, for many generations, my ancestors were Quakers. But there were also Methodists and Baptists in our background. And, of course, they had some rather significant differences, and I expect these differences would seem particularly accentuated when viewed from the vantage point of a nominal adherent. Seeing only the outward realities, a nominal Baptist might have very little in common with a nominal Quaker. But among the born again there is something foundationally in common.  It isn’t only that we share an emphasis on the person and work of Jesus Christ. It's deeper, and it's experiential. We may not agree on particular customs or doctrines, but what we have in common is so great it eclipses all the differences. And what we share in common, of course, is this new birth. What has happened to the born again Quaker has also happened to the born again Methodist and ...

In a recent article , Rosaria Butterfield and Jared Moore suggested that “annihilationism and celibate gay theology are twin heresies and should be denounced as such.” I have great respect for Rosaria, and I believe I understand that concern that lies behind her comments. In an age where many are abandoning the old paths, I am grateful for her faithfulness and her willingness to contend earnestly for the faith. But is annihilationism, like celibate gay theology, heresy? I do not believe it is. The article by Butterfield and Moore raises a question that extends beyond annihilationism itself. When does error become heresy? At what point does a mistaken interpretation of Scripture place a person—a pastor, leader, or layperson—outside the bounds of Christian orthodoxy? It seems to me that these are critically important questions. Though I am not an annihilationist, I know believers who are. They live near to the Lord, they love His Word, and they are determined to keep their consciences c...

I often hear Christian leaders define love as if it were little more than a decision. We are reminded that Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), and so we are told that love is obedience. Love, in other words, is keeping His commandments. It is what we do, not how we feel. These days we are often reminded that love is not niceness. On the contrary, it is said that genuine love doesn’t care what people think. It cares only about upholding God’s standard. I can understand the impulse to say such things, especially in an age that often appears marked by soft sentimentalism and virtue signalling. But this is not how the Bible defines love, nor is it how our forefathers understood it. Biblically speaking, love is what constrains us to obey. It is not merely what we do ; it is why we do it. Consider the Pharisees. They were doers. They were often exact in their obedience. Yet Jesus said our righteousness must exceed theirs (Matthew 5:20). Why? Because for all the...