Don’t judge your creative efforts by the world’s likes (or even by its silence). If you did your best with the talents that God gave you, the applause from nail-scarred hands is all that really matters.
“It will be vain for me to stock my library, or organize societies, or project schemes, if I neglect the culture of myself; for books, and agencies, and systems, are only remotely instruments of my holy calling; my own spirit, soul, and body, are my nearest machinery for sacred service; my spiritual faculties, and my inner life, are my battle axe and weapons of war.” —Charles Spurgeon
“A man who has faith must be prepared not only to be a martyr, but to be a fool.” —G.K. Chesterton
The paleontological evidence of dinosaur fossils is most easily explained by the Flood described in the Bible. ICR reports, “Virtually every dinosaur fossil ever found is ensconced in sedimentary or (rarely) volcanic sediments, indicating a sudden and catastrophic deposition. … So why would paleontologists entertain bizarre extinction explanations such as slipped discs, sunspots, or magnetic reversals? Because if a scientist dismisses the global Flood out of hand, then anything goes when trying to explain the dinosaur demise.”
People need to know how much you love them before they will listen to any correction you may need to give them. “Real friends hurt each other.”Check out the full sermon here.
David Mathis shares a faith-building message of confidence during times of crisis. He takes his text from Psalm 46—“Whatever trouble comes, Psalm 46 tells us, with its first word, where to turn. Not to a change in circumstances. Not to our best efforts to fix the problem. Not to our anxious strategies to avoid pain and loss. But rather, turn to God.”
“There is not a facet of our lives, not an interest or occupation, not a nook or cranny of the cosmos, where God does not intend that His glory should shine forth and be known. Indeed, even now He is showing His glory in created things, and even in much of the culture that human beings make to meet their own needs (Psalm 19:1-4; Psalm 68:18). God is manifesting His glory; it is there to be noted and pondered. The task of those entrusted with the Kingdom economy is to serve as docents of the glory of God, bringing His glory to light and making Him known for all to see in these last days. … Our mission in these last days is to glorify God by living out the reality of His indwelling Presence among the people to whom He sends us day by day (cf. Micah 4:1-8). In all our relationships, cultural activities, conversations, families, vocations, and diversions, what will it look like, and how will it appear to others when the glorious Presence of God is being refracted through us?” —T.M. Moore
“The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the one unvarying refrain of the apostles. This chapter [1 Corinthians 15] is the fullest discussion of it in the New Testament. It is one of the most significant and grandest chapters in the Bible because of the meaning it gives to human life. …The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the one most important and most established fact in all history. And the story of it has come down to us through the centuries, beautifying human life with the halo of immortality; making us feel sure that because He lives again we too shall live; making our hearts thrill with the thought that we are immortal, that we have begun an existence that shall never end; that nothing can harm us; that death is merely an incident in passing from one phase of existence to another; that wether here or there we are His, doing the thing He has for us to do; that millions of ages after the sun has grown cold, we ourselves shall still be young in the eternities of God.” —Dr. Henry Halley
Would you like to get better sleep and lower your stress levels? Check this out: “If you share a bed with your sweetie, consider incorporating this step into your nighttime routine if you aren’t already: a snuggle sesh…. A study found that couples who cuddled prior to drifting off experienced less stress and more feelings of security in the relationship.”
“The Bible tells us to love our neighbours, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.” —G.K. Chesterton
John Piper is asked an interesting question from Ephesians 6:12—are our adversaries merely flesh-and-blood humans or are demonic forces at work? “Flesh and blood apart from Christ is always under the sway of the spirit of the age, and it’s always under the sway of the prince of the power of the air, and it’s always acting out of its own bodily, mental desires. Therefore, in one sense, there is no separation in our warfare with human sinfulness and demonic schemes. They overlap; they’re intertwined.”
“This chapter contains the premier teaching of Christianity. It is an undying expression of Jesus’ doctrine of heavenly love. This chapter is more potent for the building of the church than any, or all, of the various manifestations of God’s power. Love is the church’s most effective weapon. Love is the essence of God’s nature. Love is the perfection of human character. Love is the most powerful, ultimate force in the universe. Without love, al various gifts of the Spirit are of no avail. … What a call to self-examination!” —Dr. Henry Halley, commenting on 1 Corinthians 13
“The transition from the good man to the saint is a sort of revolution; by which one for whom all things illustrate and illuminate God becomes one for whom God illustrates and illuminates all things.” —G.K. Chesterton
T.M. Moore launched a new series of articles about the coming of God’s Kingdom in these last days. In the first article, T.M. wrote, “In his Pentecost sermon Peter announced that, with the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the pouring out of God’s Spirit, the ‘last days’ had begun (Acts 2:14-17), the new economy has been put into effect. Paul says Jesus came in ‘the fullness of the times’ to inaugurate His great work of redemption in these last days (Galatians 4:4). The ‘fullness of the times’ in which the divine economy is unfolding, is now. We are living in the last days, the fullness of the times, when the Lord of heaven and earth is establishing and expanding His divine economy.”
Once again, a new fossil discovery doesn’t fit into evolutionary models, but instead bolsters the facts recorded in the Bible about Creation and the Flood.
“For years, Michael Pratt operated in the shadows of the internet, profiting from coercion, deception, and exploitation under the guise of adult entertainment.” Pratt has now pled guilty to sexual trafficking charges. Fight The New Drug wrote, “The story is more than a courtroom headline. It’s a stark reminder of how the porn industry can weaponize vulnerability, disguise abuse and trafficking, and sell it as fantasy.”
A really penetrating question from John Piper: Why do so many PhDs in theology commit adultery?
When there is a misunderstanding between the leader and a team member, insecure leaders want the other person to change. Secure leaders, however, take ownership and ask, “What do I need to do differently?” Check out more from The Craig and Greg Show.
In elaborating on the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:13 about Christians being the salt of the earth, T.M. Moore wrote, “In Jesus’ day, salt had three primary functions. Most people would have understood two of these, but only those raised in an Old Testament framework would have known about the third.” Read more about what churches should be considering about how they season the community around them.
In his “Look at the Book” series, John Piper expounds on the many ways Paul refers to Jesus in his second letter to Timothy. There are several ways, but Paul’s preferred way is “Christ Jesus.” Pastor John unpacks the Hebrew and Greek origins of these words and titles, and why he thinks Paul especially gravitated toward this title.
“Aerosols from penguin excrement may help trigger cloud formation, reducing solar heating and helping stabilize local areas of the Antarctic climate, study finds.” Hmmm, it’s almost like God designed His creation to take care of itself—because He did!
And an article in Science says, “According to secular models of Solar System formation, Earth, as an inner Solar System planet, should have little to no water.” And yet more than 70% of Earth is covered with water!
Aelred of Rievaulx wrote, “In friendship there is nothing more outstanding than faithfulness, which seems to be both the nurse and guardian of friendship. In all of life’s turns, in adversity and prosperity, in joy and sadness, in delightful and bitter circumstances, it reveals itself to be comparable to friendship, holding in the same regard both the humble and the exalted, the poor and the rich, the strong and the weak, the well and the infirm.”
Commenting on Aelred’s words, T.M. Moore observed, “Don’t we all want friends like that, who not only will provoke and prod us to grow in the Lord, but will stand by us in good times and bad, when we’re up and when we’re down? But if we would have such friends, we must be good stewards of their trust. This, again, is why spiritual friendships must be grounded in the Lord and focused on Jesus if they are going to bear the fruit of His indwelling Spirit.”
Evolutionary scientists claim to have made some steps forward in their understanding of the origins of life by using “the last universal common ancestor (LUCA).” But creationists like those at ICR observe that, “This mysterious LUCA is an unknown entity that existed from an unknown time ago at an unknown place by an unknown chain of unknown processes.” Clearly, the hypothesis that is the most straightforward and explainable is that God created the life in our universe just as the Bible states.
Along the same lines, Glenn Schrivener asks, “What do you think was there ‘in the beginning’—before peoples, planets, and protons? If you could hit rewind on the history of the universe and go back as far as possible, what would you find?” Then he gives us four possible things we may consider.
If someone is gossiping to you about others, you can be sure that they are gossiping to others about you—shut it down! Check out this full message about gossips.
I hope you celebrated your Mom on Mother’s Day weekend. This is a great perspective from the Axis newsletter: “Some in our culture say motherhood is a prison, or a trap set by the patriarchy. Pop singer Chappell Roan, for example, recently said she didn’t know any people who have kids and are happy. Others say it’s a paradise—with ‘momfluencers’ online making it look like having kids is a nonstop joyride where the lighting is always perfect and nobody ever cries. When ‘prison’ and ‘perfection’ are presented as the only two options, it’s no wonder U.S. birth rates are declining. One way to honor mothers this year is to admit that motherhood is work—albeit spirit-forming, richly rewarding work—and that we can’t expect to see all the fruit of that labor within our lifetime. Hales writes, ‘Christian parenting is about continually pointing to Jesus as the Author and Perfecter of our faith, clinging to the reminder that He who began a good work in us and our children will complete it.’”
In his study Bible, Dr. Henry Halley offered this comment on 1 Corinthians 6:11. “The greatest proof of the new birth is a changed life. Children of God now suddenly love the following:
They love Jesus. Before conversion the sinner might hold Christ in high esteem, but after conversion they love the Savior (1 John 5:1-2).
They love the Bible. We should love God’s Word as the psalmist did in Psalm 119. There he expresses his great love for God’s Word 17 times.
They love other Christians. ‘We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death’ (1 John 3:14).
They love their enemies (Matthew 5:43-45).
They love the souls of all people. Like Paul, they too can cry out for the conversion of loved ones. ‘Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved’ (Romans 10:1).
They love the pure life. John says that if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them (1 John 2:15-17).
They love to talk to God. ‘Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord’ (Ephesians 5:19).”
T.M. Moore and I share the same passion for pastors to operate as shepherds. Moore wrote, “Shepherds equip the saints who take up the works of the ministry that build the church. The work of shepherding is hard. It’s not a program that you run from time to time, hoping to enlist new folks in the training. It is the ongoing, body-building means whereby the Lord’s flocks are nourished and become equipped to use their Spirit-given gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) and power (Acts 1:8) to grow their church in unity and maturity in the Lord.” Moore also wrote an endorsement for my book Shepherd Leadership.
John Piper has a thoughtful and biblical response to a question about Christians losing their rewards in Heaven. In part, he says, “All the good deeds that God approves and rewards are works of faith and the fruit of the Spirit. So, let’s get the idea of merit for these good deeds totally out of our minds.” He goes on to show the Scriptures that secure our promised rewards from God.
Paleontologists have discovered an amazing dinosaur graveyard off the coast of southern Chile. The fossilized remains here gave ample evidence to the global Flood described in the Bible.
T.M. Moore has a challenging word for those who are called to preach the Gospel. He writes, “Jesus, like Ezekiel set His face like flint to fulfill His appointed mission. And so must we, for whom the Word is both sweet and bitter (cf. Revelation 10:8-11). We must live and proclaim its sweet and bitter message to an impudent and hard-hearted age, beginning in our churches. It is time for judgment to begin from the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). We must speak to our brethren in the Lord, the household of faith, to teach, warn, direct, and to summon them to revival, renewal, and awakening, for a greater knowledge of the Lord and His love, and a fuller realization of His Kingdom presence, promise, and power.”
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” —Edwin H. Land
I have written before how significant it is that the New Testament uses the phrase “one another” so many times. T.M. Moore writes about this as well, noting, “The more we love Jesus, the more loving our neighbors will come (super)naturally to us as the Spirit of God works in us to will and do of His good pleasure. So, as in everything we do to take up Jesus’ work of building His Church, loving one another begins with loving Jesus.”
After listing a truckload of verses describing Who the Holy Spirit is, Sinclair Ferguson concludes, “Think about all of that! This Spirit—this one and the same Spirit, and no other—‘dwells within thee.’ He is the very Spirit who dwelled in the Lord Jesus. … There are not multiple Holy Spirits—One in Whose grace and power the Lord Jesus lived, One Who indwells you, One Who indwells me, and a multiplicity of other Holy Spirits indwelling an innumerable company of believers. No! There is only One Holy Spirit; and He who thus indwells me as the Spirit of Christ also indwells every believer I shall ever meet.”
William Shakespeare was a master at a well-timed insult when one of his characters zinged another! Reader’s Digest has a list of 53 Shakespearian insults that are still good today!
What happens when you hold your breath? Among other things “your blood is delivering the last of oxygenated blood cells to your tissues while carbon dioxide is rapidly building up (hypercapnia). At the same time, there is a steady decrease of blood oxygen (hypoxia). The pH of your blood is getting slightly lower (acidic), and your heart starts to beat faster. God designed your brain to sense the increased carbon dioxide levels and initiates the effort for you to breathe. This will last for about a minute before there will be an involuntary intake of air via the contraction of your diaphragm.” And yet God designed aquatic mammals in a way uniquely suited to thrive in water. Amazing!
When the Bible says that God’s hand was against His people, that is actually a very loving thing! Consider this example of a parent with a small child. Please watch this full sermon.
I have been sharing a series of messages with my church about how God turns our grief into joy. As a tie-in with this series, John Piper has Fifteen Tactics for Joy.
Every “miss” along the journey can be a stepping stone to future success. If you don’t win, at least learn. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had.
“A leader must embody the strength that inspires others to follow. And yet, this strength must be tempered with humility, for Christ Himself came not as a warrior-king but as a servant-leader, washing the feet of His disciples.” —Lost Kings reading plan on YouVersion
John Piper identifies the roots of false teaching in his Look at the Book teaching on 1 Timothy 6—
You and I will learn lessons in the hard times that we could learn no other way. Then God will use those lessons so we can help minister to others in their hard times. Check out my sermon about interceding for other saints.
ICR’s Dr. Randy Guliuzza says, “Convergent evolution is the fabricated conjecture evolutionists invoke to explain very similar characteristics between creatures that could not have been inherited from a common ancestor and that evolutionists will never accept as having been produced by an intelligently designed internal programming that is specified for common purposes.” This particular article is about bats which have always had the ability to fly. Not one fossil record shows any flightless bats because God created them as flying mammals.
In the early 1900s, Albert Norris was a missionary in India, observing firsthand the spiritual and physical hardships the people faced there. In an article in the Pentecostal Evangel, Norris wrote, “A Christianity that coldly sits down, and goes on its routine of formal work, and allows its fellowmen to starve, or to be obliged to go through all the hard sufferings and exposure connected with famine, without effort to help them, might as well quit its preaching.”
In answering a question about using AI to write a sermon, John Piper answers with an emphatic “no.” I agree! One of the reasons Piper shares: “One of the qualifications for being an elder-pastor-preacher in the Bible is the gift or the ability to teach, didaktikos (1 Timothy 3:2). That means you must have the ability, the gift, to read a passage of Scripture, understand the reality it deals with, feel the emotions it is meant to elicit, be able to explain it to others clearly, illustrate and apply it for their edification. That’s a gift you must have. It’s your number-one job. If you don’t have it, you should not be a pastor.”
“You don’t try to forget the mistake, but you don’t dwell on it. Don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” —Johnny Cash
“If we try to display the excellence of God without joy in it, we will display a shell of hypocrisy and create scorn or legalism. But if we claim to enjoy His excellence and do not display it for others to see and admire, we deceive ourselves, because the mark of God-enthralled joy is to overflow and expand by extending itself into the hearts of others. … God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of Him in every part of our lives.” —John Piper
I have blogged quite a bit about the importance of getting enough quality sleep. A new study finds that the link between poor sleep and mental health problems could be related to deficits in brain regions that keep unwanted thoughts out of mind. Check out the full report.
“You may have to fight the battle more than once to win it.” —Margaret Thatcher
Don’t judge your creative efforts by the world’s likes (or even by its silence). If you did your best with the talents that God gave you, the applause from nail-scarred hands is all that really matters.
Craig T. Owens 