Articles

In any flock of sheep, some are assertive and move forward, some hang toward the back, and others manage somehow or another to drift off on their own, stragglers and wanderers. These kinds of groups are also found in nearly every local church—and it’s the wanderers that we will now consider: those who, if ever they were holding fast to the Gospel, seem to be slowly, imperceptibly loosening their grip.

Topics: Articles

If you’ve ever been with a woodworker at a task, you’ll know the kind of care that is required with a sharp blade. The same is true of a surgeon laying out the instruments of surgery. The Word of God, Hebrews tells us, is like a sharp blade (4:12). It is all too possible to brandish it like a sort of whirling dervish, swinging it around recklessly, striking terror and causing untold damage. Instead, those who wield it are urged to do so cautiously and graciously, purposefully and kindly.

Topics: Articles

Firemen, bomb disposal experts, miners, surgeons—we generally view these as high-stakes, dangerous, or stressful jobs. But the New Testament adds another occupation to the list: teaching. In the letter bearing his name, James offers this warning:

Topics: Articles

The Truth For Life daily program and a library of nearly 500 sermons by Alistair Begg are now available to approximately 900,000 incarcerated people through a prison platform called Edovo. Edovo is a self-paced learning tool that offers a wide variety of educational content to men and women in prison on personal devices, such as computers or tablets.

Topics: Articles

When David Watson began leading a church in York as a young pastor, the congregation was expected to fail within six months. The routine gathering was small, the debt was immense—and then there was the leaking roof. Watson canceled every program of the church except two: the Lord’s Day preaching of the Word and the prayer meeting.

Topics: Articles

There is an old African American spiritual whose concluding verse repeats,

Topics: Articles

Among the last words of Jesus to the apostles before He ascended to heaven was this commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20).

Topics: Articles

Second Corinthians is sometimes called Paul’s “painful letter.” Context tells us there was an unnamed individual in the Corinthian church who committed a serious, though unspecified, offense. Concerned that the sin issue would be dealt with, Paul urged the believers to practice church discipline and restore the one in error following his repentance (2 Cor. 2:1–11).

Topics: Articles

How a Christian behaves may open doors of opportunity, or it may slam them shut. Although reputation with the world should never come before love and fear of God, the New Testament clearly calls believers to lives of public repute—of humility and obedience that demonstrate the Gospel’s moral beauty and civic value to a watching world. Generally speaking, Scripture teaches that a faithful Christian is also a good neighbor and citizen.

Topics: Articles

In running the Christian race, have you ever felt like quitting? Do you wonder if you’ll make it to the finish line at all? The fact is, many things stand in the way of our Christian progress. It’s “through many dangers, toils, and snares,”¹ John Newton famously wrote, that we enter the kingdom.

Topics: Articles