The Order of Salvation: Sanctification (Definitive)
Nothing but the sight of death impresses on us so viscerally a sense of finality. As Christians, we are comforted by faith in the resurrection and the life to come,…
Steven McCarthy
Majoring in the Minors: Haggai
Some people build bookshelves, cabinets, or houses. Some build investment portfolios. Some amass niche collections of books, art, or memorabilia. Some build new businesses or non-profit organizations. Some focus on…
Majoring in the Minors: Zechariah
There is a certain mode of preaching that tells you to shape up first so God can come into your life. It is absolutely correct that moral transformation is a…
The Spirit’s Fruit: Peace
The aspiration for peace has loomed large in the popular consciousness against the backdrop of continual wars, conflict, and social upheaval. It is the dream of every pageant contestant. And…
Psalm 134: Blessings by Night
Those who have experienced a regular Sunday evening service, often observe a “quietness” about them fondly. The morning service is associated with the frenetic pace of rounding up households with…
Psalm 129: “They are trying to get me!”
“They’re trying to get me” is the catch phrase of the paranoid mind. The question it raises, is the identity of “they”. But the leading declaration of Psalm 129 is…
Prayer Tips: When to Pray
In the early days of his Christian walk, someone said, “I just don’t seem to have time to pray!” A mentor responded in a gentle tone with a stubborn and…
Blogging Through the Golden Book: The Life of a Christian Man
I remember the first time I saw John Calvin’s personal seal—an outstretched hand holding a heart—in a hallway on the campus of Calvin College, now University, in Grand Rapids. Surrounding…
Enabling the Lame Man
I enjoy good children’s books, and not just to read to my children, but because they can be beautiful, fun, and moving. Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss…
Justification and Preaching
The familiar words of Isaiah 40:1-2 call to mind the sonorous strains of Handel’s Messiah: “‘Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,’ saith your God. ‘Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry…
The Ordo Salutis: Sanctification
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification,” (1 Th 4:3)[1] St. Paul writes to a group of mostly non-Jewish Christians in Thessalonica who had formerly worshiped idols and…
Humiliation & Exaltation: The Procession of the Holy Spirit
After rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and being enthroned at God’s right hand, Christ poured out the Holy Spirit on the church. The significance of this event cannot…