Guest (Page 9)
Offer Advice Very Carefully
“Giving advice goes poorly so often, it is worth more careful thought about how we give it. We all need advice. We seek it every day. That is a wise and natural part of being a creature rather than the Creator. But we also know that advice can run from helpful to horrible, and it can bless a relationship or hurt it.” Read more…
My Mortality (an article which doesn’t mention C_ _ _ _ -19)
“This week, I had one of those moments which I know I won’t forget. Ever. I heard that my friend Glenn had died. Glenn was 55, fit and healthy, when his life was ended prematurely by a massive heart attack. I am 54 in a couple of months. This week, I realised like never before that I am mortal, and one of these days, my time will come too.” Read more…
People are Complicated
“The line dividing good and evil cuts through my heart too. As I look back at Christians of the past and wonder how they could have got some things so very right and other things so terribly wrong, I wonder what a Christian living in fifty, one hundred, two hundred years time would say if they could look back at my life.” Read more…
Still Growing
“One friend saw that we have been married for 21 years, and she said, “You’re just getting started.” Knowing that God is faithful to complete His good work in us, I’m thankful that He is just getting started on two not-so-young kids who have spent two decades growing together. This marriage has been a gift like no other. When I stepped through the back doors of the church back in 1999 and saw that precious boy that I loved standing…
Why Many People are Experiencing Anxiety at the Thought of Life Getting Back to Normal
“As the nation slowly lifts its restrictions, there is a conflict going on in the hearts of many people. While many are tired of the lockdowns and rejoice at the thought of going to work, getting out to see friends, sitting in a restaurant, going shopping, and even gathering at church, many of those same people are experiencing anxiety about life returning to normal. Why is that? The answer that is not what you would expect.” Read more…
No Condemnation
“This sense of inadequacy (one that I assume you feel too) points to our humanity. It reveals our reality: in ourselves, we are not enough. We are not strong enough, skilled enough, or wise enough, and before our holy God, we are certainly not righteous enough. Because of the power of sin, everything is marred. The image that God created us to reflect––his image––has been shattered and distorted by sin. Add to the power of sin the pressures and trials of earthly existence,…
Come to Me All Who Have COVID Weariness, and I Will Give You Rest
“The flowing current of COVID sadness can drown the strongest swimmer. You might already be gasping for air. If you feel this way, come to Jesus. Pray to him. Read his word. Belong to his church. His grace can tow you from the mire better than any pickup. Come and enjoy the freedom found in being loved by the Saviour, not controlled by a harsh slave master.” Read more…
If Only I Had Been Saved By Merit!
“One of the hardest tasks for every Christian is to deeply believe and forever remember that we’ve been saved by grace. This is a lifelong challenge because our natural tendency is always to veer back to merit, to assume that we’ve been saved by something we are, something we’ve got, or something we’ve accomplished. Grace—unmerited favour—is too much for our sinful minds to accept and for our sinful hearts to embrace. The reason we need to hear the gospel again…
Stuck in Sexual Sin
“You know, the experience of being stuck in a pattern of sin is one of the most discouraging things a human being can experience. And I don’t know that this is fair to say, but in my experience, I would say that people struggling with sexual sin, in particular, maybe even more so than drugs or alcohol or Facebook, or whatever the other addictions there might be, there’s something just unbelievably discouraging about the sheer wilfulness of it. The sense…
Why We Give in to Temptation
“Why do we give in to temptation? This question often arises in the context of counselling for repetitive struggles such as pornography use, masturbation, substance abuse, and overeating. There are many biblical ways to answer this question, but I want to focus on just one: we give in to temptation because we get tired of fighting the battle.” Read more…