How God Hears Prayer
In Psalm 4:6, David cries out, “Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” Isn’t this a beautiful phrase – ‘the light of your face?’ The very countenance of God is warm and friendly toward us. Perhaps…
Gospel Discipleship
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me… (Mark 1:17a) When Jesus called his first followers, they didn’t know much about him. At least in Mark’s presentation, Jesus just entered his ministry, and he isn’t yet a well-known figure. So far,…
We Need a Bigger View of God
What do you need if you want to advance in your Christian life? Some people would suggest a theological book, a good church, more time in the Bible, or listening to more sermons and Christian music. Any or all of those…
How I’m Reading the Bible in 2018
Every year I’m forced into the dilemma of choosing whether to read through the entire Bible or read just a section. It’s a difficult choice, because neither option seems ideal. If I read through the entire Bible, I often feel…
What Is God Doing in Your Life?
If it doesn’t seem like God is working in your life, you may have a problem. If you don’t see any opportunities to share God’s gospel, you may have a problem. If you aren’t experiencing growth in your Christian life,…
What Elijah Teaches Us about Serving God
Elijah the Tishbite is a dramatic figure. The Bible doesn’t say a word about him until 1 Kings 17:1, when he bursts on the scene with a dramatic pronouncement to evil king Ahab: “As the LORD, the God of Israel,…
What John Thought of Jesus
There is a lot of controversy about John the Baptist in academic circles. I’ve been reading some of the articles recently, and you might be surprised by what some scholars say. Some believe that John the Baptist was a member…
An Introduction to Psalm 119
The 119th Psalm is probably my favorite section of Scripture. Over the years, I have spent hundreds of hours poring over its contents. It is a Psalm that, as Matthew Henry would say, will either ‘warm’ a man’s love to…
‘The Way’ in Mark’s Gospel
Mark, the shortest of the four Gospels, is a remarkable literary creation. As it follows the life of Jesus, the ‘Son of Man’ is gradually revealed to be the ‘Son of God’ with an extraordinary power over the physical and…
Mark: An Introduction to His Gospel
The shortest of the four Gospels, Mark, is also perhaps the earliest. It contains a fast-paced narrative of Jesus powerful works, presenting an intensely human Messiah who wields remarkably divine power. Surprisingly, Mark is also one of the most neglected…
