In John 6:1-15, we have the well-known story of Jesus feeding five thousand men (including women and children much more than that). How did he do it? With a little boy’s five small barley wafers and two fish. This illustrates emphatically what Jesus does with what we bring to the table. We bring the barley…
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“I’ve repented of my sin, put my faith in Jesus Christ alone for my salvation, but there’s still sin in my life. How hard am I supposed to fight against it? It’s not going to damn me to hell, so what’s the big deal?”Good question. If we are secure in our salvation, to what extent…
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Three observations to make from Titus 3: 1) Portrait of an unhelpful Christian life2) Portrait of a beneficial Christian life3) The factor that makes all the difference 1) Portrait of an unhelpful Christian life (vv. 9-11) In vv. 9-11, Paul lists four traits of someone who is going to be largely unhelpful in the church and…
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1) The foundation of Christian conduct (v. 1) The foundation of Christian conduct is: sound doctrine. “But as for you [Titus] teach what accords with sound doctrine” (v.1). As pastor of the church in Crete, one of Titus’ primary roles is that of a teacher. So should it be of all pastors. After Jesus’ death…
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You read a title like this one and think, “Yeah, right! Nobody knows that.” Well, that may be true, but you’ll have to decide for yourself after reading this. I think there’s something to be said for the secret I’m about to share. What makes life unhappy? Hardship. Suffering. Trials. These make life unhappy. But…
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The book of Titus contains God’s game plan for the Christian life. A couple of weeks ago we looked at the first two plays in our playbook; the first set of “X’s and O’s”: bringing the lost to faith and training the saved for godliness. We’ll continue to study this playbook today by looking at…
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The New Testament is filled with commands Christians are supposed to obey: And the list goes on and on. When reading through all the stuff Christians are supposed to obey, it can feel crushing. But paying close attention to the context of these NT commands is important if we’re going to approach obedience appropriately. There are…
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Life is liking walking through a minefield. You never know what the next step will have in store for you. However, the book of Proverbs is like having a map showing you where all the mines have been buried; “step here, step there, don’t step over here…” While often overlooked, I wonder if we Christians…
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Titus 1:1-4 tells us about Paul’s ministry patterns and principles. Because we are part of the apostolic ministry, these patterns and principles Paul adopted, ought to be patterns and principles we adopt as we execute God’s game plan for the Christian life. We’ll consider two patterns of Christian practice we need to cultivate in our…
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Being in pastoral ministry for almost 13 years now has put me in the tough spot of being pastorally involved in more than a few cases of adultery. Tim Challies has written as clearly as anyone on how an affair really begins. I’ve summarized this below, but wholeheartedly recommend reading his longer version. 1) Eliminate Affairs begin…
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