Blog

Do you work with a budget? Many who work with a calendar year budget-year are making plans for 2016. For our government that means heated debate, threats of vetoes, and give-and-take bargaining. In your home it might mean "copy-and-paste" last year's budget if no significant changes are on the horizon. Every budget, though, has gains and losses, or profits and expenses. A good budget aims to keep expenses less than the profits, otherwise debt increases. I'm not an accountant or an economist, but I understand these simple principles.... Keep Reading

I’d like to invite you to read a book with me. I can’t do a book review because I’ve just started reading Mark Jones’ book, Knowing Christ, this week (it was just released September 28). Let me give you a book teaser since I have been thoroughly captivated (we have copies for $12 in our book center at church). Mark Jones is a PCA minister in Vancouver and a Puritan scholar. In the vein of J.I. Packer’s (another Puritan scholar) Knowing God, Jones seeks to hold before the gaze of his readers the multifaceted treasure trove of Christ, exhorting us to know Christ better and to love him more. The task is like taking a precious gem and rotating it over and over to marvel at its splendor from every possible angle. Jones does this with the topic of knowing Christ by pouring over Scripture after Scripture about the greatness of Christ.... Keep Reading

Two weeks ago, while I was sitting in the waiting room of St. Luke’s Surgery Center (my wife undergoing hip-arthroscopy), I fought hard to mentally block out the ever-present drone of CNN news (I forgot to bring ear-buds with me for my own background noise). I was pretty successful until the surgeon came out to consult with me after he completed the surgery. I was anxious to see my wife in recovery and they had told me it would be about another thirty minutes. During that time CNN was transfixed on Pope Francis’ visit to New York. Their cameras were following him on a visit to a Catholic school in Harlem.... Keep Reading

One of the greatest griefs in facing a hardship of any kind is the feeling of being alone in your grief. Misery loves company, right? Therefore grief hates being alone. In the night that Jesus was betrayed by Judas, Mark records that Jesus “began to be greatly distressed and troubled” (14:33). Certainly Jesus was about to endure that greatest pain and suffering any human has ever faced. But I do not think the physical pain and shame of the cross caused the greatest distress for Jesus. I believe what caused Jesus to be “greatly distressed and troubled” was the fact that he would be enduring the pain alone.... Keep Reading

John Piper would say that one of the jobs of a pastor is to prepare his people to die well. Sounds odd, doesn't it? When we consider the truth of the gospel, though, the oddity of this goal diminishes and we begin to see it as utterly Christ-exalting.... Keep Reading

In case you missed it, Apple held their annual new gadget release party yesterday. Yes, there will be a new iPhone (the 6s, "We have changed everything about these iPhones," said Tim Cook). There even will be a new style of iPad, the iPad Pro (bigger and faster than ever). Many predict that Apple will continue with strong sales as long as they continue to produce new and improved products on a regular basis.... Keep Reading

Paul’s letter to the church at Rome arguably is the richest exposition in the Bible of God’s astonishing grace extended to sinful humans through Jesus Christ. In this letter we learn of the depth of sinful depravity that has affected every human being, the free gift of justification before God received by faith alone, the sufficiency of God’s grace to not only cover our sin but also to raise us to new life in Christ, and the eternal promise of God to bring all those who are justified to glorification in his presence. “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!”... Keep Reading

Perhaps like you, I'm a headline reader. A few times a day I check the news' headlines, but rarely read in depth any of the stories. Even this brief perusal of current events can be overwhelming. Murders. Protests. Scandals. Foreign Upheavals. Political Bantering. Abortion Debate. Celebrity News. Far too much celebrity news. With so much pain and despair in the world, it almost seems superfluous for Christians to speak about hope and joy.... Keep Reading

A new school year. A new season. A new chapter. We all like new beginnings, don’t we? They give us fresh opportunities to “reinvent” ourselves, turn a new leaf, and embrace new experiences. This longing for newness is evidence that things in this life and world are not as they should be. Only the power of the gospel brings the newness that “satisfies.” Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This newness, though, is not practically worked out in our lives all at once. How should we seek the newness promised in Christ?... Keep Reading

This summer in these Touchpoint articles I have been exploring the various aspects of the Holy Spirit’s ministry. On Sunday mornings we have been studying the Scriptural call for joy. Is there any connection between the Holy Spirit and joy? Absolutely!... Keep Reading