Savedthroughfaith.com

Self-evaluation is hard. And it’s tricky. We don’t like it because it pinches our pride. This is the reason we avoid it or at a minimum, grade ourselves on a curve. Pastors are no different. We think about our sermons. We dread the lack of transformational impact. We wonder about our methods. As a pastor I can say it is uncomfortable. But evaluation is also necessary. It is critical. Byron Yawn is a pastor that was honest with himself...

I was reading through D.A. Carson’s A Call to Spiritual Reformation again yesterday and came across this gem. In the chapter he is wrestling with prayer and the sovereignty of God. He is so helpful in his clear headed reasoning. You end up wanting to pray. The perverse and the unbeliever will appeal to God’s sovereignty to urge the futility of prayer in a determined universe; they will appeal to passages depicting God as a person (in...

(Some meditations on 1 Peter 5.1-4) God loves his flock. He cares for the church. His desire is for them to know, enjoy and reflect Jesus. Therefore, he is clear, thorough, and precise with his instructions for pastors. The pastor must remember who owns the flock and so therefore be careful with the people. The people are the resources of the great flock owner. The shepherd is a servant of the chief shepherd. This is true even when things get ha...

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts (Rom. 13.14) By the grace of God Christians are born-again. Those who were formerly dead in transgressions and sins (Eph. 2.1) have been made alive. However, accompanying the believer in all of his pursuits is the reality of his flesh. The flesh is the spiritual existence and embodiment of the sinful habits and desires of the unregenerate. This flesh r...

It is a great indictment on humanity that the Son of God came to this world and was met with rejection. Of course this rejection is not merely passive. It never is. The examination of Jesus and subsequent rejection always has idolatry as its principle cause. In other words, it is not merely a lackluster devotion to Jesus that motivates and sustains his rejection by people but it is their worship of other things. Jesus is simply not prized. He is ...

This is a great word to younger, seemingly hungry God-centered guys. Piper stands prophetically on the street corner and is asking questions. He sees the ‘loose wires’ and is basically asking, “What is up with that?” (in his folksy Piper-ish way). I like it because I see and hate the disconnect in my own life. I think we do well to listen to the wise, loving observation of this brother. (ht: Justin Taylor) Possibly Rela...

Sometimes you are reading along a quote trips you up a bit like an unsuspecting rock on a trail. The trail, like the subjects here, are well familiar; but it is the way it is laid out and reasoned that causes me to pause, think, and examine myself. Author Stephen Nichols quotes John Piper here. At issue is a potential mis-step in the radical ‘God-centeredness’ that seems to be so popular. In short: are we God-centered because we love ...

It is an understatement to say that trials are hard. Whether we are talking about spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, or a combination of these, trials wear us down. They are hard. We might be tempted to think, “Why me?” in a trial. But as Christians there is something hardwired into our understanding of sanctification that the “Why me?” might better be stated, “Why God?” In other words, the trials are...

Unashamed in Omaha, Ne. L-R Tedashii, Pro, Lecrae, Trip Lee It has been a real blessing to my soul to witness the magnet of the gospel drawing people from different backgrounds together to promote and enjoy the unity of the gospel. Organizations like The Gospel Coalition and Together for the Gospel have been a great auxiliary to the church in this regard through their example, conferenecs, and resources. This past week, here in Omaha, I was abl...

Good advice for preachers heading into a day of proclamation on this Lord’s Day: It would not appear that Paul’s determination to know nothing among his hearers but Christ and him crucified led him into the trap of predictability.  Of course, if by predictability we mean that people will come to expect every sermon to expound something of the glories of Christ, then let us by all means be predictable!  Since there are inexhaustible ri...