God Owns the Mountains

“In God’s hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.” Psalm95:4-5

Greetings once again from the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky! Our annual family trip is both welcomed and needed while our hearts still think about our friends back at home. To gaze upon grand mountains, to see the carving power of a creek after a storm, and even explore a cave, it is easy to think deeply about just how small we are.

Consider looking up at such a mountain and just how many thousands of trees and perhaps millions of leaves there are. From a distance, the scenery is a paint stroke of green. No attention is given to a leaf slightly greener or a tree just a bit taller than the rest.

Now consider Who put each tree and leaf and rock together to form that mountain. This Psalm is about gathering God’s worshipers to sing praises to God while also remembering the failures of generations past, particularly their grumbling in the wilderness (verse 8). It is good to remember our weaknesses before God, and consider He is Creator and mighty King over all His earth and His people.

God owns that mountain. It is in His hand! Contrast this with the Psalmist’s thought that the deepest depths, the caves and caverns, are also in His hands. God’s dominion comprises all from mountain heights to lowest depths of the earth. For our eyes which God created for His glory to gaze upon His mountains, we are struck with awe and invited to worship Him. Not in mere heartless ritual, but to sing loudly to the God who makes beautiful things.

And in a vast paint stroke of this tiny rock we label “earth”, God looks down and He knows me and my story (Psalm 139:1-4). I, like the many trees on a mountain, have nothing to boast to gain the attention of my God, and yet, He knows me and He loves me. What a stirring thought that leaps from my heart to my mouth, both of which He formed, to sing His praises.

God truly is great. Standing here, looking up at these mountain heights, I stand in wonder that the God who made these mighty mountains is my help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). Greater than this mountain, God is immovable, unchanging, mightier, and more breath-taking in majesty. The God who is mightier than this mountain I am looking at promises to be with me forever.

It is in this humbling yet peaceful place before God my anxieties seem silly and lose their power over my heart. Troubles, very real troubles, are in the hand of my God who holds the depths of the earth and the towering mountains in the same hand. I am in His hand. No one and nothing can pluck me from His mighty hand (John 10:28-30).

Friend, trust in God. Yesterday’s failures, today’s troubles, and tomorrow’s uncertainties seem anxious in our feeble hands. Trust in the mighty hands who holds the mountains. He holds you tenderly as His child. Now, rejoice in the God who shows such mercies to us! That the power of the wrath of the Mountain-Holder was placed on Christ at the cross, and by grace the power and promise of the hand of the Burden-Lifter now extends to us.

Heavenly Father, create in us a deep longing for You far above the unsatisfying and temporary pleasures of this world. Give us restless hearts that we may find satisfaction in You. Give us pauses in our days to consider the beauty of Your creation, the power of Your hand, and rejoice in the truth that our God is rich in mercy and knows us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Truth of God and the Wrath of God

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” – Romans 1:18

I do not like listening to someone slander a friend of mine. I am bothered because such false information about my friend’s character just isn’t true, but it is deeper. To intentionally misrepresent a friend of mine and conjure false facts about them is an attempt to attack and hurt them.

Reader, I am certain you are familiar with slander. Either a friend of yours or you yourself have been a victim. Now think about God’s reaction to being misrepresented by His creatures with the intention to injure His reputation and to assault His character. Humans actively suppress the truth of God in their active and willful rejection of Him.

To claim morality is relative is to claim God’s character as shifty, to accuse God of not revealing Himself enough while hating what God has revealed of Himself, then marginalizing God as simply a religious icon while pursuing your own pleasures and defining your own life’s purposes while simultaneously rejecting your Creator’s purposes for creating your life.

Yet, God’s wrath is not simply an unbridled emotion, but His perfect, holy character responds to our sin and unrighteousness in such a way. It is an injustice to allow creatures to reject His purpose for them while the minds He created are used to deny Him and the mouths He created to praise Him are used to chatter untruths about Him.

The wrath of God may very well be a rare doctrine to write about or even think about, as the idea haunts us as fallen creatures. Yet, everything about God is lovely and beautiful. In Exodus, Moses received the two tablets written by God’s hands only to discover at the base of Mount Sinai the people worshiped a golden calf. Moses broke the tablets in anger. The people had already committed idolatry. Yet, Moses received new tablets from God, and Moses said of God’s character, He is merciful and gracious, faithful, abounding in steadfast love, forgiving, and “slow to anger” (Exodus 34:6).

God is no hot head, but He is perfectly good and just. He must punish sin. When Israel worshiped the golden calf, God told Moses all about it on top of that mountain. He said, “Let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them” (Exodus 32:10). The wrath of God burns and consumes idolatry. Yet, Moses stepped in. Why does Your wrath burn? Turn from Your burning anger. Remember Your covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants. And God relented from destroying the people (Exodus 32:11-14).

God has every right to burn with anger over your sin. Sin of marginalizing Him to religious indifference while passionate about your own pursuits. Sin of thinking about and speaking about something of God that isn’t true. Sin to thinking your life belongs to you as if you do not have a Creator or He is not good enough to rule over you as a good and gracious King abounding in steadfast love.

Jesus Christ is a greater Moses. Though we have broken God’s laws and provoked Him to burn with an anger that consumes, Jesus stepped in. Jesus took on flesh and became the curse of a lawbreaker for us (Galatians 3:13). As Isaiah prophesied, Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; “upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). All this as we hid our faces and esteemed Him not (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus took the wrath of God and satisfied His burning anger as our propitiation (I John 2:2).

God who has every right to burn with anger against me a sinful rebel has forgiven me in Jesus Christ and has justified me by faith alone in Jesus alone. You are invited to turn away from suppressing the truth of God in your unrighteousness, from living a life ruled by rejection of God’s character and rebellion to what God says is good, and turn toward our God who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6).

Look only to Jesus, friend, and find the truth of who God is, and believe Him.

Heavenly Father, my prayer is to stir in the hearts of these readers. Stir a sorrow over sin and over using our minds and mouths in wicked ways, chattering untruths about You. Stir a joy that our Creator is merciful and gracious, though burning with wrath against sin, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Stir in us an unceasing rejoicing that Jesus Christ died to save sinners from Your burning wrath, inviting us to delight in You now and forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Your Need for Face-to-Face Church

“When Paul saw [the brothers from Rome], he was encouraged and gave thanks to God.” –Acts 28:15

The Apostle Paul was bound, a prisoner en route to Rome as promised by Jesus to preach the gospel in Rome (Acts 23:11). His initial commission upon encounter Jesus on the road to Damascus was to be persecuted for Jesus’ name sake (Acts9:16). Having survived storms and a shipwreck, the prisoner Paul need to take strength to complete his mission.

What did the Lord Jesus Christ use to strengthen His servant? The local church. Some of the Christians belonging to the church in Rome made the more than 30 mile trek just to encourage Paul. Something Paul had written a few years before to this very church in Romans 1:12, how he longed to meet with them face-to-face “that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.”

Paul wrote to the local church in Thessalonica how intensely he longed to see them face-to-face (I Thessalonians 2:17). The author of Hebrews reminds Christians to not neglect the Christian gathering (Hebrews 10:25). Why should we regularly attend church gatherings? The Scripture says, to encourage one another as the day of Jesus’ return draws near.

The Apostle Paul needed encouragement and Jesus sent the church to gather and give him encouragement. The early church faced many trials and persecution, yet called to gather regularly for encouragement.

Yet, many modern Christians do not believe they need Jesus’ encouragement He only provides through His church. Paul reminds the local church in Ephesus that Jesus loves the church “and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

The word translated “church” is ekklésia, meaning to call out a people to gather. To be a Christian is to be gathered regularly to worship the Lord Jesus Christ who loves His people and transforms us by His Word. The “one another” commands of Jesus, the very commands the church is commanded to teach disciples to observe in the Great Commission, are not commands that can be obeyed in isolation. There is a required presence togetherness, to hear Jesus’ call out His people to gather, to ekklésia.

To walk the Christian life is dangerous alone. Even Paul needed the mercies Christ blesses Christians with through the local church. Hear the call to come. To gather. Be blessed by He who loved you and gave Himself for you by being face-to-face in the gathering of the local church. Do not fall prey to the danger of thinking you do not need church, but worship Jesus in your own way. Worship Him in His way. The blessing of regularly gathering with the saints.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the bright lamps of local churches throughout this dark world. Grant Your people a passionate eagerness to gather, to serve and love one another, to display Your glory and mercy to all. Grant us humility and fill our hearts with Your love. Bless us that Jesus would be glorified in and through the local church. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

If Jesus Were Around Today...

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.” –Acts 3:19

Peter and John were just going to the temple when a lame beggar asked them for money. Instead, but a miracle of God, they healed the man in Jesus’ name. And the once lame beggar walking and jumping around in the temple drew some attention. Peter preached the gospel of Jesus Christ and called for his audience to respond by faith and repentance.

The author Luke wrote his Gospel then the second volume Acts, which he begins saying what Jesus began to do and to teach He now continues to do and to teach through His church whom He fills with His Holy Spirit.

I see a lot of articles and social media posts which begin with, “If Jesus were around today, He would be with _____.” Christians know a glorious truth. Jesus is alive. He is around today. And He is very active. Jesus is still calling sinners to repent and believe. Jesus is still calling the weary to come and find rest in Him.

Yes, our Lord rose from the dead and ascended. Yet, it was for the church’s benefit for Jesus ascended and sent us the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). Jesus is active right now on earth in His Spirit-filled church. If someone would like to see Jesus and be with Him, you would see Him in His Spirit-filled church.

I think this is where our post-Christian world is hostile to our Lord Jesus. They reject the church and want to redefine Jesus to be more acceptable to the world than His church.

I find it interesting that so many in safe social media posts or interviews or podcasts suggest that if Jesus’ earthly ministry were today He would be accepted. Yet, Jesus is alive. I preach His living Word inviting sinners to know Jesus who is alive right now. Jesus is still widely rejected by many in this world, for they reject His Spirit-filled church whom He loves as His bride (Ephesians 5:25).

The world does not want to attend church because Christ’s living and active Word pierces their hearts in the church’s faithful preaching. Instead, the world seeks to reinvent a more palatable Jesus. Dear reader, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). His unchanging, eternal character is reflected in His Word which, unlike withering grass and fading flowers, endures forever (Isaiah 40:8).

Jesus is not okay with your sin. Jesus did not dine with tax collectors and sinners from a motivation that such people are better hangs than crusty religious types. I see many so-called churches mock God’s eternal Word and redefine Jesus by forming a Christianity which does not call sinners to faith and repentance.

Jesus did tell the Pharisees He did not come to call the righteous. Yet, He did tell us His mission. He came to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Yes, the Pharisees were blinded to their own sinfulness shrouded under a heavy veil of self-righteousness. However, sinners need to change their ways. And Jesus gives the power to repent. And our Lord is still calling sinners to respond to His good news with faith and repentance in the preaching of His unchanging Word from His Spirit-filled church.

Is Jesus still dining with sinners today? Yes, in His church. And He still talks with sinners.

If we respond like the Pharisees claiming to have no sin, then we are liars (IJohn 1:8). If we confess our sins to our God we offended, He forgives us and cleanses us (I John 1:9). Here is where the hostility in our world truly lies. The worldly do not think sin offends God, nor do the worldly believe they need cleansing.

So, the worldly hate Jesus by hating His Spirit-filled church who proclaims the gospel and calls sinners to faith and repentance. The Spirit-filled church belonging to Jesus is hated by this world for refusing to conform to its ways and continue the hard road of being conformed to Jesus.

We are encouraged by our Lord Jesus whom the world hated first (John 15:18-19). But the world’s hatred of Jesus does not discourage us from the mission of Jesus to save sinners. We still dine with sinners. We serve and love even our enemies, unlike the world who hates and cancels their enemies. For we display to the world Christ and our continued conformity to Him, even in the face of the world’s hatred and hostility. We must proclaim His gospel and call sinners to faith and repentance. We must for the love of Christ compels us.

Perhaps you read this and realize your hatred for Jesus and His church. Good news. Jesus died to save sinners. Come to Him and find rest and peace, dear sinner with a hostile heart. Come confess your sin. He promises to forgive, to cleanse, and to transform you. And like the Apostle Paul, you will find you were once an enemy to God’s people, now by grace you are welcomed and belong to God through Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, I pray now that all who read this repent and believe upon Jesus who died and rose again, finding safety in Your presence, salvation from Your holy wrath, and joy and peace in Your eternal kingdom. I pray for Christians who read this to be encouraged in the preaching of the gospel and living a life obedient to the Lord Jesus even in a hostile world filled with hatred. We praise You for Your goodness and kindness toward us. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God and long for all the new heavens and the new earth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

Suffer Not in Vain

“Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?” –Galatians 3:4

Suffering eases for the Christian as we know suffering is temporary. Scripture tells us any trouble the Christian suffers here cannot compare to the glory that will be revealed to us (Romans 8:18), encouraging the church to pray for any Christian sufferer (James 5:13). The Christian is encouraged to know our suffering has a divine purpose for us to rejoice in the Lord, producing endurance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3-5).

Suffering is worth all the loss to know the surpassing worth of Jesus Christ (Philippians3:8). And we are warned beforehand we as Christians are to suffer (I Thessalonians 3:3-4). And for the sake of the gospel of Christ, to know that by faith alone in Christ alone we are forgiven, cleansed, and promised everlasting life to delight in the Lord forever, our suffering in this life is not in vain.

Yet, this suggests that there is a suffering that is in vain. The suffering which does not lead to dependence on the Lord is a wasted suffering. The suffering which is alone, separate from Christ’s people in a local church is a wasted suffering. To be comforted by the Father of mercies and God of all comforts is in turn to be used to comfort others within the local church (II Corinthians1:3-4).

But, faithfulness in suffering can be counted “in all joy” when we lack nothing (James 1:2-4), or as Paul puts it, learn the secret to contentment (Philippians 4:11-13). That is, satisfaction in Christ whether we have plenty or nothing, free or imprisoned, brought low or abounding.

So, a few lessons I’ve learned in studying Scripture and the experience of suffering. We Christians suffer to know real joy is in the Lord and not in this world. Paul says in II Corinthians 4:17, “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Notice, Paul calls suffering both light and momentary. It’s brief, as this life is short. Eternity delighting in the Lord is far greater joy than any happiness here.

We suffer for other people’s sake. Part of the teaching one another and serving one another commands is being active in a healthy local church where you may learn the lessons of those faithfully enduring suffering and grief and in turn teaching others through Scripture God’s faithfulness and goodness in your own experiences.

Also, we suffer to be like Jesus. We suffer with Jesus in order that we may also be glorified with Him (Romans 8:17). Our sufferings are not randomly placed, but has divine purpose to rely on God who raises the dead, following Jesus who is leading us heavenward.

God designs suffering for our good, yet He promises to comfort us in our affliction. God “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). God who never changes promises to never forsake His own (Hebrews 13:5).

The Christian sees God’s purpose in suffering, and suffering is never wasted. Never “in vain.” The worldly person suffers without hope, without resurrection hope. The worldly person suffers without comfort in God’s very present help and without hope of eternal life delighting in Him.

Friend, if you are reading this despairing, you can have this Christian hope even now. Turn from your ways and turn your mind to Jesus. Jesus suffered willingly, though sinless He became sin receiving the punishment sinners deserve. This is a depth of divine love to reconcile hopeless sinners to delight in God forever. Trust in Him, even right now as you read this. And I pray even now your eyes are opened to the glories of God’s promise of everlasting life for all who believe upon Jesus, seeing God’s design and purpose to suffering in this vapor-like life.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you open the eyes of each reader to see Your glory in Jesus Christ who suffered, died, and rose again to make sinners clean and promise life to those perishing by forgiving sinners and justifying sinners through Jesus Christ the Righteous One. Help us understand Your holy purposes in our pains with the hope of everlasting life with You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Richly House the Word of Christ

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” –Colossians 3:16

God has blessed my family with a good house to call home which we enjoy hosting visitors. Yet, when the time comes, those visitors depart, leaving those who truly dwell in that house to remain in our home. A house is a home when such a building houses the people who dwell there.

Christian, do not merely host the Word of Christ as an occasional visitor. There are good books or medium of information to be good visitors. I enjoy reading about history and, on occasion, watch the news. But when life gets hard, or even when my vapor like life here on earth comes to a close, those visitors will not comfort me. The Word of Christ which richly dwells in me is my comfort and guide. A hymn of praise to God is of greater joy and comfort in the sunset of our lives than any bit of history or current events.

Consider what His Word is! Genesis tells us in the beginning God spoke all creation into existence. John’s Gospel uses the same phrase, “in the beginning,” referring to Jesus as the Word who created all things, as Paul pointed out in the beginning of his letter to the Colossians (Colossians 1:15-17).

This mighty Word of Christ is profitable to you and the church (II Timothy 3:16-17), which when studied deeply and rightly understood equips you and the church for every task (II Timothy 2:15).

Paul does not simply command us to let the Word of Christ dwell in us, but to dwell in us richly. To continue the illustration, the Word of Christ is not simply staying in a guest room. The Word of Christ is the vibrant center of your life, and you are the house turned into the home of the Word of Christ. Not just you, Christian, but the word Paul uses here is plural. The entire local church is to be the home of the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly.

The teaching, preaching, and everyday care of each member of the local church is to be so richly inhabited by the Word of Christ which is a vital part of our teaching and admonishing one another. Our common identity in Christ houses the Word of Christ deeply in all we do, including singing! We sing of the Word of Christ which dwells in us richly.

Our being instructed by Christ’s Word and our joyful singing together has a heart-felt affection of gratitude to God together, Paul adds. And this together are all the results of something to cherish, which Paul introduces this verse to us: “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:15). Notice the double mentioning of thankfulness to God? His grace rules in our hearts by Christ’s peace won at His cross, and His living and active Word dwells in us richly as united church members with glad songs with thanksgiving in our hearts to God.

We deserve punishment, but by faith in Jesus by the promise of His Word, we receive salvation and adoption as God’s children.

It is the humble Christian who is thankful to God, even in pain or sorrow. For He rules us in His peace. And by our King’s reign of peace, we receive good and hardships with thanksgiving because His Word promises us, His covenant people called to love Him, all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). And Paul adds, we know all things work together for good. We know by faith which comes by hearing and the hearing of the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

Heavenly Father, may Christ’s peace rule our hearts, and may His Word dwell in each of our hearts richly so as to sing with joy from hearts thankful to You for every joy and every sorrow You work for good. All praise be to our God from whom all blessings flow, and all praise be to our God who saves us and promises us everlasting life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let Light Shine

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” – II Corinthians 4:6

It is good and right to deeply study God’s Word, to know all about God, who He is, what He has done. And this knowledge of God ought to draw our hearts to delight in Him, to worship Him. That is our worship to God, having our “inner man,” our minds and hearts once in darkness now speak “let there be light” up on to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Then, what a privilege and joy to study God’s Word to know Him more! To know this truth, “Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 144:15). He replaced our stone hearts once in the dark about the things of God with a new heart, making us new creatures, born again to delight ourselves in God. We study His Word, we make church a priority, from a duty of delight. To come delight ourselves in the gathering of God’s people because we know God to be of the highest worth, and we have been invited in Jesus Christ to treasure God of highest worth.

What a blessing to my heart to know Jesus Christ, who died for my sins and is raised from the dead to sit at the Father’s right hand, intercedes for me. He who is wise, sovereign, and knows the future is guiding me. Even if I must walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I am blessed to know that the glorious Jesus Christ is with me, will not abandon me, and promises to always be with me even to the end of the age.

And God has announced His glory to all creation from the heavens, the works of His fingers (Psalm 19:1). To study this even deeper in His Word, to be reminded regularly in Bible Study and Sunday services, is to know God more which stirs my heart to thank Him.

Yet, there remains so many in the dark about God. They may know and even affirm truths, but it doesn’t lead to worship. As Romans 1:21 says, “Although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

I am grieved in my spirit that so many people in this world live and die without giving a serious thought to God, much less care to know Him. They remain in the dark. Even as Christ has come, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John3:19).

Reader, if you are in the dark, don’t remain there. Don’t love your works which offends God. You are invited by Jesus, come to Me. He will not turn you away. Yes, He is the light which exposes you a sinner, a criminal to God and an offense to His glory. Yet, the Light calls you to repentance (Luke 5:32). To have an illuminated mind to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, turn from your sins, and follow Him. Come and know this blessing to know the Lord is your God.

Know God’s greatness. He created all things for a purpose, to praise Him. He announces His glory in creation. And He who is eternally holy and just sent forth His Son Jesus Christ to save sinners. Respond in faith, dear reader, by calling out to the Lord Jesus. Save me. Forgive me. I want to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Respond to knowing His greatness by giving Him thanks and worship Him. Right thinking about God leads to right worship of God. I invite you to Allison Avenue Baptist Church Sundays at 9:30am for deeper study of God’s Word in Sunday School, 11am for worship service to gather and give thanks to our God mighty to save.

Heavenly Father, I pray now with an urgent heart, open the eyes of these readers to Your Word, to see Christ Jesus, to respond in faith, and be thankful and worship You. You are worthy of our eternal praise and we thank You for the goods news that Jesus saves sinners and that in Him we enjoy communion with our God and with His saints in worship. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

 

A New Year's Eager Expectation

“It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” –Philippians 1:20

I am bewildered to save this article as “January 2026.” Another chapter ends in my life, a new chapter begins. Old calendars thrown out, new calendars purchased and ready to write our plans for upcoming months, weeks, days. And it is that time many set goals or New Year’s resolutions.

It seems to me New Year’s resolutions are simply the meditations of our imagined idealized versions of ourselves. What do I want me to look like and be like by the end of this year? And the strong undercurrent to our goal settings is this: what is the purpose and meaning to my life?

The verse quoted above is Paul reflecting on the joy of God’s purpose for him, alive but in prison. Paul’s aim in life is to honor Jesus as Lord; yet, the glory of God reaches far beyond Paul, that in God’s people God’s work will be brought to completion (Philippians 1:6). The Christian’s hope is in God’s work will be completed despite the afflictions, griefs, and sorrows in this fallen world.

As Thomas Fuller wrote, “If it were not for hopes, the heart would break” (Gnomologia, Westminster: Printed for B. Barker, 1732, Page 112). That’s what Paul meant by eager expectation and hope. I know my life faces hardships and pains, my body may break and I will die, but my hope is in Christ who will right every wrong.

If honoring Jesus with your body whether in your life or death is not the highest priority and joy in your goals this year, then what is the point to exercising, losing weight, reading those books, changing those habits if 2026 is the final year of your life?

The non-Christian may fire back: what’s the point of all that if you, a Christian, are going to heaven and receiving a new body? Paul answers: I am eagerly expecting and hoping my life is not shamed, but Christ who suffered and died and rose again will be honored in my body alive or dead.

Now, I’m not saying you should avoid making resolutions, but to submit your goal setting under the authority of Christ. As Paul’s stated purpose here, whether he lives another day or dies, his goal was to praise Jesus and display His highest worth. That is the purpose for which He created you, and the ultimate purpose to your life now and in your plans for your life.

As the answer to the first catechism question goes, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” This is what fuels the heart of the Christian toward good habits! We could make it our goal to read through the Bible in 2026, not to earn God’s favor, but rather to delight in the Lord more. We may find like Paul that exercise has some value, but godliness is great value in this life and the life to come (I Timothy 4:8). So, get in shape, make good eating habits, these have some value. Godliness, not in gaining God’s favor but because we in Jesus enjoy God’s favor, displays Jesus whom our souls delight as our highest treasure in all things.

The Lord Jesus who frees sinners and promises everlasting life to those who trust Him is worthy of you honoring Him whether you live or die, for the Christian has the eager expectation and hope of enjoying Him…forever.

Heavenly Father, grant to us this eager expectation and hope in the Lord Jesus that we may honor Him in our lives and deaths. May we praise Jesus our Savior and Lord in the pains and joys 2026 may bring to us. Grant us the wisdom and mercy needed to achieve this goal this year. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Longing for our Gain

“My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” –Philippians1:23

Paul who desired Jesus to be glorified in him in both his life and death led Paul to think about death. Death is a welcomed gain because we will enjoy the fullness of Jesus. That’s why Paul said, “To live is Christ, but to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Yes, Jesus is glorified in my labors here, but I gain much more to die trusting my resurrected Savior’s promise of everlasting life.

To live a long life, the Christian can further serve the local church and proclaim Jesus to the world. For Paul, he knew if he survived his imprisonment, he could see the Philippian church once again face-to-face to teach them for more spiritual growth (Philippians 1:25).

Yet, to die means enjoying Jesus in such depths of joy, peace, and love we have but only foretastes of here. And this gives great meaning to the life we live here. We are to live serving Christ, for to live is Christ. And that means we live life longing to enjoy Him more fully one day.

I invite you to think about longing in your heart as a good thing. It is good to long for better than this world and this life. It is good to long for Jesus. That puts every good thing we enjoy here as well as ever trouble and every tear suffered here into perspective. Eternal perspective.

Every good we enjoy here is not fully enjoyed. Every trouble suffered here is not fully defeating. For standing at the end of our days is our Savior, ready to wipe away our every tear and welcome us into His heaven to enjoy Him fully and forever (Revelation 7:17).

Every trouble and every tear in this life presses our hearts which long to be with Jesus. Such troubles and tears are to be embraced, for they do eternal good to our souls. It is better to be ready to throw off this fallen world and painfully long for heaven than to live an always comfortable life with numbness to the things of God.

Friend, live life with the promised reality of eternity ahead of us. Serve the church, not simply out of a heart for service or to fill a need, but serve the church knowing those you serve will one day be adorned in the splendor of white garments enjoying Jesus with us forever. Evangelize, not simply to see more Christians come or our local churches grow, but knowing the voices that fill the earth with Jesus’ ceaseless praise glorifies our great God and Savior.

Suffer well, not simply to carry on, but knowing each tear we shed here will be fully comforted by one swipe of our Savior’s hand. Each pain and every loss we experience here cannot be compared to the delight of coming glory (Romans 8:18). The coming glory to be revealed, which Paul in Philippians calls “gain.”

Embrace longing in your heart, friend. Yes, even all of creation groans for our redemption (Romans 8:22). Our groaning will one day give way to endless delights in Jesus. So, yes, to die is gain. Our desire, like Paul’s, is to depart and be with Christ. We know by faith that is far better than this life. Let this encourage you to live this life with joy that at the dawn after this long night we will delight ourselves fully in Jesus.

Heavenly Father, forgive us when our longings drain our hearts and we lose eternal perspective. Grant us hearts which embrace our longing, knowing the full gain of delighting in Jesus promised us is ahead of us. Grant us eternal perspective in every earthly good and trouble. Grant us strength to not grow weary, mercy to sing songs of praise for placing longing in our hearts here and the promise of eternal satisfaction to come. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Always Give Thanks for Everything to God

“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” –Ephesians 5:20

I love Thanksgiving Day. It is a holiday that does not require hype. Decorations are minimal, there are few songs which prepare us for it, and, for me, centers on God to whom we are to give thanks. As we look forward to filling our plates this Thursday with turkey and fixings, let us think about what we are thankful for before our God whose face we feast before.

Paul tells us, give thanks always and for everything to God. Always. There is never a moment in our lives where thanksgiving to God is inappropriate. For everything. We must always be thankful to God for every good and every bad, every comfort and every trouble, every smile and every tear.

CS Lewis once said, “We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country” (Collected Letters Volume2, Page 869).

So, let us give thanks to God for hard things. For the troubles which arise in our relationships to show His mercy and power to reconcile. For the lows in our lives to know true contentment. To find ourselves at the end of our ropes in stress, whether it is work, marriage, parenting, friends, to know our strength comes from the Lord. For anxious times to know His peace and remain constant in prayer.

However, let us also be thankful for the good because it is good, as Lewis encouraged. As the hymn goes,

“Count your blessings, name them one by one; 

Count your blessings, see what God hath done!”

Psalm65:11 says, “You crown the year with Your bounty; Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.” His sovereign providence fills us to abundance.

In a sermon on this Psalm, Spurgeon said, “Let our hearts be warmed; let our spirits remember, meditate, and think upon this goodness of the Lord. Meditation upon this mercy may tend to nourish in you the tenderest feelings of affection, and your souls will be knit to the Father of spirits, who pitieth his children.”

Our thanksgiving is more than what benefits God gives. Our thanksgiving is highest for God’s presence with us. Spurgeon said, “the sense that Jesus Christ is with his people drowns every note of sorrow, and every heart is tuned to loudest notes of thankfulness.”

When your plate is filled this coming Thursday and you find yourself thinking about what you are thankful for, remember to give thanks always and for everything to God. Yes, for the troubles that drove you to cry out to God for mercy as well as praise for the good He has done. And above all, our hearts are always thankful for everything as Jesus Christ is with us forever.

A Nourished, Fruitful Tree

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” –Psalm 1:3

The Psalmist pictures a tree with roots digging in on the banks beside a stream flowing fresh water. We are invited into this scene to consider the tree and the resulting fruits and leaves. The Psalm goes from start to finish rather than to think of results and ponder why this tree is so vibrant.

First, the tree is planted. The tree takes root into nourished soil for growth and life and bearing good fruit. Second, the tree is nourished because its roots drink water from the flowing stream. And here, we consider Psalm 42 and the deer panting for streams of flowing water. The Psalmist uses this illustration for personal longing for God! As the deer pants for streams of living water, so my soul pants for the living God!

So, this tree nourished by the stream is like a blessed person who meditates on God’s Word day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). We long for the living water of God’s Word, drink deeply day and night, and are blessed and delight in what we drink!

Lastly, consider the tree’s fruits in season and leaves. Spurgeon says the Christian is an evergreen who bears fruit. Drinking deeply the streams of living water, the tree is nourished to have hearty leaves and bears sweet fruits at all times.

Now, what about difficult times? Can a Christian still be so greatly nourished that the leaves remain strong and the fruit “prospers” or matures to sweet delight like an early October apple? Yes, if our meditation on the Word of God is day and night like a tree’s roots always nourished by a healthy flowing creek.

God’s Law is His wise instruction, which is the entire Bible. We are here invited to meditate like a tree drinks water from a stream. Yes, study the Word of God. But don’t just study what He says. Don’t just read through Scripture quickly. Meditate on the words as truth. Sweet truth that works upon our hearts to practice what we have learned.

The Christian’s meditation is on the Word of God, as opposed to eastern religious meditation which teaches to empty our minds to be in touch with nature or the energy that flows through us. We are to fill our minds with God’s Word to find sweet, sweet delight in our God who delights in us.

The reward for our meditation on God’s Word is delight. How can what God says become a delight in the depths of our souls simply by meditating all the time like a tree drinking nourishing, flowing water from a stream?

In God’s Word I read of God’s uncompromisingly perfect holiness and justice, as well as His wrath for rebels. I also read of God’s love sending His Son Jesus to take the wrath I deserve, pardoning me. Deeper, being adopted in Jesus given the right to be called a child of God (John 1:12-13).

Only in Jesus can you delight in the Law of God. The Father delights in us because He delights in His Son. This means, when difficult times come, I am not malnourished. No, my blessedness is from His Word and the rich promises of His supply and mercy for me even in hard seasons.

The wicked are malnourished. They are like chaff, that fragile, papery cover on top of grain. A simple wind will blow them away. Jesus warned us, ““Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up” (Matthew 15:13).

The person nourished day and night on God’s living Word is blessed according to the beginning of this Psalm, but the wicked are cursed not to be able to stand God’s judgment (Psalm 1:5). Those nourished on God’s Word live while the wicked perish (Psalm 1:6).

A famine of the Word of God the prophet Amos warned of would be most awful. This hardens a wicked heart which God gives over to their sin described in Romans 1. A people without the Word of God wither and perish into chaos, injustice, and are left without real hope from the revelation of our God who saves sinners.

Friend, will you feast or famine? I urge you, feast upon the Word of God. Join us Sundays at 9:30am and 11am to feast upon the nourishing waters of God’s Word. Join us for Bible Study Wednesdays at 6:30pm. Join a discipleship group. Feast upon the Word of God and enjoy the reward of delight, even in difficult times, for our Savior nourishes us, blesses us, and promises us a living hope.

Heavenly Father, stir our hearts to pant for Your Word like a deer pants for streams of flowing water. Give us longing to meet with You in Your Word, meditating on it day and night. Show us in Your Word, O Lord, our need of mercy and Your supply in Christ. We praise You for the Bible, for the nourishing words we delight in, and the comforts, peace, joy, and hope we find in Your Word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

It's Only Death

“With a loud voice they were saying, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’” –Revelation 5:12

Jesus Christ is the righteous servant of Isaiah’s prophecy who came to be rejected and despised, and we “esteemed Him not” or did not value Him, Yet, He was pierced for our transgressions and not His own. He was oppressed and afflicted. Yet, it was the will of the Lord to crush Him. So, the heavens sing, “worthy is the Lamb,” who received the promised blessings of Isaiah 53:12.

Yet, Jesus is the worthy Lamb who was slain. Past tense. He is alive now, having resurrected from the dead! Jesus who tells John He is the living One. “I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18).

Jesus alone has power and authority over death. And the Lamb who was slain is alive forevermore. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that the dead will put on imperishable and the mortal will put on immortality, fulfilling the saying, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?” (I Corinthians15:54-55).

Death has lost its stinger in defeat. Sin and the law were defeated by Jesus Christ the righteous who gives us the victory. Jesus gives us the victory received by faith.

In other words, to the Christian, it’s only death. "All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus,” said the recently deceased John MacArthur. For the believer, there is no more sin to be forgiven, emptying death of all its power. MacArthur continued, “Satan is a toothless lion, and death is a stingless bee."

Death is a topic to think about because death approaches all of us. A topic to think about when death snatches another away from us. As I write this, I just heard the news Voddie Baucham has passed away. Yet, this reminds me of a quote from one of his sermons:

“You are going to hear a rumor one day that Voddie Baucham is no more. Don't you believe it! Because though I die, I will rise with Christ. It will not be the end of me because Christ is raised and I too will be raised with Christ.”

This on the heels of the news of Charlie Kirk’s murder. Why would a family man risk his well-being and his life to speak of the sins of sexual immorality and false religions, the need for repentance and salvation in Jesus Christ, in a vulnerable place on a stage in the most hostile territories, the American university campus? It’s only death.

The Gospel writers recount a time a synagogue ruler named Jairus had a daughter on her deathbed. Jairus labored to get to Jesus to bring Him in time, only to be delayed along the way. In that delay, someone from Jairus’ home told the father the news: your daughter is dead, don’t bother the Teacher any further.

Jesus went anyway saying, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” Upon arrival to the house, Jesus questions why all the commotion and weeping? Then our Savior adds, “The child is not dead but sleeping.” It was at this the crowd once weeping the child’s death now laughs. How ridiculous!

“The message of the cross is foolishness to those indeed perishing, but to us being saved it is the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18). What a joy that Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead!

There is much laughter at this message of the cross of Jesus in our world. Christians are viewed as silly for believing God’s judgment, and worse, Christians are viewed as most wicked among humanity for proclaiming this message of Jesus to repent and believe lest you perish.

Yet, for those of us being saved, we rejoice in the resurrected Lord and our living hope found in our faith in Him.

The early church apologists spent much time and ink defending Christians from hatred and social alienation from the Roman world. They contended that Christian beliefs and morality are superior to worldly philosophies and ideas. A worldly reader may chuckle like the laughing mourners in Jairus’ daughter’s room, but it is a mockery from a hardened heart refusing to even investigate whether these things are so. They “suppress the truth” by their unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).

I delight in true hope in Jesus. As I ponder death, I trust Jesus has rendered death stingless and powerless. It’s only death. For I am confident I will be in that glorious number singing His eternal praises. This hope renders all troubles in this life as “light and momentary,” and cannot be compared to the “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” that is ahead.

As Puritan Thomas Adams said, “We spend our years with sighing; it is a valley of tears; but death is the funeral of all our sorrows.”

Reader, listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice, the mighty voice of Jesus who was dead and is now alive forevermore. He invites you to trust in Him and live, to fear death and condemnation no more. May the Holy Spirit draw you to Jesus as weak and poor, to see His strength and the riches of His grace to save sinners.

Heavenly Father, teach us to number our days, to fear our mortality, to trust in Jesus whom You raised from the dead. Grant Your people wisdom and boldness in the face of a mocking world and troubles and death, which Christ has diminished to stingless and powerless, giving us everlasting life received by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

How the Church is Not Like a BBQ Restaurant

“His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.” –Ephesians 3:10

I just read on social media a barbecue restaurant in Hamilton is closing. When I first moved to Hamilton, another barbecue restaurant occupied the same space before closing. Who knows what might move into this space next? The ebbs and flows of businesses and restaurants moves with the appetites and wallets of the people who live in our community.

I also know of a few churches which closed. The world would say this is all the same thing. Much like a business or a restaurant, churches close and make way for something new. Perhaps an apartment complex or a restaurant. A mindset not surprisingly worldly. Yet, this is not the reality of Christ’s church.

The Lord Jesus Christ is not merely another product like barbecue. Jesus is preeminent, majestic, eternally ruling as King. As Colossians 1 says, Jesus is firstborn of all creation, highest in rank and rule, sovereign over visible and invisible authorities having created all things. And the members of one body the church has Jesus Christ the supreme as its Head (Colossians 1:18). Jesus demands and will have every knee bow before Him (Philippians 2:9-11).

And where does Jesus display His supremacy and glory for all the earth and heavenly realms? His church. Christ who is our peace tore down the wall of hostility in His torn flesh reconciles those who believe in Him to God, making peace and leading His new creation (Ephesians 2:14-16).

When Paul wrote to Corinth, he said that specific local church was “called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 1:2). If you could look at our planet from above, look down with wonder and think about the multitude of local displays of Christ in places all around the world! Each local church is important.

And the day is coming we gather in that eternal gathering to sing a new song to the worthy Lamb who was slain, saving His people, completing His new creation and our full sanctification, ruling with full authority (Revelation 5:9-14). This power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing belonging to Christ is the manifold wisdom of God on display in the local church, being made known to the world and to rulers and authorities in heavenly places.

Dear saints of Allison Avenue, our gathering and faithfulness is important, for we display the glorious Christ. We exist to know Him and make Him known. We come to know Him by the teaching and preaching of His Word. We make Him known by proclaiming Him to our community.

This joyful labor to know Him and make Him known welcomes each of our investment in the local church. To be there, to serve, to study the precious Lamp to our Feet together, and to proclaim the riches of His glorious grace to one another and to the world.

Heavenly Father, remind us of Your glory and power invested in Your Word and Your manifold wisdom displayed in Your household, the church, the pillar and buttress of the truth. Grant us strength to follow our Lord Jesus faithfully, proclaiming Your excellent goodness in the church and to those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.