Category: Writings on Christianity

John Piper’s Definition of Biblical Counseling Much of pastoral ministry involves biblical counseling. To aid in my pursuit of learning how to do this, I’ve begun reading a book called “Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling.” The book is written by respected evangelical authors who contribute to various topics, which all help a person understand and approach biblical […]

How Do I Know If I Am Predestined? Since the Scriptures teach that God chooses (predestines) some to be his sons and daughters (Eph 1:4-5, Rom 9; John 15:16), how do we personally know if we ourselves are predestined? Did God choose me? How do I  know if I am predestined? Where I look for […]

2 Errors to Avoid When Talking About Predestination (Calvin’s “Institutes”) Perhaps predestination is the doctrine that John Calvin is most remembered for. Predestination is a biblical word referring to “God’s eternal decree, by which he compacted with himself what he willed to become of each man” (Calvin’s definition 3.21.5). While theologians debate exactly what God’s […]

Cross of Christ Fellowship: 6 Core Values When planting a church, it is vital to consider your core values (ideas and motivations which shape and define the way your church operates). Aubrey Malphurs helped me to consider this in his book “Nuts and Bolts of Church Planting” (a vital read for all church planters).  Every […]

Calvin on Prayer I’ve continued my quest through John Calvin’s Institutes and been surprised by how incredibly practical and devotional it has been.  Time and time again I find my heart encouraged and better equipped to love the Lord and others. This past week I finished Calvin’s treatment on prayer.  Here’s some of my favorite […]

Calvin on Psalm 103 I found Calvin’s comments on Psalm 103:1-2 particularly helpful: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me,bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul,and forget not all his benefits,”Ps 103:1-2 “The prophet, by stirring up himself to gratitude, gives by his own example a lesson […]

Here’s my sermon and sermon outline for Psalm 103 To listen to it, you can click here. Ps 103 “Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves” What do you do when your heart grows cold toward God? What do you do when you don’t feel like worshiping God? How do you stir up your love for Him? […]

Meditations from Psalm 103 In Psalm 103 we see David celebrating God’s person and actions.  It interesting to think about how David recalls not only God’s character (v8-18), but also God’s actions (2b-7; 19).  Here’s some of my meditations after considering this: If we only possess an awareness of who God is apart from what […]

100 Person Prayer Team “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks […]