Were you to survey married couples about their money-management goals, most answers would focus on some form of financial success. Most people strive to accumulate better houses, nicer cars, more toys, and bigger retirement accounts. But when it comes to the dream of financial prosperity and security, we should ask, “Whose dream is it?” It…
Category: Health
Escape from Doubting Castle: Counsel for Christians in Despair
Life within the prison of despair is a misery hard to explain. The darkness makes dumb, leaving groans too deep for words. Isolation becomes both a constant friend and a chief affliction. The other birds of the world chirp along merrily. Perhaps you used to sing among their branches, but now you wonder, What do…
When Are Good Grades Good Enough?
Audio Transcript Back to questions about our perfectionistic tendencies, today and Monday. Many of us struggle here. Next time we look at how perfectionism makes us indecisive in life decisions. But first a question from a student. When are good grades good enough? Here’s the email: “Pastor John, hello to you and thank you for…
Sing to Remember: God’s Gift of Musical Memory
For five years, I cared for my friend Violet as her memories faded away. Dementia took hold, and the feisty Finnish woman who took pride in her nursing career, her spotless lawn, and her adoring German shepherd eventually forgot the people and home she loved. In her final months, she no longer recognized Bible verses…
Do You Delight in God?
Twenty-five years ago, I was a freshman at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. I had grown up in the church. I made a profession of faith at age eight and was baptized. God had blessed me with a home church that loved the gospel and taught me that I could trust the Bible. However,…
First Up: Get Your Soul Happy in God
I wake up hungry every morning. So do you. We may or may not awake with empty stomachs, but deeper down, our souls growl ferociously. However much we try to satisfy that hunger elsewhere, and however many live in denial, God made our souls to hunger for him, and feed on him. We want when…
What Future Judgment Will Christians Face?
Audio Transcript What future judgment will Christians face? The apostle Paul, writing to a church of believers, said to them, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10). To Christians he said that. And he included himself — “we must all appear”! In another place, he interrogated Christians by…
Lost in God’s Providence: How He Works Our Wanderings for Good
Saul stands as a controversial first king in Israel’s history. At times, he fought valiantly against the Philistines and judged them on behalf of the Lord. At other times, we see a man selective in his obedience. Still at other times, we see him with a King Lear paranoia, hurling spears at David, raging at…
Fruitful No Matter What: Life in the Garden of Contentment
Midway along the journey of our lifeI woke to find myself in a dark wood,For I had wandered off from the straight path. Here at the beginning of the Inferno, Dante is lost in what he calls “a bitter place” and a “wasteland.” He has no hope of getting out of the dark and into…
If God Desires All to Be Saved, Why Aren’t They? 1 Timothy 2:1–4, Part 5
What is Look at the Book? You look at a Bible text on the screen. You listen to John Piper. You watch his pen “draw out” meaning. You see for yourself whether the meaning is really there. And (we pray!) all that God is for you in Christ explodes with faith, and joy, and love.…