Hold a high standard for faithful exposition and really value when your pastors faithfully expose God’s word, even when the style may need some polishing. God uses these means to encourage His saints, so may we tune in every time God’s word is opened, ready to be encouraged.

What’d you think of that sermon?
An innocent question with zero ill intent, but one I’m trying to avoid. Sunday by Sunday, pastors all over the globe take God’s word and attempt to deliver a faithful exposition to His church. Through these men, in their own weak but faithful way, God graciously equips His church for the work of ministry. When we ask that question it has at its root some bad assumptions, and it often leads to negative takeaways for the person asking and the person answering. Not to say that critique or criticism is always wrong, because surely we need to hold our pastors to a high standard. But when we make our topic of conversation about the style of the sermon and not the content of the sermon, I believe we are making a crucial mistake. I want to exhort you to work hard to be encouraged.
The Sermon Is Not A Performance
The first problem with this question is that it assumes that the sermon was delivered as a performance for us to critique. Often our critiques revolve around sermon length, delivery, style, almost at the exclusion of the actual content of the sermon. Again, while we should hope that our pastors are constantly working to improve their delivery of the precious promises of God, their sermon is not a performance. They are taking God’s word and saying to His people, “Thus says the Lord.”
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I need a view of heaven in every situation. I need to be reminded of heaven in my relationships with Christians. I need to see eternity in regards to my finances and my job. I need to remember that heaven is coming when I make choices about my family and my friends and my enemies. What a shame it will be when we give an account to God for the grudges that we kept, for the good we refused to do, for the godliness we refused to walk in. These surely must be some of the tears that will need wiping away on that glorious day.

Moses asked God to teach us to “number our days” (Psalm 90:12). David prayed that God would make him to know his end and to “let me know how fleeting I am” (Psalm 39:4-5). James reminds us that we are “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Takeaway: Our life is short.
Jesus understood this truth and reminded his disciples often. He said things like, “For the Son of Man is going to come” (Matt 16:27), or “for the Son of Man is coming” (Matt 24:44). The Apostle Paul would go on to speak of “the Day” revealing and disclosing the secrets of the heart (1 Cor 3:13). Takeaway: Heaven is coming.
Based on these two truths, how then should we live? I have been burdened by these thoughts. Life is short and heaven is coming. We have 70, or by reason of strength 80 years on this earth, and then we walk into eternity.
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Such is the Christian life. Full of love and full of longing. Graciously receiving all good gifts from our good Father, and looking for and hastening the coming of the Lord Jesus. Let us look to Christ with contentment and expectation.

This was originally written before the birth of our fourth son. Now that we are expecting our fifth in a month or so, I’ve decided to share again. I’m still living in the loving and longing.
We are expecting our fourth son within a week, and I’ve been filled with thankfulness and excitement as the day draws near. I’ve been reminded that God fills our life with good gifts. James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). I love these good gifts from God. Yet I know that these good gifts are temporary. My wife, my house, my children, my job. Each one of these could be taken from me in a moment. Each one of these could bring me happiness or grief. And often that is how it is: the thing that once brought the greatest joy, brings also with it the greatest heartache. So on the cusp of the birth of my fourth son, I’m torn. Torn between loving and longing.
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Please tell me the gospel again. I want my heart warmed by His grace. I need to remember the awful cost of sin. Tell me that His wrath burned hot against me, but the Savior came to save a sinner like me. Tell me how He drank the cup of the wrath of God and drained it to the dregs (Psalm 75:8). Remind me that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). I need it. I love it.

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
Phil 3:1
I’m gonna tell you the gospel again. I know you’ve heard it. I know you’ve heard it from me even. But I’m still gonna remind you. Why? Because you need it. You need to be reminded. I know you’re a Christian. I know that you’ve already repented and believed this gospel, but I’m gonna share it again.
You have not thought deeply enough about Christ. You have not plumbed the depths of “unsearchable riches” (Eph 3:8). You have not figured out the love of Christ “that surpasses knowledge” (Eph 3:19). So I’m gonna tell you the gospel again. I will remind you of how He died for sinners. I will remind you that He rose in victory on the third day. I will remind you that He now sits at the right hand of God, reigning as King forever, ready to receive all who trust in Him.
You are too prone to forget. The matter of first importance (1 Cor 15:3) is sometimes back of mind (or even out of mind). You can get busy. You can get distracted. You can get sleepy. But I’m here to tell you the gospel again. I want to wake you up to the reality of sins forgiven. I don’t want you to be shortsighted, forgetting that you were cleansed from your former sins (2 Peter 1:9). I don’t want you to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So I’m going to encourage and exhort you through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord.
And yes. Even you, the Christian, need to hear the gospel again. This is the message that saves you, sanctifies you, strengthens you, and sustains you.
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“How do I know that God will not forsake me if I come to Him?” Just look to Jesus. Know that He was forsaken on your behalf, so that you would be accepted by God. Trust in His death, and trust in His resurrection. Return to Him with repentance and faith and receive the gift of adoption.

I was reading about the prodigal son recently, and I was freshly reminded of the wonderful grace of God. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, this son forsakes his family, runs off with his inheritance, and wastes all of his property on loose living. A famine hits the country, and because of his bad decisions, he essentially sells himself to a foreigner and becomes a pig farmer. While in this bleak situation, it says that he “came to himself”. He remembers his father. He remembers the goodness of his father. But he also knows himself. Surely he could not go back as a son. He realizes that it is better to be a slave in his father’s house than to be free in the world. So the Prodigal Son decides to go home and enslave himself to his father.
But the father surprises everyone. Upon the son’s return, the father runs to meet him! He clothes him, feeds him, and celebrates him. Not only was he not rejected by his father, but he was reinstated as a son. The father rejoices that, “this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” Incredible mercy that this father shows to his son!
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Most hymnals will group the songs by theme. For instance, you want to sing a song about the resurrection. You can look at the themes in the back of the hymnal or at the top of the pages and find whole sections of songs about the resurrection of Christ. Or what about songs about God’s goodness or God’s word? Find that section in your hymnal, and there are almost always multiple songs grouped together underneath that theme.

God tells us emphatically, “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises” (Psalm 47:6)! I love that God commands us to do things that are so enjoyable. I love to sing. One practical tool that we have at our disposal is a hymnal. I love hymnals. It’s been a habit of mine to collect hymnals for years. Some are good and some are… well, let’s just say we won’t be singing all of the songs in some hymnals in glory. But there are some great hymnals. It’s amazing to be able to sing songs that the Reformers sang. It’s a privilege to sing songs that have passed the test of time, both the content of the songs and the character of the authors. When we sing these old songs, we are able to confess the truth of God’s Word hand in hand with those who have gone before us. Wonderful stuff. (I love new songs too, but I’m getting to the point).
Often people are intimidated by hymnals. Maybe you think that you have to be able to read music to really enjoy a hymnal. Maybe you think you need to be able to play an instrument (or carry a tune) to sing those songs. I hope to dispel those rumors! I want to give you some practical ways to use a hymnal in personal, family, and corporate worship.
Enjoy the Poetry
Good hymn writers take the beautiful words of God and turn them into beautiful pieces of poetry. Here’s an example: “He breaks the power of cancelled sin, He sets the prisoner free, His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me” (O For a Thousand Tongues). Or what about this one from John Newton: “Now let us join with hearts and tongues, And emulate the angels’ songs; Yea, sinners may address their King, In songs that angels cannot sing. They praise the Lamb who once was slain; But we can add a higher strain; Not only say, “He suffer’d thus, “But that he suffer’d all for us” (Men Honoured Above Angels).
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Let’s refuse to be those who only know what the Bible doesn’t mean, and let’s find out what it actually means. God’s word is profitable, even those verses that are misunderstood and abused. I’m glad I dug in to learn what Philippians 4:13 meant. It is incredibly encouraging, and I want more to be strengthened and satisfied in Christ alone through it. So let’s be a people who love to know our God and live on every word that comes from His mouth.

In our study of Philippians, I got a chance to teach Philippians 4:10-13. As it is when you dig into God’s word, I was very encouraged to consider Paul’s Christian contentment in every circumstance. And then… there was that verse. You know… the one. The verse that makes it into every pre-game speech and every pre-test declaration. The one that makes you roll your eyes. Even without saying it, you know which one I’m talking about. And you definitely know what it doesn’t mean. And as I was studying it, I had a list of about ten things that it didn’t mean. But here’s the problem: I had to teach that verse. I couldn’t just be an expert in what it didn’t mean. I needed to know what it actually meant.
It is really easy to be an expert in what things don’t mean. I hear that verse, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13), and I immediately have my defenses up. My mind says, “That’s not what that means!” But unfortunately, that’s normally where it stops. All I’ve done is to discard a false idea, while failing to replace it with a true one. That’s the danger of only being an expert in what things don’t mean.
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We trust solely in the merits and authority of Christ. It also assumes that we are submitted to His will, coming with His words. We come as slaves, not masters, in prayer, seeking His will alone. This differs vastly from the recitation of a name in order to pull power out of a hat like some cosmic magic trick.

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
John 14:13
In Jesus’ name, PLAY!” This was what I heard as I sat in an auditorium waiting for the Pentecostal Explosion dance team to start their routine. I had been invited to this praise and worship event by a college friend. The dance team had walked on stage and was about to begin their routine when suddenly the CD player that had their dance track stopped working. They were working to get it fixed when the dance leader shouted out the command to the CD player. A few amens were heard, but after a painful minute and a half with no success, the dance team decided to do their routine without the music. At this point in my Christian walk, I knew the verse that said that if we asked in Jesus’ name, then Jesus says, “this I will do.” So what happened that night? Had Jesus lied? Never! A better explanation is that this woman had misunderstood what it meant to ask in Jesus’ name.
To be clear, I completely believe that whatever I ask in Jesus’ name, He will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; but the name of Jesus is often invoked like a magic word at the end of our prayers. The way it is often used, we might as well finish our prayers with, “Abracadabra, amen;” I’ve said the customary phrase that ensures my prayers are heard. I even heard a song recently that said, “Just the mention of your name can raise the dead.” Really? The word “Jesus” is not an incantation that unlocks some secret magic. I don’t think this a faithful understanding of the text. So what does it mean to ask in Jesus name?
In His Name
First, we must understand what is meant by the name of Jesus.
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Those who deconvert are apostates, and they are in danger of Hell and the righteous judgement of God. We don’t need to sugarcoat this. Those who deconvert should feel no comfort or pleasure in their decision. But there is hope. And I hold out this hope for anyone who has deconverted, who knows someone who has deconverted, or is considering leaving the faith. Listen to what God says He will do for backsliding Israel: “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them” (Hos 14:4). Here is the hope: You can turn from your apostasy, and God will receive you. 

The word “deconversion”, defined simply as the loss of faith in one’s religion, seems to have become popular recently. People have become weirdly comfortable, almost boasting, in the fact that they have deconverted from Christianity. I think part of the comfort with deconversion is that the word is new enough to lack the sober connotations its meaning should convey. We often do this: we soften language to appease our consciences. So I want to say it out loud for those who might be dodging the seriousness of what deconverting from Christianity really means: Deconversion is apostasy.
When someone says, “I’ve deconverted” or “I’m an exvangelical” or “I’ve deconstructed”, I’m convinced that they choose this heady, pseudo-intellectual language because it allows the conscience to miss what they’ve actually done. Those who deconvert are leaving Christ. They are those whom the Spirit says, “will depart from the faith” (1 Tim 4:1). They are the ones who have, “an evil, unbelieving heart, leading [them] to fall away from the living God” (Heb 3:12). This is a serious and dangerous decision.
The Seriousness of Deconversion
Deconversion/Apostasy has terrifying consequences. Consider God’s word:

“in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thess 1:8-9).
“‘And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.’ Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (Rev 14:11-12).
“It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched’ (Matt 9:47-48).

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The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, so let’s continue to believe what God says, not only in His word, but what He says about His word. Let’s use that living and active word, and let it judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. May God save many souls through the preaching of the gospel.

We used to go regularly to one of the local colleges to share the gospel with students. At this particular place, it was super common to hear, “I don’t believe the Bible. It’s just a book written by men.” Honestly, we heard it so often that I was suspicious that all of the students had been coached to say it. And if you’ve shared the gospel any amount of time, you almost certainly have come across this same objection. The temptation is to say, “Well if they don’t believe the Bible, then I need to find another way to share the gospel.” I want to emphatically say, NO! I want to give three reasons why I still share the Bible with people who don’t believe it.
God’s Word is Powerful
If someone says that they do not believe God’s word, at what point does their opinion alter the effectiveness of God’s word? Hear this: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb 4:12). God’s word is living. It is active. It is sharp. God has never asked permission for His word to be powerful. It is powerful, irrespective of what someone believes. Someone’s lack of belief in its sharpness does not dull the blade one bit. So if someone says that they don’t believe the Word is sharp, I just purpose to start slicing and say, “Let’s find out.”
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