Category Archives: General

I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. (Psalm 116:14)

If you’re a regular reader here, you may remember that Kim and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary on March 6. We renewed our vows, which is a symbolic way of reaffirming the original vows (that is, promises made before God and man) that we made on that wonderful day back in 1993. I’d like to encourage you today to renew the most important vow that you ever made.

Many of us have made many vows to our Lord, but the one that surpasses them all is the vow of life, in which we promise to surrender our lives to Him. The reason I believe this vow surpasses all others that we make to our Lord is because He tests our sincerity and commitment to keeping it so frequently. We promise to walk with our Lord wherever He leads . . . and as long as He is leading us into green pastures and beside still waters, we faithfully follow.

But what about those times when He leads us into a Garden of Gethsemane? Do we, like Peter, pull out our spiritual swords to do battle for the glory of our Lord against His enemies? Or are we more like Judas, who betrayed the Christ with a kiss and then disappeared into the night? It is far easier to make a vow than it is to keep it!

So how do we keep the vows we make to our Lord? We must keep in view the vow that He made to us: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). You see, our marriage vows to Jesus can never end in divorce. No matter how often we fail to keep our vows to Him, He will never fail to keep His vow to us. We are utterly secure in our marriage relationship with Jesus—not because of our faithfulness to Him, but because of His faithfulness to us, regardless of how faithless we may be.

The key that unlocks the door to keeping our vows is the cross. Knowing how loved we are by Jesus is the driving force that strengthens us in our moments of decision. It is His love to us that helps us say “Yes!” to Him and “No!” to everything else. Being reminded of His crucified life for us—a vow He made to us in eternity past (Hebrews 13:20)—is what strengthens us to live the vow we made to Him to live the crucified life. This is how Paul could say, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Paul lived constantly in the shadow of the cross and was strengthened to fulfill his vows to Jesus.

So, regardless of where this message finds you today, and how many unfulfilled vows litter your past, press on by renewing your vows today. Keep the cross in view, and you will find the strength to fulfill your vows more often than you fail in them. And when you do fall short, remember that you have a God who loves you and forgives you . . . no matter what!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

In their misery they will earnestly seek me.  (Hosea 5:15)

I don’t know anyone who welcomes misery and misfortune, yet our verse today contains an important biblical truth: Adversity is very often the means our Lord uses to get our attention and return our affections to Him.

No one has ever put a sharper point upon this truth than C. S. Lewis.

Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

The Great Shepherd knows all too well that His sheep are prone to wander . . . and we do wander! We wander away from prayer. We wander away from His presence. We wander away from His protection. We wander away from His provision. And in doing so, we stumble into a myriad of unforeseen problems and predicaments that deliver painful providences to us. But as Lewis said, it is in this pain that our Great Shepherd shouts to us and draws us back into His fold. Indeed, pain has its purpose, and misery has its ministry in the life of the believer. The key is to receive it and respond to it rightly.

Think back over your life for a moment. Surely you can recall times when misery ministered to you in a profound way. I could cite any number of examples from Scripture, but let’s look at just one: the reluctant prophet Jonah. When God called on Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah wanted no part of it; he ran from God and boarded a ship that was going in the opposite direction.

At that point, wouldn’t it have been so much easier for God to simply call on another prophet? It wasn’t like God’s plan for the great revival at Nineveh could not have been accomplished without Jonah. I mean, if the Lord can make a jackass speak (Numbers 22:28) and Tommy Boland preach, surely He could have sent someone else to preach God’s message of impending judgment to the people of Nineveh. But God loved Jonah far too much to leave him in his self-centered condition. And so the Lord sent a great storm upon the sea and appointed the great fish for Jonah’s good, not God’s.

Have you ever stopped to think what those three days and nights trapped inside the belly of a fish must have been like? Words like “happy” and “comfortable” don’t come into my mind at all. God appointed a ministry of misery—not to punish Jonah, but to teach him about God’s amazing grace and love and to begin to draw Jonah back into right relationship with the Lord.

It’s no different with you and me. God simply loves us too much to let us go our own way. So He intervenes by sending storm winds that will blow us onto the rocks of His righteousness. Yes, it is painful; often the pain seems unbearable. But it is a pain that points us back toward our Savior. Make no mistake, painful providences in the hands of our Prince are sent for the strengthening of our soul and the furthering of our faith. Misery does indeed have its ministry in the life of the believer . . . and that includes you.

So regardless of where this message finds you today and what trials may seem to be overwhelming you, fear not, Christian, and faint not, because your loving, faithful Savior is using it all to accomplish His good purposes in your life. Remember, all of the promises of Jesus are as true today as they were when He spoke them. “In this world you will have trouble,” He said, “But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He has overcome the world, and He will even overcome our reticence, our resistance, and even our outright rebellion when we, like Jonah, stubbornly determine that we are going to strike out in the wrong direction.

Sometimes we are not the cause of our troubles; they simply come knocking at our door. And then there are those times when our sinful hearts have caused that distress. Either way, the Master’s ministry of misery is always at work, causing us to return to our first love, the One who loved us before the world was ever created and will continue loving us for all eternity: Jesus Christ.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem . . . in summer and in winter. (Zechariah 14:8)

Oh, what a word of encouragement we have today! Though the seasons change and effect the world we live in, the living waters of our Lord’s love continually flow. The burning heat of the summer cannot dry up His love for us and the frigid cold of the winter cannot cause it to freeze over. Because our God changes not, His love unceasingly flows to us like streams of living water, regardless of the season we find ourselves in.

I don’t know where this message finds you today, but I do know this: Regardless of whether you are in a season of summer, with the oppressive heat of holy trials surrounding you, or in a season of winter, with the frigid winds of challenge blowing over you, God is ready, willing, and able to meet you in your place of deepest need with a flow of living waters that cannot run out. They cannot run out because God’s love for us never ceases.

Knowing this truth keeps us from wandering off and wading in other streams—polluted streams. The world promises us that if we would but sip from its springs, life will be wonderful . . . but these are empty promises that the world simply cannot keep. Those springs have been spoiled by sin. The world can never give us what only God can give. Only God can give us purpose in life. Only God can our lives meaning and significance. God created us in such a way that the things that matter most in this life will only be found in Him. When we drink from the waters of this world, we are left thirsting for what matters most because the waters of this world cannot slake our thirst.

You’ll recall our Lord’s words to the woman at the well:

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14) 

The answer to your thirst in any area of life is to sip from the streams of your Savior. They flow to you continually and freely from the Fountain of Life. But remember, you must drink from those streams yourself, because God will not drink for you. An unlimited supply of living water will not serve you if you do not take the time to drink from it.

My prayer is that you will remember these words from our Lord and be encouraged to drink your fill today and every day that God gives you. Remember and accept His gracious invitation:

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” (John 7:37)

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.  (Psalm 26:2)

God is in the business of testing His people. Those tests are as promised as they are promising. Unlike the devil, who tempts us with the intent of tripping us up and turning us away from our Lord, God tests us to strengthen our faith and conform us more and more into the image and likeness of His beloved Son.

Here is a question to ponder today: Do you receive God’s ways as readily as you receive God’s Word?

Every born-again child of God receives His Word with great joy, but there are times when “joy” is not our first response when we are receiving God’s ways! God’s ways are not our ways; we frequently expect God to respond to us in a particular way, and He responds to us in another way altogether. When this happens—and it happens a lot—we must remember this sublime truth, given to in Hosea 14:9 —

The ways of the Lord are right!

The prophet Hosea was telling us that no matter what way God has prepared for us, it is right; it is righteous and fair and just and merciful and absolutely what we needed at that time. You see, God created us for His good purpose, and, as Job said, “He will complete what he appoints for me” (Job 23:14 ESV). He made us for Himself to expand the cause of His kingdom in this world. He knows what is best for us at all times and He knows exactly how to deliver that “best” to us at just the right moment . . . even though that may not be what we expected or wanted at the time.

When we have difficulty receiving God’s ways, it is because we are seeking our will rather than God’s will for our lives. We are pursuing what we want for ourselves rather than what God wants for us. Because God made us, He knows what is best for us. Throw our sinfulness into the mix, and it is plain to see that God must intervene on our behalf by conforming to us His ways if we are ever going to live the life He is calling us to live.

So . . . have you been struggling with God’s ways in your life lately? You are not alone! We all struggle at times with God’s ways. But remember the words of Hosea: the ways of the Lord are always right. God loves us so much that He will cause us to walk in His ways rather than our own, knowing that in the end, it will be ultimately for His glory and our good. When the Lord tests us with His ways, we must trust Him, even when we cannot trace Him. Remember, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7 ESV).  Now that’s a way worth walking in!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.  (1 Corinthians 9:22)

If we do not understand the biblical truth of what Paul said in the words “all things to all people,” we may find ourselves becoming absolutely nothing to anyone. At that level of living, we have not only watered down our witness for Christ, we have likely lost it altogether.

So what is the great apostle Paul telling us in this verse?

First, Paul is speaking about those areas in life that come under the heading of “indifferent”—they are neither commanded nor forbidden by Scripture. In these areas we have been given liberty to choose. Paul was in no way considering actions that were contrary to the moral law of God in order to become “all things to all people.” He would not water down his witness. He would not compromise his faith. He would not preach a false gospel . . . all with the hopes of winning some to Christ. Why? Because Paul knew the biblical truth that what you win people through, you also win people to. If you win them through the truth, you win them to the truth.

Because Paul’s identity was in Christ, in those areas that mattered not, he did not care what others might think of him in order to reach the lost for Christ. His identity was firmly fixed in Christ and it could not be shaken by the opinions of others. He ministered not for the applause of man, but rather for the approval of God. Paul knew he had been given great freedom in the Gospel, but he refused to use his freedom for any reason whatsoever that might negatively impact the faith of a brother or sister whose faith was not as strong as Paul’s.

As the former “Pharisee of Pharisees,” Paul knew the ceremonial law of God inside and out. And he knew that this yoke of the law had been removed by the blood of the Lamb of God. Paul knew that his faithfulness to Christ meant freedom from the ceremonial law. Yet, if by submitting to it in any way, a weaker brother might be brought to faith in Christ, Paul would give up his freedom and bear the yoke of the law. He could do this because He knew what God had done for him during his Damascus Road experience: Saul, the one who had been the violent persecutor of the church had been transformed into Paul, the church’s primary preacher and pastor and the man would pen much of the New Testament.

Sadly, many in the church today misunderstand what Paul was saying in his epistle to the Corinthians, and they have become a veritable “spiritual smorgasbord” . . . for them, everything is up for grabs. They are blown to and fro by every imaginable wind of doctrine in their misguided attempts to be all things to all people. The truth is shrouded, the Gospel is watered down, and the whole counsel of God is obscured—if not distorted.

We must remember that we are merely instruments of salvation in the hands of the Almighty. God saves; we simply share the truth of the good news of the Gospel and leave the results up to Him. We don’t need to change the message to meet the felt needs of lost people in the hope that some might be saved. Our God needs no spiritual smorgasbord to assist in the process of salvation; He needs and wants sold-out saints who will tell others the truth about the Savior.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. (Judges 5:20)

If even the stars in heaven have been assigned a cosmic course to follow, then there can be no question that the Christian has too. God has set a course before every Christian, and the closer we hold to that course, the more fruitful, faithful, and fulfilled we shall be.

To journey beyond our course is to journey in our own strength. God has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), but He has not promised to give us His supernatural strength when we launch out on our own and travel a path of our own choosing.

You remember the story of the reluctant prophet Jonah don’t you? Instead of walking in God’s strength, Jonah left the course that had been prescribed by God, and he ended up spending three days and nights in the belly of a great fish. God was with Jonah every step of the way, even when he sank into the depths of the sea (Jonah 2:5-6), but Jonah was operating out of his own strength, satisfying his own will, and fulfilling his own desires. That never ends well for us!

Personal experience has taught me that it is not so difficult to find the course God has set before us. We need only stay close to Christ and our course is clear. What is harder to do is to stay in that course. The old, sinful nature still lives inside every child of God, and that old nature is hard at work. “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want” (Galatians 5:17). Pride fights against our Prince. Selfish ambition wars against our Savior. Self-righteousness battles against our Redeemer.

The key to staying on course is staying in close contact with Christ, and staying in close contact with Christ is rooted in love. We must love Jesus more than we love anything else in this world; when we do that, we begin to live out the truth of 1 Corinthians 13:5—“Love does not seek its own way.” The more we love Jesus, the more we will submit and surrender to His will in our lives. We will realize that His course for our lives is better than any other course we could have chosen apart from the leading of His Spirit. When we are living in the course God has set before us, we are living at the deepest level of meaning, significance, and purpose in this life. God knows us intimately—He formed us; He gave us all of our gifts, talents, and abilities; and He knows exactly how we should be using those gifts for His glory and for the good of others.

So, regardless of where this message finds you today—whether you are in the center of the course God has set before you or perhaps you have drifted a bit off course—draw closer to Jesus. He is your true North Star who will guide you every step of the way into glory.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

A sword will pierce even your own soul.  (Luke 2:35)

Because of her relationship to Jesus as the mother who gave Him birth, Mary was promised a piercing of her own soul. This piercing was not only promised to Mary; it is promised to all those who desire to live in proximity to their Prince.

When Kim and I were first saved in 1995, our relationships began to change, both professionally and personally. We both felt this promised piercing keenly as we lost friends, colleagues, and clients; at times we experienced condemnation from those who could say that they “knew us when . . .” It has been 23 years—six years as church planters—and we can both testify to the truth that the closer we walk with Jesus, the more we experience this promised piercing.

Christians must remember Christ’s statement that He came “not to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). Jesus is the dividing line in life. The unbelieving world may tolerate Him as a “good teacher” or even a “great prophet,” but it will have nothing to do with a Jesus who is both Lord and Savior. When Jesus is that to you—when you confess that He is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6)—the world is not happy with you. You are seen as intolerant, narrow-minded, and living in some kind of modern “dark ages.”

This hostility should not surprise us in the least. Jesus promised that we will have trouble in this world if the world knows we are His. I remember Dr. R.C. Sproul telling me during a seminary class, “Tommy, if some people are not upset with you when you are preaching the whole counsel of God, one of two things has happened: either they don’t understand what you are preaching . . . or you are not preaching it!”

Our Lord spoke very directly of the animosity we should expect from the world:

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.  (John 15:18-19)

Have you experienced this promised piercing of your soul because of your sold-out commitment to your Savior? Have relationships with friends or even family been affected by your relationship to Jesus? Remember, we must speak the truth in love, but with a heart filled with compassion, so that when this promised piercing comes, it comes for His sake and not because we projected a “holier than thou” attitude. Peter said, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter 4:14).

May this be the confession of our lives for the glory of God and in the name of Jesus!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  (Luke 9:23)

Yesterday was Easter Sunday, and Christians all around the world celebrated the bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the resurrection must never be seen in isolation. Why? Because there is no resurrection without death.

Our Lord was condemned as a criminal; He was beaten and scourged; then He was put to death by crucifixion and buried in the tomb. On the third day, a dead Man got up and walked out of His tomb and into the hearts of all those who would, by grace through faith, place their trust in Him for the forgiveness of their sins and life everlasting.

Does that describe you?

Now, life everlasting does not begin on the other side of the grave. It begins the moment we transfer our trust from ourselves to Jesus for salvation. At that point, the Christian is living the resurrected life. But, just as with Jesus, there is no resurrected life without death.

The key to understanding today’s verse is found in the phrase, “take up their cross daily.” Jesus’ words were unmistakable to His first century audience; the cross was a cruel death administered by the Roman soldiers. At times, crosses with the enemies of Rome nailed to them would line the roads. So when Jesus said His disciples needed to take up their cross daily, it could only mean one thing: death to the self.

Dying to self begins at the new birth. When we are born again, the old self is put to death—indeed, Paul said “our old self was crucified” (Romans 6:6)—and the new self is brought to life through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. This is a one-time event, but it doesn’t stop there. Throughout the rest of his or her life on this side of the grave, the Christian is to die to self through the lifelong process of sanctification. When we die to self—to our desires, our dreams, our goals, our plans, our ambitions, our will—we begin to live for the Savior. Death to self puts Jesus on His rightful place on the throne of our lives; death to self removes Jesus from the circumference of our lives and places Him in the center.

Remember, death to self is not an option or an add-on. It is foundational to the Christian life. It is the reality of the new birth in Christ—of having been raised from death to life. And it is the goal of every committed Christian, because the more we die to self, the more we live for the Savior. And that is when we begin to live the abundant life that is offered to us in John 10:10.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

He was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.  (Isaiah 53:5)

It seems counterintuitive to refer to the day when Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried as “good,” but its goodness is so utterly glorious that it’s cosmic!

For the Christian, Good Friday begins the celebration of the most momentous three days in the history of the world. That weekend began on the Hill Golgotha, where . . . well, Scripture explains it far more eloquently than I ever could!

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
(Psalm 85:10 ESV)

When Jesus cried out, “It is finished” from that cruel cross, He meant what He said! The demands of God’s perfect, righteous justice were fulfilled when Jesus paid the penalty for our sins in full. Because Jesus took our place on that cross, receiving the full measure of God’s divine wrath for our sin, we have now received the first fruit of justification: peace with God.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” so that the holy demands of His perfect righteousness would be completely satisfied by Christ’s sacrificial death, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV). God’s unwavering, steadfast love for you, Christian, met God’s faithfulness to administer justice, and both were fully expressed at Calvary. Righteousness and peace met at the cross and kissed one another. This really is goodness on steroids!

But it doesn’t stop there. The weekend reached its glorious conclusion when God placed His supernatural stamp of approval on all that Jesus had done by raising His beloved Son from death to life.

“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:6 NKJV)

The angel reminded the women that Jesus walked out of the tomb, just as He predicted He would. You see, Good Friday’s goodness brings us to Easter morning and the Resurrection. If Jesus had remained dead in the grave, we would all still be dead in our sins. But Jesus was raised from death to life and showed Himself to hundreds of people during a 40-day period before He ascended back into heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father.

The “goodness” of Good Friday not only saves us from the penalty of our sin, it also begins the life-long process of saving us from the power of sin. Peter writes, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus Christ’s wounds witness to the wealth of goodness that we have been given through His unimaginable suffering on that dark, dreadful day more than 2,000 years ago. To the watching world, evil had triumphed, but that “victory” was short lived. On Easter morning, Jesus became the death of death; and that, beloved, is the ultimate goodness of Good Friday. Let that truth set you free on this Good Friday as you prepare to celebrate the Resurrection.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15)

As a pastor, I frequently encounter those who are struggling with their “fallible” faith. I always remind them to go back through the biblical record and see that this is the only kind of faith the people of God were ever able to demonstrate! We see the faith of Jesus and we marvel, as we rightly should, and it is this Christlike faith that we are to desire with every fiber of our being. But we must never imagine that this is the kind of faith we will demonstrate on this side of the grave. When we fall short—and we will, time and time again—we must remember that our salvation is not rooted in our faithfulness to Jesus, but rather in His faithfulness to us.

Let these few examples of fallible faith comfort you today:

• Abraham tried twice to pass his wife off as his sister to save his own skin.
• Jacob did everything he could to scheme his way into his birthright.
• Moses killed an Egyptian taskmaster and hid in the desert for forty years.
• David slept with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed to try to cover it up.
• Elijah cried out for death after defeating the prophets of Baal.
• Jonah ran from God’s call and spent three days in the belly of a great fish.
• Peter denied Jesus three times in the courtyard on the night He was betrayed.
• John Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas during a missionary trip.

Fallible faith that leads to failure does not end your relationship with Christ! Falling is only fatal if you fail to get back up. Wherever this finds you, know that God wrote your story before the beginning of time, and it contains moments of rock-solid faith and moments where your faith falters. Why? Because you are still a sinner in moment-by-moment need of a Savior. This is the condition of each and every one of us. Not one of the giants of the faith listed here was disqualified from serving their Savior, even though they failed badly—many of them on more than one occasion. God restored them over and over again, calling them to continue in their calling.

When Job said, “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1), he was speaking of you and me! This was not a statement for the unbeliever and the ungodly. It is a biblical truth for everyone born of woman.

Near the end of his life, Paul wrote, “I have kept the faith.” Don’t fool yourself into thinking that Paul meant he kept the faith perfectly. Paul called himself the “chief sinner” (1 Timothy 1:15); everything he did he did imperfectly. His faith was as fallible as yours and mine, but Paul never let that stop him from doing what God had called him to do. May this be the confession of our lives as we seek to live, by God’s grace, for the good of others and the glory of God, in spite of a faith that will be fallible from time to time.

For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again . . . (Proverbs 24:16)

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!