But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was […]
The Lord Supper is a 1. Celebration with thanksgiving: “and when he had given thanks” (1 Cor. 11:24a). If Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with gratitude to His Father, should we not also celebrate the Lord’s Supper with gratitude to Jesus for what He has done for us? Through the finished work of Christ we […]
When we search our subject in the book of First Chronicles, we come to the account of David ordering Joab to go through Israel and count “the number of fighting men,” that is, those capable of warfare (21:2, 5). David’s command was repulsive to Joab, who was in charge of this census. Of greater concern […]
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:20) If Christ has not been raised—then what? Have you ever sat down for a few minutes of quiet meditation and asked yourself that question? How would you answer it? If Christ had not been raised—then […]
People are zealous about many things in their lives: sports teams, business, politics, family, hobbies, and a whole host of other things. We live in a culture that would have us hide our Christianity, or at least put it on the back burner until Sunday, and in church only. This is not what the Lord […]
A master builder crafts a carefully organized cosmos, places people within it, and provides complete instructions for them to live happily. He declares his creation very good—until his creatures begin to challenge his restrictions. When they rebel, he divides them into separate continents and worlds, withdraws to a distant throne room, and develops a plan […]
One of the more significant happenings in the life of a church is the selection of godly men to serve as elders. Elders are an essential part of the local Christian church; it is an apostolic command to appoint men to serve as elders in every local church (Titus 1:5; cf. Acts 14:23). Sometimes this […]
This past autumn Confraternidad Latinoamericana De Inglesias Reformadas (CLIR) celebrated its twentieth anniversary by hosting the General Assembly of Reformed Churches in Latin America. URCNA missionaries Rev. Bill Green and Rev. Nick Lamme were joined by several speakers from the western hemisphere. The theme for the conference was taken from Philippians 1:27b-28a: “Stand firm in […]
In the Old Testament God instituted a distinction between clean and unclean things (Lev. 11). But of what use is this distinction to us today? In Mark 7 Jesus applies this important biblical teaching to His hearers. In no uncertain terms Jesus says that all of us have become unclean because of our defiled hearts. […]
The Bible warns against eating the food of a stingy man. “He is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. ‘Eat and drink,’ he says to you, but his heart is not with you” (Prov. 23:6–7). Sadly, many people view God as such a stingy man. They doubt that God wants […]