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Today is Jonathan Edwards’s 315th Birthday. Where is He Now?

Jonathan Edwards was born on October 5, 1703. His influence on the global body of Christ, and on me personally, is incalculable. So where is he now? That may sound like a strange question, but I mean it seriously. His body lies in a cemetery near Princeton University. But his soul is by no means asleep or unconscious. So, where is he? What is he thinking, seeing, feeling, ...

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10 Things You Should Know about the Most Famous Verse in the Bible

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The most famous verse in the Bible, at least among Christians, is John 3:16. But do we really understand what it means? Here are ten things to keep in mind as you reflect on it....

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10 Things You Should Know about the Exclusivity of Jesus Christ or the “Scandal of Particularity”

That there is no salvation apart from a conscious faith in Jesus Christ is considered by many to be scandalous. Here are ten things to remember about this critically important issue. (1) The doctrine I believe is taught in Scripture is known as particularism or exclusivism or restrictivism. Advocates of this view insist that all are lost apart from a conscious and volition...

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What’s My Spiritual Gift?

One of the more debilitating obstacles to life in the local church is the fact that people are obsessed with discovering their spiritual gift and frustrated that they have not as yet figured it out. So they do nothing. I want to recommend an approach to you today to overcome this. Stop gazing at your navel and step out and serve someone. Let your gift find you. I'm not opp...

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What I Learned about Suffering from Reading the Christian Post

When I read Paul's words in Colossians 1:24, "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake," I shake my head. It isn't because I don't believe what he says. It's because I struggle to identify with his experience. I've lived a rather sheltered, comfortable, and safe life here in America. I honestly have no idea what my brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the gl...

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10 Things You Should Know about God’s Creative Power

A week or so ago I was alerted to a video (https://vimeo.com/275908702) that focused on the amazing creative power of God, both in terms of the massive size of the universe as well as the incredibly small world of molecules and atoms. It may be helpful here at the start to remember that we count from million to billion to trillion to quadrillion to quintillion to sextillio...

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The Compassion of Christ and Healing

Often times people argue that the primary (if not sole) purpose for the healing ministry of Jesus was to confirm his messianic identity and deity. Others suggest that it was also designed to signal and confirm the in-breaking of the kingdom of God and to provide us with a foretaste of the blessings that will be ours when the kingdom is consummated upon Christ's return. Whe...

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10 Things You Should Know about Jesus Christ

It actually sounds a bit silly, even irreverent, to speak of only ten things we should know about Jesus. There are thousands of things to know about him, perhaps millions. Indeed, when we arrive in the new heaven and new earth we will discover that there is an infinity of truths about our Savior that it will be our joy to see, know, and savor. But for now, today, let's con...

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50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith

I don't often review books on my blog, but I'm so excited about Gregg Allison's new volume that I can't resist the temptation! I read through 50 Core Truths of the Christian Faith: A Guide to Understanding and Teaching Theology (Baker Books) quite a while back and found it to be the best, most informative, clearest, and most accessible short book on theology that I've ever...

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10 Things You Should Know about Suffering

Suffering is an unpopular but essential topic for Christians to understand. And it is nowhere more clearly explained than in 1 Peter. So here are ten things we can learn about suffering from this letter. (1) In 2 Corinthians 6:10 Paul describes himself as "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing". And in Colossians 1:24 he again declares, "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake....

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