Hi John, in our counseling we often find ourselves in the situation where we end uptelling the person, “I can give you good advice or I can give you Good News. The good advice is only temporarily good, like a band-aid. The problem is that your situation requires more than a simple band-aid. You see, […]
Grace and Mercy Come To Those Who Need It
“Martin Luther describes this good news: ‘God receives none but those who are forsaken, restores health to none but those who are sick, gives sight to none but the blind, and life to none but the dead….He has mercy on none but the wretched and gives grace to none but those who are in disgrace.’ […]
Like a Burning Tree
“…the expressions describing Israel as having ears but not hearing and possessing eyes but not seeing (Is 6:9-10) and like a burning tree (Is 6:13a) are best understood as metaphors of idolatry that are applied to the disobedient nation in order to emphasize that they would be punished for their idol worship by being judged […]
Repentance Requires Power
“Notice that Christ connects the good news to a call to repentance. The Bible defines repentance as a radical change of heart resulting in a radical change in the direction of one’s life. It is only possible if there is power to change.” Tripp, Instruments In the Redeemer’s Hands, p. 5.
The Explosion of Repentance — 2 Cor. 7:5-11
Introduction: We live in a world where people feel bad for all sorts of things: People feel sorry for the pain they inflict on others. They feel sad because they do things that affect themselves. They sorrow over the loss of various things, homes, family, jobs, money, etc. People feel bad when they are caught […]
Idolatry Defined
“Martin Luther’s larger catechism discussion of the fist commandment (‘You shall have no other gods before Me’ [Ex 20:3] included ‘whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, that is your God; trust and faith of the hart alone make both God and the idol.’ I might add here, ‘whatever claims the loyalty that belongs […]
Radical Change
“As we listen to eternity, we realize that the kingdom is about God radically changing people, but not in the self-absorbed sense our culture assumes. Christ came to break our allegiance to such an atrophied agenda and call us to the one goal worth living for. His kingdom is about the display of his glory […]
Worried about Health
Worry is a thought, image, or emotion which comes upon us when have stopped trusting God and try to figure out our future on our own. But we are limited in our perspective and can’t actually see into the future and so we worry. While it is true that we are all dying and that […]
When She Strays
Hi again Hazel, As you remember we can’t do anything for your husband without talking with him. In other words, we can’t help him through you. We can pray for him, which I do, but unless he wants my help, I can’t help him directly. That said, the Bible does say that there is something […]