I have seen some disturbing claims by some Christians claiming to have some kind of direct understanding of the mind and heart of God regarding Haiti. Needless to say, it is presumptuous at best and grossly arrogant at worst, to claim to know the mind of God on an issue He has not spoken to directly. He has not, and will not, be granting any direct revelation about Haiti or the tragedy that has happened there.

At the same time, there is much that can be said about God’s character and ways with the the sons of men, and even nations in general. Albert Mohler comments on the situation in his usually insightful way on his blog. Here is an excerpt from the entire article, which I encourage you to read as a warning against the kind of sinful presumption some Christians are displaying in their comments about the situation there.

Does God hate Haiti? That is the conclusion reached by many, who point to the earthquake as a sign of God’s direct and observable judgment.

Click on the title above or right here to read the rest of the excerpt from Mohler.

Is there a “gay gene”? Is our “sexual orientation” determined by biology? Most people today would probably say “yes” to those questions. But is it supported by reliable scientific research? And regardless of the answers to those questions, what should our attitude and response be toward the homosexual community?

We live in a part of the country where we cannot ignore the very public nature of homosexuality and gay marriage. Rarely does a week go by that I do not see or speak with someone who is either part of this community, or is interacting with someone who is. Even more frequent is the barrage of information and opinions about this social phenomena from the various forms of media that so directly influence society — we are talking about television, movies, radio and our various news outlets.

We need to be careful to have a discerning spirit as we listen to this information. And we need to be even more diligent to maintain a thoroughly loving and Christian attitude as we interact with others about it. In an effort to help you be discerning, careful and loving in your evaluation and interaction about this often biased information, I want to pass along some information and articles that will both inform your understanding, as well as help shape your attitudes toward others who may not agree.

Click here to read the entire post!

I often get questions about this topic of whether the activity and presence of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament age was the same or different than in our age. Some have worded it, “How has God’s activity among us really changed since Pentecost?” There are a number of ways to ask the same thing.

Here is a short article that answers that very difficult question in a way that is faithful to reconcile biblical passages that seem to indicate major differences, even though we know the Spirit was working in OT saints. I believe a thorough study of other passages would confirm this author’s conclusions. In the past I have described the transition in the Spirit’s activity at Pentecost as “different in degree, but of the same kind.” Here is how this author states his conclusion.

Both the OT and NT present the Holy Spirit as the only regenerating agent in the plan of redemption, the sole agent of sanctification—working in the hearts of OT and NT believers, convicting them of sin and producing genuine God worshippers—and as the only agent of empowerment, enabling the saints of both testaments to live holy lives which are acceptable to God. He continues to fulfill this role in us today as He had done from the beginning of time. The extent of His work in believers has increased, but He was always in believers and among believers.

Click on the link above to read the whole article. I think it will help you if you desire to have a clearer understanding of this issue.

This is a summary of a sermon I preached recently from Psalm 4, which I titled “How to Sleep in Distress.” Every Christian at some point or other, whether due to their faith, or simply due to the sins of others, has suffered at the hands of distressing and unjust slander and ill-treatment. We even lose sleep over it.

But in psalm 4, King David teaches us that we don’t have to!

While David knew his share of deceptive, worthless and unjust treatment by others, by God’s grace he was able to maintain a proper perspective of the situation. As a result, he could lie down and rest peacefully at night (Psa. 4:8). Psalm 4 explains how he was able to do it.

Read on to find out how you too can sleep deeply during your distress.

One of my favorite authors, Dr. Jay Adams, has started a new blog where he is giving short, helpful comments on topics and passages of Scripture. In a recent post he discusses the topic of “Promptings of the Spirit” as they relate to assurance of salvation, and gives a helpful discussion of the biblical passage almost everyone uses to describe this experience.

Here is the complete text of what Dr. Adams said.

At times it is simply unavoidable to engage in discussions about issues that are difficult to understand and controversial in nature. Because we are part of Christ’s one true church we should expect Satan and his blinded servants to attack and seek to confuse and distract God’s children. We’ve discussed in past posts why it is important to be vigilant about truth, and how to go about exposing error while maintaining Christlike character (clearly, our Lord did not shy away from controversy and “feather ruffling”).

I was encouraged by this quote from Martin Luther, who initially began the Protestant reformation as an objection to abuses within the Roman Catholic Church and by many of its priests. The real battle quickly exposed itself, as a battle that struck to the heart of the gospel, and the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone. Luther quickly took up that fight, because it was indeed the doctrine that “the world and the devil [were] at that moment attacking.”

Here is his strengthening encouragement.

“If I profess, with the loudest voice and clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battle fields besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point” — Martin Luther

Stand strong for truth. Be steady and loyal. A battle for truth is indeed raging today on many fronts, primarily regarding the very meaning of the term Christian (and the gospel), the sufficiency of Scripture, and the certainty and absolute nature of truth itself.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 - Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

Here is an encouraging devotional thought from Stephen Altrogge on his blog The Blazing Center. I copied it completely here, but you can view the post here at his site if you want.

He quotes from the English Standard Version of Judges 10:16. I actually prefer the way the NIV puts it — God “could bear Israel’s misery no longer.” When you are suffering and in misery, even as a result of your sinful choices, God’s mercy and grace is still in operation.

Here are Altrogge’s comments.

God is patient and longsuffering when it comes to our sins, but impatient over our suffering.

The book of Judges recounts how Israel rejected God repeatedly, and after much patience with their idolatries, would send foreign nations to oppress them, to turn them back to himself. And every time, after chafing under their oppressors’ yokes for years, Israel would cry out to God. Then, filled with pity, despite all their past rebuffs, God would rescue them. But as soon as things were going well again…poof – Israel’s love would evaporate, and they’d be back sleazing with their idols.

You’d think God would have just dumped them. That after so many slaps in the face, he’d say, “Hey, you made your bed, now sleep in it.” But he was patient with their sins and amazingly anxious to end their well-deserved suffering.

So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel. Judges 10.16

Isn’t that incredible? God was “impatient” over their distress. When I’m impatient it’s sinful, but God’s impatience in the above verse is seen by many scholars “as a reference to God’s great mercy and his capacity to be moved by Israel’s misery and repentance” (ESV Study Bible).

If God pitied unfaithful Israel in their affliction, how much more is he moved by the suffering of his blood-bought children. God has a holy impatience with our suffering. He’s not deaf to our cries or unmoved by our sighs, but quick to listen, quick to send grace. He has pity and compassion as vast and deep as the ocean.

What an incredible God – he’s patient with our sins and offenses, but he’s impatient over our misery, and anxious to end it.

In our last post we examined the unavoidable truth that “our unchanging God condones and even commands war as an instrument of judgment.” We noted carefully that war was ordained by God as an instrument of justice and can only properly be carried out by national civil authorities. We also pointed out that God does not delight in war, but views it as a necessary means of restraining evil and punishing evildoers. His mercy and grace overshadows His condoning of war, as we saw that the Old Testament law included provisions for necessary diplomacy, justice and equity for private citizens. Nonetheless, it would be impossible to read the Old Testament record and conclude that God opposes all war.

That being said, many Christians suggest that the ethics of Jesus in this New Testament age require us to take a different position on the subject of war. They claim that principles like “turn the other cheek,” “love your neighbor as yourself,” and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” necessarily preclude a Christian’s participation and condoning of any war.

Is this claim true? We do not think so. Click here to find out why!

In the last post I suggested that the Bible contains one consistent and harmonious message whenever it speaks to any subject-even on the subject of war. I am convinced that God speaks on this subject with enough clarity to be understood, and in a manner that is completely consistent with His unchangeable character and nature.

We showed last time that the various opinions Christians hold on this subject are largely a result of different approaches to Scripture. Some people attempt to apply Old Testament commands or narratives in this age and arrive at a position that may support war efforts too aggressively or without discernment. Others attempt to blindly apply New Testament personal ethics to national governmental decisions and arrive at a position that is too passive.

Let’s look at the Scripture together and begin to see more clearly what the consistent, harmonious teaching regarding this issue is.

Click here for the entire post.

Here is a controversial topic that I attempted to think through biblically a couple of years ago when doing a series on the topic. No doubt the subject is one about which godly Christians will disagree. Let me begin by sharing some of the reasons I believe Christians do disagree on the topic. Then in future posts we will try to compile some biblical data in order to arrive at a biblical theology of war.

So, why is there such sharp disagreement among professing Christians on the topic of war? To begin, here is a quote from Andrew Kirk in his book Handling Problems of Peace and War: An Evangelical Debate.

Firstly, biblical Christians disagree among themselves largely because, in deciding on ethical issues, they use the Bible in different ways. Secondly, disagreements are also the result of a variety of views on the Church, the State and Christian involvement in public life.

I would like to briefly address and explain those two issues, and help us see how the Bible would have us think about those subjects. Click here to read the whole article .