A Testimonial: How Biblical Counselling Helped a Person Struggling with “Low Self-esteem” – The Idol of People-Pleasing
This article is the testimony of a believer who was helped by biblical counseling to recognize the true character of her low self-esteem.
God does not expect any good in us but what he has wrought in us.
Porn Addiction Isn't Just a Guy Thing
The Dark Monster: A Parent's Struggle with Mental Illness
Celebrating Easter in God's Acre: A Sunrise Service from the Moravian Church
Moravian churches have been celebrating this Easter Service service for more than 250 years and singing the same hymns for at least the last hundred years. This article provides the main content of such a service and presents it as an example to other churches.
Calendar for the Church Year
This article explains the calendar for the church year, covering terms like Lent and advent.
Different Flavors for Different Seasons: Six Service Plans for Celebrating the Lord's Supper throughout the Church Year (Page 2 of 2)
This is the second part of an article that offers service plans for celebrating the Lord's Supper throughout the church year.
Recognizing the Body: Discovering That the Church Is Bigger Than My Own Tradition
The liturgical form for the celebration of the Lord's Supper includes the call to "discern the body" (1 Corinthians 11). This article reflects on the significance of this biblical call for the way a church celebrates the Lord's Supper.
Prayers and a Banner for Pentecost
Prayers and Litanies – Good Friday Resources
This article offers a number of resources in the form of prayers and litanies for Good Friday.
Paying the Piper
Should musicians be paid for their roles in the church? Should they offer their talents freely as a gift to God? Are there guidelines that churches could follow in determining the amount of the salary or honorarium? This article provides the results of a survey.
Is Nothing Sacred? Changing the Language of Our Hymns
This article contains a panel discussion on the appropriateness of changing and modernizing the language of hymns, and criteria for church music.
We Used to Sing Only Psalms – What Happened?
This article offers answers from various denominations on the matter of the history and current practices of psalm singing in their churches.
Harmony
This article considers our worship language: the liturgy and the music. It emphasises that liturgy and music are the most meaningful language we use.
Did Jesus Think He Was God?
Did Jesus think he was God? Jesus made both implicit and explicit claims to his divinity. This article explains that the divinity of Jesus is something that is clear from his claims, and it also discusses why this is important for Christianity, for salvation rests with the person of Christ.
There May be Exceptions to Truthtelling in the Workplace
Is truthtelling always expected at the workplace? This article looks at telling the truth in relation to exaggeration, white lies, and bluffing.
Why Truthtelling Is Important
Should Christians always tell the truth? Truthtelling is not only based on God's character, but is important for the flourishing of society. The article explains that there are three other reasons why telling the truth important: authentic communication, trust and cooperation, and human dignity.
How Christians Can Experience Deeper Rest
True Sabbath rest can only be found in Christ. How can Christians experience such a rest? This article explains how to deal with three hindirances to resting in Christ.
How Rest Is Restored – Sabbath & Jesus’ Redemption in the New Testament
To obey God's commandment about resting on the Sabbath is a matter of a change of heart. For it is only in Christ that true rest is restored. This article explains the implication of this for keeping the weekly Sabbath.
Created to Rest: Entering into Joyful Communion with God
For Christians, there is more to rest than only gaining energy for production. The pattern of work and rest was established by God in Genesis 1-2, so that we could enjoy communion with God.
Hope and Help in God’s Provision
What can we expect from God in regard to provision and our daily work? We can expect his guidance, provision, and blessing on our work.
We Are to Change Our Personal Lifestyles
Cultivating right attitudes to provision and wealth will lead to right lifestyles. This article encourages three lifestyle changes in this area: have a community mindset, personally engage with those who struggle financially, and pursue a rhythm of work and rest.
We Are to Develop and Model Right Attitudes to Provision and Wealth
This article discusses three attitudes Christians are required to develop towards wealth and provision: trusteeship, gratitude, and contentment.
The Effects of a Fallen World
The fall disrupted God's original plan for man to draw provision from the land. Some people are unable to obtain basic provision, others find that having provision and being wealthy cause harm, and that legitimate wealth can also be harmful.
God’s Original Intentions: Blessing, Provision, Abundance
Genesis 1-2 makes it clear that it was the plan of God for man to develop God's creation. This article explains that this developing would enable man to enjoy God's creation.
Redeemed Finance
This article looks at the role of financial professionals, borrowers, and lenders, and explains that God’s redeeming grace, operating through labourers in financial institutions, can open up the possibility of finance to honour God, foster good stewardship, and show justice and love to people.
Finance and the Fall
The fall into sin has affected God's purpose with finances. This article considers this impact by looking at financial markets and how the fall has affected the practice of borrowing and lending.
Financial Institutions
Financial institutions can be means to enable humans to obey God’s stewardship mandate and to show God’s justice and love. This article discusses four financial institutions and shows how they can be used to fulfil this mandate.
The Foundations of Finance are Created by God
The foundations of financial resources, financial management, and financial markets are all created by God. This article discusses eight foundations that God created for finance.
God’s Purposes for Finance
Finances have a role in God’s purposes for humanity. God has three primary purposes with finances: a help to reveal his glory, a help to be good stewards, and a means for justice and love.
Equipping Churches Connect Daily Work to Worship
How Does Human Work Connect to God’s Work?
How does human work connect to God's work? The article answers this question by looking at the cultural mandate, the great commission, and the great commandment.
Putting It All Together
What is Christian ethics? To understand the nature of Christian ethics one must see the discipline in light of the three approaches to ethics: the command, consequences, and character approaches. This article discusses their value in decision making and solving major moral dilemmas.
The Character Approach
What is Christian ethics? To understand the nature of Christian ethics one must see the discipline in light of the three approaches to ethics: the command, consequences, and character approaches. This article deals with the character approach.
The Consequences Approach
What is Christian ethics? To understand the nature of Christian ethics one must see the discipline in light of the three approaches to ethics: the command, consequences, and character approaches. This article deals with the consequences approach.
Different Approaches to Ethics
What is Christian ethics? To understand the nature of Christian ethics one must see the discipline in light of the three approaches to ethics: the command, consequences, and character approaches. This article deals with the command approach to ethics.
Competition as Cooperation Is the Solution
What should be the Christian approach to market competition and participation in the market economy? This article explains that to live in the reality of competition and yet avoid hurting others, it is best to embrace competition as cooperation. It explains that how this can benefit society, customers and consumers.
Self-Injury and Psalm 23
This article weighs in on the matter of self-injury through cutting, and suggests adding Psalm 23 to one's resources in dealing with self-injurers.
Listening and Counseling
This article shows that being a biblical listener is a prerequisite for being an effective counsellor. It examines several passages from Proverbs from the perspective of being a loving counsellor who listens.
Reliance on God in Affliction
This article shows from 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 that one of the reasons for suffering is that we would rely not on ourselves but on the God of the resurrection.
Who Can Dwell with God? Musings on Psalm 15
This article considers Psalm 15 and shows how none but Christ himself meets the holy standards required to dwell in God's presence. Yet those in union with Christ can therefore abide with God as well.
Victory over the Shame of Sexual Abuse
Foolishness, Cause for a World of Hurt
With the teaching of Proverbs in mind, this article explains what [[foolishness] entails: a lack of foresight, a general disregard for consequences, and a desire for what I want. It then offers three things to avoid foolishness: learn from the past, make different choices, and pray for a changed heart.
The Origins of the Red-Letter Bible
This article discusses the background of the red-letter Bible, whose origin dates to the end of the 19th century.
Very God of Very God
This article includes a brief history of objections to the deity of Christ, and then the biblical witness to his deity.
"The Utmost Farthing Paid": The Doctrine of the Atonement
This article discusses the extent of the atonement of Christ.
The Doctrines of Grace
This article contains a useful summary of the five points of Calvinism, provided by someone who came out of an Arminian background.
The Inconsistency of Four-Point Calvinism
This article highlights what happens to all the other points of Calvinism if limited atonement is considered false.
An Elder’s Wife's Perspective
Dealing With Infertility: A Man's Perspective
Sin is like quicksand: your own efforts only make you sink deeper. Only an outside hand can pull you out.
Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?
Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.
The love of God is like the Amazon river flowing down to water one daisy.
Narrow is the road and wide is the gate that leads to heaven.
Sometimes the Lord calms the storm; sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.
Faith is not a leap into the dark, but a step into the light.
Religion is spelled “DO”, biblical Christianity is spelled “DONE”.
No Christian is ever going in the right direction when he has his back to God.
If you are not as close to God as you used to be, you do not have to guess who moved.
Men do not reject the Bible because they find faults in it, but because it finds faults in them.
In God’s work we see his hand, but in his Word we see his face.
A good Christian mother can, just by her attitudes and actions, do much to show her child how God deals with us.
If I do not see Christ as Lord of all, I do not see Christ as Lord at all.
Sanctification is glory begun, glory is sanctification completed.
The wheels of God’s justice grind slowly, but when they come they do grind finely.
To be much like Christ, be much with Christ.
Religion is man’s search for God. Christianity is God’s search for man.
The question should never be whether we are good enough for salvation, but rather whether Christ is good enough for us.
The unpardonable sin is constant, willful, and persistent impenitence.
Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself but because it contradicts them.
If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don’t like - it’s not the gospel you believe, but yourself
There is only one person God cannot forgive. The person who refuses to come to Him for forgiveness.
God loves us not because of who we are, but because of who He is.
Better that we should be bound and the Word of God free than that we should be free and the Word of God bound
We are not fit to die for Christ unless we are willing to live for Christ
To be much like Christ, be much with Christ
The welfare of the state depends on the blessing of the Lord
To walk with God you must walk in the direction in which God goes
The worst possible heritage to leave our children is: hypocrisy
The one reaction the Christian church ought never to produce in the community is indifference
He who does not fear God has need to fear everything else
Christian giving is not a matter of finance, it is a matter of faith
When we give to God we are taking the gift out of one of his hands and putting it into the other