I’m serious when I say, the biggest threat to my sanctification is the person who stares back at me in the mirror. I regularly pray, “Oh Lord, please protect me from myself. Please sanctify my desires so they conform to your will, not my own.” Recognize that you are your own worst enemy. If you can acknowledge this truth, you’ll make greater progress in your growth in grace.

In the end, move beyond the shallow general confession of sin and into the deeper maturity of confessing your particular sins particularly. In so doing you will not only discover the depths of the riches of Christ’s grace and mercies to meet your sin, but you will also make greater strides in your sanctification.

In the end, rather than pin our hopes on a man-made concept such as the Church Calendar, we should instead ask what our triune God has commanded in his word concerning our worship of him. We should celebrate the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ every Lord’s Day as we look to the horizon in the hope and anticipation of Christ’s return on the last day.

Ideally, any time we bow our heads in prayer our hearts should overflow with thanksgiving for the many blessings we have received from God’s hand, chief of which is our salvation.

Give careful thought, prayer, and preparation if you decide to serve in the military. Pray in the end that, no matter your vocation, that you would glorify God in all that you do, even through your military service.

All too often I think pastors see themselves as lumberjacks. They go into a church and look at the problems as trees that need to be chopped down. They fire up their massive chain saw and start cutting into the tree to bring it down. They grab their ax and start hacking away until the problematic tree lies on the ground.

In truth, it turns out that people often define conservative, not by a set of objective doctrinal criteria, but by a number of unwritten rules. These days, it doesn’t seem to matter what doctrines you hold (trinity, election, atonement, christology, etc) but how you voted in the last election and whether your children attend—fill in the blank—type of school.

I think one of the weakest areas of the Christian life for many is prayer. We seldom spend significant time in prayer unless we find ourselves in a period of suffering or trial. Under such circumstances we might regularly engage in prayer. But if public prayers are any indication of our private prayers, I think one of the most deficient areas in a Christian’s prayer life is the absence of adoration in our prayers.

What the well-equipped workshop is to the wood craftsman, the well-stocked theological library is to the minister. Having a good library is one of the most important resources you can have in your ministry.

When a young couple in their mid-thirties visits your church, what are some of the first things you ask them? Who are you? What do you do? How many children do you have? It’s a natural assumption to ask whether a couple has children. But it’s the next series of questions that can create discomfort or even pain.