As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“We cannot tell whether God means to bless America and the world by preserving Donald Trump, or to judge it. Time will tell. The same is true (although most likely on a smaller scale) for the Comperatore family. Surely, God’s providence allowed their loss.” - Don Johnson
“On November 1, 2022, our church building burned down. Not one part was salvageable. The fire swept through the attic at astonishing speed. Not a single notepad or paper clip remained.” - 9 Marks
“First, let’s not be overly impressed with people. We can honor leaders for their service, but let’s save our high praises for the Lord Himself.” - Michael Brown
Read the series.
A consequence of providence is that God has directed in your life as well as in the life of the planet. Your conception, birth, and life circumstances are not random or accidental; they are purposeful, and better yet, those purposes come from a good and great person, whose interest in you is entirely benevolent.
This week I made my annual journey back to Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa, for the Refresh Conference.
It was my fourth Refresh, so I realized that, in essence, I have witnessed another class of college students pass through Faith’s doors during these days. To me that time seems like it has just whisked by—as does the entire interval since I was a seminary student at Faith.
Read the series.
God not only runs the world; he created it. From scratch. (Google ex nihilo sometime. The official meaning is “from scratch.”) All of it. Everything is from his hand, originally.
(Editor’s note: Written in 2018, but doesn’t seem to have lost any relevance!)
Many of my Christian friends are angry. Or afraid. Or both. At least, that’s the way it looks in their posts on social media.
And that’s too bad, for several reasons—
“God’s sovereignty and the wicked acts of men coordinate most shockingly in the death of Jesus. God used ‘the hands of lawless men’ to execute His ‘definite plan’ to offer His precious Son as payment for our sins (Acts 2:23; 4:28).” - Ligonier
I distinctly remember the phone call. It was the spring of 1999, and I had worked up the nerve to telephone my esteemed professor, Dr. John C. Whitcomb—the man whose reputation caused me to choose my theological seminary five years previously.
To my surprise, he picked up the phone, stirring within me a mixture of relief and horror. It just seemed like it wasn’t the right instant to talk with him, however. I learned he was actually on his way to what would be his final international speaking trip, to London.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I’m the only person in the world who reads through back issues of the Ann Arbor Baptist, a periodical from the late 1800s. But periodicals like that were the blogs of their era and within their pages I find such interesting articles and poems.” - Challies
Discussion