Abraham Lincoln is probably the best known and most loved president in the history of the United States of America. His rise to prominence, however, was totally unpredictable. He was a nobody from nowhere. He was born in Kentucky to poor, subsistence farming, Reformed Baptist parents who moved to southern Indiana where he spent most of his childhood working on his father’s farm instead of going to school. His mother died when he was nine and his father was verbally and physically abusive. His sister died in childbirth when [...]

On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution that declared that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.” Two days later, on July 4, 1776, the Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. We honor this day with barbeque and fireworks because it marked the beginning of our new nation. The Declaration of Independence, however, did not lay out the specifics about how we would be governed. The Articles of Confederation were supposed to do that. They were drafted in 1777 [...]

In Genesis 4, Cain and Abel each bring an offering to God. God accepts Abel’s offering but rejects Cain’s. Why does God accept one and reject the other? Because, with a heart full of faith (Heb. 11:4), Abel brought the best of what he had to the Lord. Abel’s attitude was, “Because God is what’s most important to me, I want to give him the best of what I have.” So he brought the firstborn and the fat portions, and “the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering” [...]

In December, Christians remember, reflect on, and rejoice in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The incarnation refers to when the Son of God, or the second Person of the Trinity, put on human flesh, or “took flesh to himself.” The apostle John describes it like this: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14). And the apostle Paul: “In him (Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9). The Ligonier Statement on Christology summarizes this doctrine like this, “Truly God, he became truly man, [...]

Martin Luther’s life is an excellent example of a life well-lived for the glory of God. But his death is also an excellent example of how to die well for the glory of God. Luther preached what would be his last sermon at his home church, the Castle Church in Wittenberg, on January 17, 1546. On the same day, he wrote to a friend, “I am writing, my James, as an old man, decrepit, sluggish, tired, cold, and now also one-eyed.” He wrote of the “highly deserved rest (as [...]

Over the next two months I will be taking a sabbatical.  Some may wonder what this is and why churches do this for their pastors.  First, a sabbatical, broadly defined, is a time when a pastor draws back from his regular responsibilities for the purpose of rest and renewal.  There are no commands in Scripture that tell churches and pastors to do this.  Sabbaticals are thus a matter of prudence, not obedience.  Despite no clear commands in Scripture for pastors to take a sabbatical, in this article, I’d like [...]