GCV Blog

The Roman soldier wore a helmet of thick leather with molded and beaten metal to protect the head from the deadly blows from the enemy’s sword. The helmet was essential in protecting the most vital part of the body, the head. So what are some of the attacks from the enemy that aim for our heads? Discouragement, doubt, pride, self-righteousness, loneliness, discontentment and grief: the list goes on. Often, the

In my last Pastoral Word, I brought up the subject of raising Pharisees and what that can look like. In this follow-up article, I’d like to include an extended quote from Kurt Gebhards that considers how to fight the dangers of hypocrisy: One of the dangers is that these outwardly compliant children receive much approval from parents and teachers. So they are encouraged to continue the duplicity unless

The foreknowledge of God is tightly linked to His sovereignty and the sufficiency of His grace for salvation. The key to understanding foreknowledge is first found in the word know. The term foreknowledge is not found in the Old Testament, but know is found in many places, including Exodus 33:17; Deuteronomy 9:24; Jeremiah 1:5; Hosea 8:4 and Amos 3:2. Know in these references means “to regard with favor; have affection or love.” In the New Testament, know is similarly used (Matt. 7:23; John 10:14; 1 Cor. 8:3; 2 Tim. 2:19) and is all about relationship.

Let me end by passing along a bit of advice for gospel-centered living. It’s not original to me. And it’s pretty simple, even if it’s not followed often enough. If the engine of the Christian experience is the good news that God has given you new life in Christ, then you need to preach this good news to yourself every day. Remind yourself about what God has done for you in Christ as often as you can. So, for example, when

We must not believe the Devil’s big lie that says Christianity, with its virtue formation, is full of discouragement, too hard or impossible, and not for the “ordinary” Christian. One of our biggest problems as Christians is our failure to believe the true gospel and our tendency to believe a smaller, domesticated counterfeit.

If you think the Christian experience is supposed to be characterized by constant discouragement and infrequent victory over sin, your gospel is too small. It’s got a giant hole in it. Right in the middle. It’s a gospel that probably talks a long time about getting into heaven and out of hell or about something you share—or should share—with unbelievers. So, when someone comes along

Why should we pray? A simple question. At times, I find myself mindlessly going to pray out of obligation because that is what I should do first thing in the morning. Other times, I can find myself praying because I want something. While there are numerous reasons why we ought to pray, we need to consider the purpose of prayer and motivating factors to pray. The purpose and motivating factors should be connected to the goal of prayer.

The shield is the fourth piece of armor that Paul instructs every believer to use in our battle against the enemy. There were two types of shields used by a Roman soldier. One type of shield was small and strapped to the arm to be used as protection in hand-to-hand combat. The shield Paul referred to in this analogy was tall and broad and was used to protect the entire body from the air assault of arrows and spears. The soldiers who carried these shields would line

He knows everything: all events, all life past, present and future. He knows all details in the life of every being. The theological term we use for this is omniscience. God is omniscient. For believers, God’s omniscience should not result in uneasiness but rather in at least two other responses: comfort and adoration. We can be comforted in time of distress or trial, in time of doubt, in time of failure. In each of these instances, He knows.

Ever heard of the law of unintended consequences? The idea is that when we humans confidently set out to do something good we often get consequences we never wanted. For instance, in South Carolina where I used to live, kudzu has taken root everywhere. Kudzu is a nasty climbing vine, introduced from its native Japan to deal with soil erosion. It spreads so quickly and