Articles

Introduction I know that I could never hope to give a full, exhaustive, and comprehensive account of the PCA General Assembly. Quite simply too much happened, with too many nuances during the debates, and too many back-stories would be required for me to explain every detail adequately. At the same time, it’s important for me to give an update because the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America is your church. As Presbyterians, we believe that the (visible) church ...

Yesterday, we began walking through Numbers 16 together. Given the length of that chapter, I ended up having to break it up into two separate posts to hopefully make it easier to digest. I do want to clear up one possible misunderstanding I could have invited due to sloppy wording on my part. I said, “Now, thanks be to God, those of us who have broken the 10th commandment (all of us) can find forgiveness in Christ, but, at the ...

Let’s be honest, the book of Numbers can be a tough read. I don’t know anyone who would say otherwise. There are lengthy genealogies, codes of law, and stories of the people of Israel repeatedly rebelling against God and incurring his judgment. It’s not what many people would call “encouraging” or “uplifting” or things like that. And yet, as I often remind myself, Paul said that all Scripture is profitable for us. And today we get to read one of ...

Our Bible reading today includes a verse that I often quote during the offering prayer on Sunday evenings, Psalm 50:10, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.” Now, often this verse is quoted to show that God is able to provide for his people. I mean, after all, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He’ll take care of us. And while that’s absolutely true, it’s not the reason why I include ...

I hope that these weekly articles have been helpful to you. The session decided to have me write these articles so that the church could be built up, assisted in studying Scripture as we read through the Bible together over the next two years. If nothing else, I hope that you see one of these articles pop up and think, “Oh yeah, I should read my Bible.” If that’s all this accomplishes, then it’s time well spent.   Growing up, ...

Today we begin reading through the book of Psalms. If you’ve been attending Trinity since I was called as pastor, you know that the book of Psalms is one of the most important books in the whole Bible. When Paul wants to explain sinful human nature, he quotes the Psalms (Romans 3:11-18). When our Savior was on the cross, he was using the Psalms as he cried out to God in distress (Matthew 27:46). And, in fact, the verse from ...

Normally, in these weekly blog posts, I take one chapter out of our Bible reading for the week, and that is the subject of the post. This week, however, I’m going to incorporate two chapters, one from each of the Old and New Testaments. I think it’s important to take a step back from time to time and see how the Old Testament really does point to Christ, and how Christ really is the true fulfillment of all that the ...

This week we find ourselves in Luke 24. You know, one of the good things about reading through all four gospels is the different perspectives we get to see. Matthew briefly recounts how the women found the empty tomb, and how the authorities spread a false report, but his goal is to get to the Great Commission at the end of the chapter. Mark sort of ends on a cliff hanger, “and [the women] said nothing to anyone, for they ...

Today our Bible reading plan has us in Luke chapter ten. As with most chapters in the book of Luke, this chapter is long, not as long as chapter one, but still long. Sometimes I actually wish I could talk to the man who divided the New Testament into chapters and verses so I could ask him why on earth he made the chapters in this particular book so long, but since that will never happen I suppose it’s pointless ...

And so we reach the end of the book of Genesis. There are so many important things in Genesis. It really is a foundational book, essential for understanding the rest of Scripture. Today we conclude this first book of Moses with the death of Jacob, one last reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers, and finally the death of Joseph. I want us to focus on two things from this chapter: the sovereignty of God, and the hope of the resurrection ...