Posts by Truth and Life

Ninety some years ago the Sunday’s of my youth were quiet–no phones, no games, no television, a quiet hard to imagine. There was the absence of striving and more of listening.  There was church, of course, a time set aside for listening to the Word of God often preached in terms of the sovereign rule…

As of late I am struck by the masterful ways in which we glorify ourselves and demonize others. When in the course of events we all live daily on the edge of disaster:  natural disasters, the perils of Satan, the dangers of our own flesh and the inevitable wrath of God that awaits us all.…

When we use the word “nation,” we usually are referring to a country like Sweden, China, the UK or the United States.  When Peter writes of a holy nation, (1 Peter 2:7) he is referring to a people transformed into God’s chosen people. Peter calls them a royal priesthood.  Do Peter’s words pertain only to…

We are to live our lives as those who belong to God.  We live in a culture where self-worth, self-image, self-improvement reign. The self’s rise to prominence has taken place primarily in my life-time. Often our concern for self-value and importance becomes a Band-Aid that covers up the wound of our broken relationship with God.…

According to John C. Maxwell, an American author, speaker, and pastor,—“Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you.” Psychologists say we can make up to 25,000 decisions in one day. That amounts to about 2,000 decisions per hour, responding or ignoring the alert on your smartphone, itching our ear, picking…

Martin Luther wrote the Smalcald Articles to summarize the doctrines of the Christian church.  In it he wrote the following. “We must consistently maintain this point:  God does not want to deal with us in any other way than through the spoken Word and Sacraments.”  God summons us to gather around these words in worship…

In an article entitled “Never Lost Again” Francis Schaeffer says that once we have accepted Christ we can never again be lost because we have been sealed by the Spirit that now dwells within us. The Spirit plants a whole new divine life in us that is sealed for the day of redemption as Paul…

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.Psalm 56:3 So much is written on how to overcome fear and how to respond when visited by sudden panic attacks. I find it interesting when studying the commentaries on the above verse of David’s that he was the first to employ the words “I put…

Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind. Psalm 26:2 The psalmist asks God to test and try him, knowing that it is possible that he might be deceiving himself. It is a prayer that God would help David become known to himself. By faith he is trusting in the loving kindness of…

Though we are born sinners we are being made saints who are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore, Jude 3 says, contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” based on the finished work of Christ. We are saved by grace, nothing added.  The apostle…