Category: Holiness

  • John Owen on training oneself to be negligent

    …for although men do not choose and resolve to be negligent and inadvertent, yet if they choose the things that will make them so, they choose inadvertency itself as a thing may be chosen in its cause. And let not men think that the evil of their hearts is in any measure extenuated because they…

  • John Owen on rationalizing sin by remembering God’s faithfulness

    When upon thoughts, perplexing thoughts about sin, instead of applying himself to the destruction of it, a man searches his heart to see what evidences  he can find of a good condition, notwithstanding that sin and lust, so that it may go well with him. For a man to gather up his experiences of God, to…

  • Why Christians Should Pray For The Military

    Recently I contacted a longtime friend and brother in the Lord who is currently a chaplain in the U.S. military. At the end of our conversation, I inquired about specific things I could be praying about. The first thing he said was, “Pray for the military leadership, that God would move their hearts like rivers…

  • The Holy Spirit, Part 2: No Spirit No Church

    The Holy Spirit, not an inspirational speaker, preacher, or writer, is the One Who stirs up the hardened conscience (1 Corinthians 2:13). The Spirit is the one Who softens the heart to recognize the need for repentance and bear good fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Spirit illuminates the mind to desire the truth of God’s Word…

  • The Love That God Desires

    The Father in heaven has great love for His children. The Lord God is a merciful God, choosing the least of peoples for His own. He chooses the insignificant, the downcast, the vile, the desperate, and the unregarded. There is no sinner too great for the love of the Father. He seeks to work in us and…

  • The Holy Spirit, Part 1

    The work of God the Spirit is not independent of the work of God the Father or God the Son. They have different roles, but they work together toward the same goal. (John 16:5-15) The Father sends the Son. (John 6:44; 8:18) The Father and Son send the Spirit. (John 14:26; 15:26). The Spirit carries out the will…

  • Little Sins Lead to Bigger Sins

    From William Plumer’s “The Fear of God,” But what are the “little foxes?” One says they are worldly thoughts. This is true. Another says they are wrong opinions. This is as true. Another, no less wisely, says they are our hidden corruptions, our sinful appetites and passions—which destroy our graces and comforts, quash good motions,…

  • My Fight For Holiness

    A number of years ago, there was a time when I foolishly waited on the Lord, not in the biblical sense, but in the sense of frustration and impatience, secretly whispering to myself that if the Lord wanted me to live for Him, then He would have to do the work Himself. Ultimately, this is…

  • Deceitful Hearts

    Be not wise in your own eyes;fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.(Proverbs 3:7 ESV) The heart is deceitful above all things,and desperately sick;who can understand it?(Jeremiah 17:9 ESV) All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,but the LORD weighs the spirit.(Proverbs 16:2 ESV) The problem of self-deception has been…

  • Geoff Thomas On Grace

    I came across this section on grace by Geoff Thomas, a pastor in Wales that many including myself look up to. I was so encouraged by this quote that I wanted to share. You can read the full text here. i] Grace has a purpose. It has a specific and particular end in view:- “He…