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A Balm of Comfort When the Bible talks about hospitality, it is very much talking about relieving people’s needs. In the New Testament hospitality means providing a meal, a bed, foot washing, or oil. There’s a sense of hospitality being a sweet balm of comfort in a world that is just fraught with dirt, tension, and strife. It is interesting to me that hospitality is also a requirement of elders in your church. They are to be hospitable.

Pardon Flows from the Pleasure of His Fame The great ground of hope, the great motive to pray, the great wellspring of mercy is God’s awesome commitment to his name. The pleasure that he has in his fame is the pledge and passion of his readiness to forgive and save those who lift his banner and cast themselves on his promise and mercy. The saints of the Old Testament staked their hope for forgiveness not on their merit or their external rituals.

This article is part of the Dear Pastor series. 3 Arguments from Scripture about Prioritizing Godliness I see three lines of argument emerging from Scripture that together make a compelling case for the priority of godliness in the life of the pastor/preacher. The first is found in 1 Timothy 4:16. Paul says to the young pastor Timothy, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.” Notice the sequence—it is not accidental.

Format: Paperback Crossway+ members receive 30% off books. Learn more. Availability: In Stock Retail Price: $14.99 Other Books in This Series: A 10-Week Study on the Book of Titus Paul’s epistle to Titus gives a blueprint for God-glorifying churches, church leaders, and Christian households. But far from a mere list of rules, this letter reveals that when believers live as faithful disciples, they bear witness to Christ’s transforming grace in our sinful and chaotic world.

Paul’s Method Paul’s methodology was to take the gospel to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles, so he normally started off in the synagogue, with the Jews and God-fearers, those who might have been expected to be relatively open to the Christian message. In Athens, however, he engaged with the philosophers, who, though they may not necessarily have been cultured despisers of religion in general, were certainly cultured despisers of Christianity.

Training and Sending to the Ends of the Earth As an elder at Third Avenue Baptist Church, I love to look out over our members as we gather on Sunday morning. When we sing about the gospel going out to the ends of the earth, I especially love singing alongside those among us who aspire to take it there. These members benefit from our nearness to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, but they know the most important place of preparation is our own congregation.

The Blessings of Bible Study I took piano lessons for ten years. On Tuesday afternoons after school, I went to my piano teacher’s house where she would alternately praise the emotion I put into the pieces and criticize my poor understanding of written music. You see, I liked being able to play the piano. I enjoyed the way I could communicate emotions through a piece of music. What I didn’t like, though, was the theory component of piano lessons.

This article is part of the Tough Passages series. Listen to the Passage Read the Passage 34And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

What Scriptures Say About the Holy Spirit I would like to take a brief look at the biblical theology of the Holy Spirit, summarizing some of the major findings of my previous biblical-theological work on this topic.1 As we study the Bible’s teaching on the Spirit historically, inductively, and descriptively, we start with individual references to the Spirit in both Testaments.

Parenthood Can Produce Fear I remember driving to pick up my husband from the airport in a major city, and my infant son was in his car seat in the back seat. I had done this drive other times and hadn’t really thought much about it. But I remember on this particular drive, I had this overwhelming feeling of responsibility and even panic just wash over me as I realized that if something happened to us on the drive, it would impact my son.