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Wholehearted Repentance vs. Pretense (July 16)
There is no damage to our souls that Christ cannot repair. But He will not be manipulated by fake repentance on our part. If we expect His forgiveness and help, we’d better lay it all down before Him, with extreme honesty. No exceptions, no excuses.
The Hearts of the Children of Mankind (July 15)
In Christ, we may come confidently before God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), but we had better not come with anything less than a no-strings-attached commitment to change our ways. We may fool others about our hearts, but God is not deceived.
Incline Your Heart to the Lord (July 14)
God should be more than a “maybe.” Our hearts must be inclined to Him. We must fix their minds on Him. We must — and here is the main idea– be devoted to Him. This devotion should be the result of a conscious, deliberate choice we have made.
What Faith Makes Possible, Love Makes Easy (July 16)
Those who love God will keep His commandments, certainly. But more than that, it is only those who genuinely love God who will find His commandments easy. That which would be burdensome to willpower alone is found by love to be light indeed.
Where God’s Love Is Best Learned (July 15)
The ugly, painful hardship of human experience does not contradict or call into question the love of God. Rather, that is where we learn God’s love the best. The way to God is not over, under, or around our difficulties — it is through them.
The Servant’s Opportunity (July 14)
Anything that stirs up our self-sufficiency is something that will hinder our wisdom, while those things that humble us and remind us of our dependence on God are those that increase our wisdom. Whatever increases pride, contributes to foolishness.
Here Be Dragons (July 16)
Prudence counsels caution when we face the unknown, but faith counsels courage. Here be dragons, you say? Fine. I’m eager to see them and, if need be, fight them. Whatever else it may be, life in Christ is never dull. It is truly the Great Adventure.
We Promised We’d Reach Forward (July 15)
Reaching forward is not optional. When we obeyed the gospel, we committed ourselves to it. We made a public promise to strive for heaven the rest of our lives. And if we ever quit doing that, we’ve broken the most important promise we ever made.
Disqualifying Ourselves by Default (July 14)
We need to wake up. In our present condition, we are under condemnation for our sins, and so the “default position” is condemnation. Taking the course of least resistance always leads downhill, and doing nothing will get us nothing but hell.
Reliability (July 16)
Everywhere we turn, people are making excuses for a failure to honor their obligations. But if follow-through is rare, that only means it will be more valuable when we acquire that trait. “Doing what we say” will distinguish us as being different.
Ease (July 15)
There are a number of helpful things we need to be able to do, and we should be willing to pay the price (discipline, sacrifice, hard work) to do these things easily. Most good things are hard before they’re easy; that’s just the way the world works.
Therapy (July 14)
There are many times when a friend will need to hear the healing words that we can speak to them. It takes wisdom (and hard work), but we can learn to use the gift of language in such a way that those who hear our words are helped — and even healed.
DFBS 329 – We ought to trust that God’s will is the best path to follow
The mark of a truly humble person is not just that he has a moderate view of his own abilities, but also a moderate view of his own wisdom. If we trust God and are willing to rely on His higher wisdom, we will grow in true wisdom.
DFBS 328 – Jesus Christ improves our lives by improving our thinking
There is not a single consequence of sin that is not the result of erroneous thinking somewhere back up the line. These consequences can be undone only by replacing the untruth that produced them with the truth that can liberate us.
DFBS 327 – We should learn to distinguish between good and evil as God does
If we don’t try our best to distinguish between right and wrong, a progressive darkening of our understanding will take place. God will allow us to become deluded, and we may have a hard time recognizing even basic moral distinctions.
July 2026
I just returned from a trip to Meridian, Mississippi, where I worshiped with the small band of disciples who meet on 7th Street in that city. They asked me to preach, but when I’m with a small group of hearers, what I do is not really “preaching” — it is simply “speaking from the heart.”
May 2026
I have begun a blog on Substack where I will post bits and pieces of the preliminary thinking that will, I pray, someday mature into a book. It’s called “Ecclesiastes Workshop” (https://ecclesiastesworkshop.com). You can subscribe to receive the posts by email or view them on Substack.
March 2026
I recently took a few days to assess the work that remains to be done on “Walking in Christ.” I’ve got 139 pages left to write, which sounds like a lot but it’s not nearly as many as the 366 I started with. It’s an exciting time in this this book, and I hope you’ll pray for clarity of mind as I head into the last stage of the writing.