More violence. Bloodshed. Destruction. Hate. Death... And we wonder aloud: Are you going to put a stop to this, God??! If so, how? And when?! Are You really going to let this pass? We wonder if the wickedness, injustice, and immorality is ever going to cease...

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When God Doesn’t Make Sense

Impure motives of pride, heartless obligation, superiority, longing for admiration, applause, success, wealth, rank, or pity are never sung aloud from our lips for all to hear. We quietly hide them, creatively disguise them, and carefully redefine them. We naturally think ourselves very good at judging the motives of others, but how about our own motives? Ouch. That question seems to drop like a sharp knife between my toes. Perhaps the most penetrating and uncomfortable question for all of us to ask ourselves is: What is my motive? To determine the answer to this question I believe we need a litmus test.

The Litmus Test of Love

Having a strong intellect is a good thing, yet there is an inherent danger in touting our mental powers or relying on human intelligence. A person may have a high IQ and be missing the essential ingredient for the soil of becoming spiritually mature – to grow in the faith and in the likeness of Jesus. The measure of one’s intelligence does not indicate the measure of one’s spiritual maturity or usefulness in God’s mission. . . .

Your Wisdom Quotient

We don’t like having a finger pointed at us because it implies we’re guilty! However, we are pretty natural at pointing toward someone else. It seems quite easy to see the sins of others; doesn't it? We think we're quite accurate at evaluating the faults and failures we presume to observe in friends, family members, neighbors, and the like. . . .

Pointing Fingers

When we're jogging along in a healthy trajectory of spiritual growth, we can find ourselves gaining an inordinate confidence in ourselves. We gaze back at our past accomplishments with a token note of thanks to God, yet also an encroaching desire for a good ole' pat-on-the-back. We might ease up on the throttle, subtly believing we've crossed a threshold in obvious maturity. . . .

Taking Your Vitamins?

All our time and energy goes into “that one day” and when that day is done, many of us might be happy but a lot of us feel wiped out, burned out, let down, or downright empty. But what if the biggest thing you and your family looked forward was something more, something that would never let down? Is there a hope that never dies…that sustains you, motivates you, inspires you, energizes you…and even dramatically changes your focus about everything?

Post-Holiday Season Hope

We love all the festive decorations, candles, lights, trees, and ribbons of Christmas around our house. In fact, Christmas music has been ringing and singing through our place since the beginning of November... or maybe even October. Memories of snowball fights, goofy red sweaters, sleigh rides, and hot chocolate warm my soul. How about you?

The Heart of Christmas

I can still hear their muffled cries. The sound won't leave my ears. I can still see their mud-stained tears. The sight won't leave my mind. I can almost smell the faint aroma of the seashore... While we may have myriad questions about the politics and economics involved in this refugee crisis, as Christians the most important question is not if they come but when they come, how does God want us to respond? Wherever they are in the world, how should we respond to the sojourner, the refugee?

The Word on Refugees

We here at North Park Baptist Church of Grand Rapids are calling one another to 12 days of focused prayer. If you're part of our church family, I invite you to join with me in praying the 12 requests below over the next 12 days. You might take just one per day, following the sequence below. If you have additional time, you could pray through the list several times over the next 12 days. But most of all, let's pray and keep praying because this is the way we fight and keep fighting the right fight... God's way. 12 Days of Prayer for North Park As an expression of our desire to be a church committed to personal and collective prayer, we encourage you to pray for the following items...

Persevering Prayer

Satan wants to get in your head and convince you that his lies are true. But don't expect his schemes to be obvious. He is cunning and smart like a snake. He bites into us when we're exposed to pain, hurt, and abuse. He splits hairs to craft wrong to look almost right. Our enemy camouflages destructive ideas with the appearance of life and light (2 Cor. 11:14b).

Lies We Believe

As the old saying goes, "If you don't like the weather in Michigan, just wait five minutes." Today is proving the wise old sage knew what he was talking about. Yet from sunshine to storms...and back again to sunshine then storms this is the day the Lord has made, therefore, let us rejoice and be glad in the One who has ordained it...

Sun in the Storms

As I've interacted with many of you who are following Jesus Christ, there has been an unmistakably tone of despondency. On this Fourth of July weekend, many of you may understandably feel torn between a wholesome love for our country and a sense of sadness about the direction our society seems to be taking. . . .

Good News for America

Yes, there comes a point in the life of every mother (and most fathers, too) when they feel like throwing a tantrum … …maybe it was the “adventure of the dirty diaper” when your toddler decided to paint the walls with a certain smelly brown paste they found in their drawers after a nap, …or perhaps it was the seventy-ninth time you pierced the sole of your foot on a tiny Lego block, …or maybe it was the third burnt dinner (with the fire alarm going off) while you were trying to bathe your kiddo after an “accident” – and your husband walks in the door...

Everyday Moms in a Superwoman World

We’ve opened the proverbial “can of worms.” Yet we believe it’s a really important “can” that must be opened and understood in light of the Gospel. Are you ready to dig in? Our culture is filled with a multiplicity of messages about morality and ethics. Throughout social media, TV, movies, and music, it’s easy to hear all sorts of propaganda about recreational drug use, alcohol, sexual experimentation, and of course, how we MUST watch the next season of [you name it]. But what does God have to say to His people about these moral and ethical issues?

Liberty or License?

One of my "old favorite" movies is geared around the search for the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, some call this cup the Holy Grail. And why in this film are the Nazis, a medieval-oriented religious group, and Indiana Jones on a mad-dash against each other to find Christ’s sacred cup? Because they believe anyone who drinks of it will have eternal life – but they are not talking about eternal life as a new and forever relationship with God, as the Bible defines it. No, they think it is like the so-called “Fountain of Youth” that will give them life forever, immortality right now, and invincibility (which, of course was very important to the Nazi general). Now all that is a silly twisting in order to make a Hollywood blockbuster film… But what was the cup Jesus spoke of? Not the actual cup He drank from at the Last Supper, but the cup Jesus spoke of when He expressed His desire to let “this cup” pass by Him, meaning that He longed to not drink of it?

The Cup of Death

The Gospel of Grace in Sermon, Art, and Song.

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