Blog: April 2021

Why do you believe what you believe?  I don’t mean about mun­dane things, but about monumental matters—especially the reality of God, truth for life, and the hope of eternal joy.  Answer:  because of what God teaches in the Bible.  But then, why believe the Bible in the first place? Last Sunday I preached on this question, giving special attention to Matthew 4:1-11 where Jesus shows his rock-solid respect for the truth and authority of Scripture.  He says, “It is written,” over and over to fend off the Enemy’s temptations.  Scripture is the ...

In the first century, Corinth was an important destination in the Roman Empire. The city was located on a narrow area of land connecting the southern end of the Greek peninsula with the mainland to the north. When Paul visited Corinth on his missionary journeys, the city was full of people with various cultural and religious backgrounds. Corinth was a strategic place to plant a church. Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half with Aquila and his wife, Priscilla. On the Sabbath, Paul went to the synagogues to teach God’s message to the ...

If truth is relative, then the Bible is incoherent.  And if we were to buy into the popular notion that truth is personal—it’s situation-specific, socially constructed, culturally contingent, really nothing more than a clever grasping at power—then the claims, warnings, and exhortations of Scripture would become nonsense. Take the Apostle Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20.  He reminds these church leaders, “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to ...

Last Sunday I began a sermon series called “Truth Be Told:  Following Jesus in a World of Spin and Lies,” and we pondered the question of Pontius Pilate, “What is truth?” (John 18:38).  Along the way, I pointed to many New Testament passages in which Jesus claims to speak definitive truth (e.g., John 18:37) and even identifies himself as the very embodiment of divine truth (John 14:6).  I challenged the skeptical outlook that denies truth or suggests truth is personal and pliable (“my truth,” “your truth,” etc.).  We accept the existence of ...

Jesus’ followers preached the gospel in Jerusalem, and the good news spread to places like Judea and Samaria. More and more people believed, and new churches began as both Jews and Gentiles began to follow Jesus. Barnabas went to Antioch—a city about 300 miles north of Jerusalem—where he brought Paul to help teach the believers. The church in Antioch grew. The Holy Spirit told the believers at the church in Antioch to send out Paul and Barnabas to preach the gospel. The church obeyed, and Paul and Barnabas traveled to several cities and ...

In the last couple weeks, you’ve seen our new church sign taking shape along Rte. 3.  We’ve also introduced the same wordmark and logo on our bulletin stationery, website, and a welcome sign in the FLC lobby.  (And a big THANK YOU to our Design Team, Building & Property Team, and many others who’ve helped with these projects!) The cross logo helps us make a visual state­ment about the centrality of Christ here at Goshen.  Jesus’ death in our place and his resurrection victory mean everything to us.  Our core message is what God has done ...

Peter had witnessed the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on Gentile believers. God made it clear: the gospel is for all because Jesus is Lord of all. Peter returned to Jerusalem and told the believers there what had happened. At this time, other believers who had scattered amid persecution were preaching the gospel. By God’s grace, people believed and the church grew. Before long, King Herod Agrippa attacked the believers. He arrested Peter and killed James, the brother of John. Herod put Peter in prison and planned to kill him too. While ...

Last Sunday, when I concluded the “Cross & Crown” sermon series on Mark’s Gospel and we witnessed the empty tomb as reported in 16:1-8, you may have noticed some footnotes in your Bible.  The ESV indicates, “Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include Mark 16:9-20.”  What does this mean? Let’s step back and get the big picture.  “Textual criticism” is the discipline that seeks to reconstruct the wording of lost documents based on surviving copies (and “criticism” here simply means “study”—it’s not a negative term).  We don’t have the ...

On Sunday, April 18, I’ll begin a sermon series, “Truth Be Told:  Following Jesus in a World of Spin and Lies.”  See here for details. In preparation, I read Brett McCracken’s terrific new book, The Wisdom Pyramid:  Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World. “Our world has more and more information, but less and less wisdom.  More data; less clarity.  More stimulation; less synthesis.  More distrac­tion; less stillness... We have vertigo from the barrage coming at us from every direction, every day” (p. 11).  And Covid-19 has exacerbated the ...

The resurrection of Christ is a grand, glorious fact of history—and it has ripple effects:  all who are trusting in Jesus will follow him into resurrection joy one day beyond the grave (1 Cor. 15:23). But before the fact, Jesus’ promise of resurrection didn’t register.  He predicted several times that he’d both die and be raised, but it didn’t seem to “click” for his followers: “The Son of Man must suffer many things … and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31).  “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of ...