Have you ever been turned off by someone's attempt at rectifying a wrong with you? All of us offend someone at some point in our lives. It probably happened this week. Instead of judging someone's lackluster apology too quickly, why don't you plan on giving a meaningful (that is, sincere and full) apology the next time you are aware of offending someone or somebody? Do you know how to apologize?Ji...  Read More

Dear Blessed Woman,I know you won’t get this. I doubt you’ll even see this as you are in heaven, joined by that great cloud of witnesses. After all, you don’t share the “ever-present” or “all-knowing” qualities of your Lord and mine.What was it like to be surprised by that angel? Did you have any idea? When did you tell your parents? What was their reaction? The Sacred Text doesn’t tell me, but di...  Read More

The following is a review of the book, Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl R. Trueman (Crossway, 2022).Pastor Will Pareja wrote this review (June 2022)If your breath has been taken away at the blistering pace of moral change today, you should read this book. Dr. Carl Trueman is a specialist in the history of ideas/philosophy. A...  Read More

They both went to Pierced Church but learned to listen differently to the sermon over time. One ear, trained on sitcoms and sound bytes, rarely got what the pulpit's talking ear was saying. He preferred brief, inspirational talks sprinkled with good jokes and well-timed stories. The other ear, however, knew that the message from God’s word was relevant to her. She knew that what she was listening ...  Read More

I have to admit that the older I get, burying my head in the proverbial sand is more attractive. Maybe, I’m a coward. It’s my protection “mechanism” against information overload and the drag that comes with it. I can’t digest all the information coming at me. Plus, I fear the fatigue that comes with the letdown in the news. But don’t worry, that will become old news in a few hours or days! Because...  Read More

“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We k...  Read More

We naturally wouldn’t link the rigor of calisthenics with the malaise of dying. Calisthenics has to do with movement and fitness. It is an exercise. The question upon us—old and young— is how are we preparing to die? Simon Goulart was a pastor during the Protestant Reformation in Geneva, Switzerland, and a friend of John Calvin. In his Remedies Against Satan’s Temptations in our Final Hour,* Goula...  Read More

So goes an objection of many people whose religious experience has been jaded by the desperate pleas and manipulative ploys of churches or TV preachers. There is some merit to this suspicion, but if you’ve been around the church for a while or read the Bible much, you understand there is some obligation to give to the Lord. Two HUGE truths will shape your thinking about money and what the Lord “ge...  Read More

What would you say if you could write a member of Jesus' earthly family a letter?   Read More

You don't have to be well-off to be generous.  Read More

A couple weeks ago, I was at our church’s evangelism training. The turnout was superb and the conversation even more fascinating. So  engulfed were we in Jesus’ famous encounter with the Samaritan woman (John 4) that we barely had time to go further on some of the practical matters. That story in particular is instructive because of how a singled out woman meets our singled out Lord for the most l...  Read More

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