Editors’ note: Christians in the Wes, face a number of explicit threats to the authority of Scripture. But explicit threats alone don’t weaken our trust in the Bible. Subtle threats—those that creep in unnoticed—also foster skepticism. Writing for Themelios, TGC president Don Carson outlines 10 ways we subtly abandon the authority of God’s Word. Below are some excerpts from his timely essay.

On the danger of appealing to selective evidence:

The most severe forms of this drift [appealing to sel..

MERRY MONDAY BY PARRIS-

“For which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk?” Luke 5:23
In a world that is falling apart all around us with rebellion and anger against authority being loudly demonstrated without the least embarrassment; forgiveness seems like a bygone era. Even churches are jeered at and many discourage attending what they call “organized religion”. Entitlement, victimizing, and casting blame make huge furrows all around us. But when you “see forg..

Messes are an everyday occurrence in my house. A house filled with five people (three of whom are younger than 4) means spills, laundry, and more spills. Few things make me wonder if my work matters like spilled milk on a freshly mopped floor. But in my most coherent moments, I’m reminded even the simple act of wiping up spilled milk is valuable work.

On a practical level, leaving milk on the floor is hardly sanitary (or pleasant to smell over time). On a deeper level, cleaning up a mess is a w..

PassageRomans 12:9-15
PrayerDear Father, empowering God,Let my love be genuine for everyone in heaven and on earth. Help me hate what is evil at all times and everywhere. Help me hold fast to what is good, the old and the new.May I love my fellow disciples with brotherly affection. May I show them greater honor than they show me.Let my zeal not cool. May it blaze with energy from your Spirit.May I rejoice in hope and be patient in tribulation. Let me be constant in prayer. May I contribute liber..

As my church has been going through 1 Corinthians, we’ve talked a lot about marriage and singleness. Ever since we looked at 1 Corinthians 7, I’ve had interesting conversations with my single and married friends.

In my experience, here are five things singles wish married couples knew.

1. God settles the solitary in a family—and it might be yours.

Psalm 68:6 says, “God settles the solitary in a home.” One way God does this is through the church. He creates homes both from biological familie..

Phil. 2:5-7 – Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Once your eyes begin to open to Christ and His kingdom you begin to appreciate the things you took for granted. The glo..

Of all the Bible’s many colorful characters, none are quite so exasperating as Job’s friends. Herod might chop off your head, and Judas might stab you in the back, but Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar will hurt you with Bible verses.

Job’s actual losses take two brief chapters to recount (Job 1–2), but the tortuous dialogue that follows drones on for 35 chapters (Job 3–37). I wonder which agonized Job more: his initial suffering or the extended indictment that followed?

The problem with Job’s comf..

Your name is ointment poured forth.
Song of Solomon 1:3
Morning
Your name is ointment poured forth.

Christ … has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. § Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious. § God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. § In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

If you love Me, keep My commandments. § The love ..

Who can say, “I have made my heart clean…”?
Proverbs 20:9
Morning
Who can say, “I have made my heart clean …”?

The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one. § Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

To will is present with me, but how to preform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will do, I do not do; but..

Psa. 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
David taught us to connect our whole life to our passion for God. It was David’s passion for the Lord that called him into service, filled him with courage when facing powerful enemies and dangers, caused him to birth twenty-four hour worship, to release spontaneous and prophetic worship that still lives today, and also satisfied and sustained David until he took his last breath. David wasn’t perfe..