Ask Pastor John

If we allow anger to come quickly and stay long, it will eventually consume love, consume gratitude, consume mercy, and consume true perceptions of reality.

God has reasons for everything he does — and an ultimate purpose driving it all. Personal mission statements help us align all of life with that great purpose.

Gratitude is a duty — we ought to thank God for the grace he has given. But genuine Christian gratitude is far more than mere duty.

Jesus healed people with deep, lifelong disabilities. So should we pray that he would heal loved ones with disabilities like Down syndrome or cerebral palsy?

When we don’t understand God and his ways, we can still rest here: God is always totally sovereign, and God is always infinitely good.

Jesus never lied, stole, coveted, grumbled, lusted, or sinned in any other way. And that means Jesus alone knows the full force of temptation.

When suffering overshadows the life of a family, how can parents help their children embrace God’s all-good, all-wise, all-governing providence?

Are God’s callings for men and women merely functional and practical, or do they flow from something deeper in his design?

We live in the day of salvation, the day of patience, the day of tolerance. But when Jesus returns, that day will end forever.

Despite the warnings, cigarette smoking and other forms of nicotine use persist. How concerned should parents be about whether their teens smoke, chew, or vape?

Pleasure in God is not complete unless it overflows in praise to God. And praise to God is not sincere unless it overflows from pleasure in God.

Joy in God was never meant to be a solitary pursuit. Joy sends us out to serve — and serving fills us up with joy.

Few of us feel as attractive as we would like, and some of us feel downright ugly. Why does God allow such unattractiveness in a world that prizes physical beauty?

Fifteen states have now legalized the recreational use of marijuana. What message might God be sending to the church in an age of legal pot?

The boldest people in the world are those who can look into the face of God, in all of his holiness and power, and know that he is for them in Christ.

Whether Old Testament or New Testament, stories fill the pages of Scripture. How can we begin to discover God’s meaning in the Bible’s narratives?

Life’s pressures have a way of exposing hidden sins and introducing new temptations. So how do we know if pressure is making us more holy or more sinful?

Many wish they could have seen Jesus in person as he walked on the earth. But to have the four Gospels is even better than being there.

Until we begin to grasp the infinite worth of God, and the horrific evil of sin, much of the Bible will make no sense — including a book like Job.

Psalm 91 offers spectacular promises for the one who “dwells in the shelter of the Most High.” What does dwelling in the shelter of God mean for us today?

Countless pastors carry out their ministries faithfully — and some abuse their position and cause many to stumble. What does God have to say to hypocritical pastors?

God made marriage to picture the relationship of Christ and his church. Does it follow that a marriage between an unbelieving man and woman is illegitimate?

God has promised never to leave us or forsake his people. So how do we respond when it feels like he has?

If we’re going to parent well through family troubles, we need to know, first, that our own sin is our worst problem, and second, that Jesus’s blood covers it all.

The Bible talks a lot about feasting — far more than about fasting, in fact. So what is feasting, and how might we enjoy it in our Christian lives?

We know from the New Testament that Jesus will return in power and glory. What can we do to prepare ourselves for that long-expected day?

Jesus’s command to love our neighbors as we love ourselves isn’t a call to raise our self-esteem. It’s a charge to seek others’ good in the same way we seek our own.

When the glory of God grows dim in our eyes, bodily appetites become gods. When we lose sight of a big purpose for our lives, sexual urges become too big.

At what point should a Christian woman keep encouraging her spiritually lethargic boyfriend — and at what point should she call it off?

When do we experience the love of God most deeply? Not when we get whatever we want, but when he does whatever it takes to satisfy us in himself.

We seem hardwired to be happiest when life goes well, and saddest when life goes poorly. How can we root our joy in Jesus instead of circumstances?

Jesus and the apostles regularly warn against the dangers of wealth. So, should rich Christians take steps to downgrade their lifestyle?

Jesus promises spectacular responses to our prayers, but only if our desires are shaped by his word abiding within us.

The Bible repeatedly warns us against false teachers. But how can we actually identify them, especially if their ministry is mainly online?

On the morning after September 11, 2001, a radio station interviewed Pastor John about the day’s stunning and tragic attack. Listen to the 47-minute recording.

The New Testament never pairs the blessing of God with material prosperity in this age. So, what does it really mean to be blessed?

Don’t be intimidated when people far smarter than you level arguments against Jesus. Your personal testimony has power to trump the most sophisticated arguments.

At the end of this age, “the love of many will grow cold.” What will such coldness look like — and how can we guard ourselves against it?

Does Revelation suggest that Jesus already returned when Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70 — and therefore that we should not wait for another coming?

For better or worse, we become what we behold. How should this truth affect our media consumption in the digital age?

Both the sluggard and the diligent might take a nap on their day off. So, what distinguishes the laziness of the sluggard from the rest of the diligent?

Everything in this world eventually runs out: money runs out, health runs out, pleasure runs out, time runs out. But God never runs out.

How can we prevent Bible reading from becoming a lifeless routine? Pastor John offers three principles for authentic daily devotions.

God calls his people to show honor to everyone — but not for the same reasons, and not in the same ways.

If Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth, does he rule over the nations now? Or is he waiting to exercise his rule until his second coming?

If you want to know whether others love God, ask if they love the Jesus of Scripture. Love for Jesus is the litmus test of love for God.

According to Paul, Christians have died, will die, and die every day. What do these different deaths mean, and how else does Scripture speak of our dying?

Podcasts, including Christian podcasts, have great potential for both good and evil. Pastor John explains six dangers to beware of as you listen.

Christians are sorrowful, yet always rejoicing: sorrowful because of the ugliness and horrors of sin, and rejoicing because of the infinite worth of Jesus.

If Christ already paid for all our sins — past, present, and future — then why do we need to work so hard to put sin to death and grow in holiness?