Ask Pastor John

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?

The Old Testament prohibited a husband and wife from having sex during menstruation. Is that command still in force today?

Controversy is essential — and deadly. Slowly, we can begin to care more about defending the truth than enjoying the truth.

What do Paul and Jude mean when they command Christians to pray “in the Spirit” — and what would it mean to pray “out of the Spirit”?

The Bible is perfect; preachers are not. So, why listen to the sermons of fallible men when we can read God’s infallible word for ourselves?

John Newton cherished the doctrines of grace. And he knew that the best way to commend them was with a spirit of graciousness.

Why learn math — especially if studying math feels agonizing? Pastor John addresses an 8-year-old boy struggling to persevere in school.

The Bible doesn’t say how old Christians should be when they marry — or how close in age. So, can a Christian marry someone significantly younger?

Killing an unborn child is illegal if the mother wants the baby — but legal if she doesn’t. The rights of the weak rest in the hands of the strong.

In a media-saturated age, obedience to Jesus requires intentional detachment from the patterns of the world — especially its patterns of entertainment.

Those who follow Jesus may suffer more in this life than those who don’t. But from the standpoint of eternity, they will suffer infinitely less.

People are starving for the grandeur of God. Christian preachers, more than all others, should know this truth — and shape every sermon accordingly.

We all need people who will remind us that Christ is far better than sin, and that unrepentant sin destroys. Without friends, our faith won’t survive.

God made everybody, knitting each of us intricately in our mother’s womb. Does that mean we are each unique, unlike any other person God created?

If God deserves all glory and praise, what does Scripture mean when it mentions God’s glorifying and praising us?

Until we come awake to the great spiritual war that surrounds us, we will never truly know the privilege and power of prayer.

Hebrews tells us that, by showing hospitality to strangers, “some have entertained angels unawares.” Does this suggest that angels walk among us in human form?

God made us to need other people — but not to be codependent on them. So, how can we tell the difference between healthy need and disordered neediness?

With eternity in view, any span of life is a vapor. However long we live, our time here is preparation for the endless days of heaven.

Some Christians seem to be always on the lookout for signs from God in creation or circumstances. Does the Bible encourage us in that search?

Should Christians make a habit of visiting loved ones’ graves? And if we do visit, how can we honor Christ in the cemetery?

Many wonder how a good God could govern a world filled with pain. But sometimes, pain becomes the very means God uses to awaken us to his goodness.

The Gospel of John speaks of a “disciple whom Jesus loved” five times. Who was this beloved disciple, and why does he single himself out like this?

After a year unlike any other, Pastor John looks ahead to new books and renewed ambitions to spread Christian Hedonism farther across the globe.

How can Christians challenge and correct one another in a way that honors Christ and acknowledges our common neediness before him?

God expects faithfulness of all his people. But faithfulness for one Christian may look far different than faithfulness for another Christian.

Paul tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. But Paul himself had many human enemies. So, are our enemies spiritual, human, or both?

The essence of God’s love is not that he makes much of us, but that he frees us, at great cost to himself, to enjoy making much of him forever.

Many medical professionals regularly find themselves around people only hours or minutes from hell. How would love call us to act in those moments?

Christians display the character of God through both mercy and justice. But how do we know when to show mercy and when to give justice?

Almost everyone wants to be loved by God. But our reasons for wanting God’s love may reveal whether we truly know him or not.

When God restored Job’s fortunes, he also doubled his wealth. Should Christians pray for God to do the same for us today?

Serial dating, if left unconquered, often turns into serial marriage. So, what hope does Jesus offer to those addicted to the pleasures of a new relationship?

God commands us both to fear him and to flee to him for refuge. How can we possibly do one without contradicting the other?

The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that “all is vanity.” But if God providentially guides all things, then doesn’t he give meaning to everything in this world?

As with other Protestants, many Baptists trace their lineage to the Reformation. But what makes Baptists unique among the heirs of the Reformation?

Strategies are important in our battle against lust. But nothing arrests our souls with the urgency of purity like the supremacy of Jesus Christ.