Ask Pastor John

How can Christians make sense of the coronavirus, which has infected and killed so many people all throughout the world? Pastor John offers four biblical realities.

Prayer offers us a lifeline to our Lord, a vital connection we need every day. But unless we plan ahead, we will be prone to wander.

The new birth brings an awakening of delight in Christ and increasing victory over sin. But how much delight and victory should Christians expect?

If you want to raise your children to know and love Jesus, then a regular rhythm of blessing may prove to be a helpful habit of grace.

If I believe all the right things, then why does my growth in holiness seem so tedious and slow?

Alcoholics Anonymous, and programs like it, seem to genuinely help hurting people. But what do such programs miss that Christians can’t overlook?

If the Bible says that loving pleasure is a sign of ungodliness, then can we really make joy and pleasure essential to our pursuit of God?

How do we lay down our anger, our bitterness, our grudges against those who have wronged us and gotten away with it?

God gets maximum glory from his people, not when we work for him out of begrudging duty, but when we run to him out of sheer delight.

If you live near a number of gospel-preaching churches, how do you decide which body is best for you to join? Pastor John suggests nine steps.

How do I become a sage who overflows with godly wisdom? Pastor John recommends a path too few of us choose to tread.

We all need private, regular communion with God. But the Bible presents a vision for prayer that reaches well beyond our personal quiet times.

The New Testament doesn’t apply the term “pastor” to any leader in the church, but only to qualified men who oversee and teach the flock.

The God of our Bibles is more glorious than we can even begin to imagine. And it all begins with this fact: God absolutely and simply is.

What happens when a preacher saturates himself with the Scriptures, walks into a pulpit, and overflows with a God-entranced vision of all things?

James tells us that we have not because we ask not. But do we still lack sometimes because we don’t ask with enough faith?

Evil goes beyond the harm we commit against other humans. Evil is preferring anything above God, even if we harm no one in the process.

Our perceptions of race relations in the church are of some importance. God’s vision for where race relations are heading is of infinite importance.

Most fundamentally, marriage is not a convenient matchup of vocations, but a covenant that displays the love Jesus has for his church.

Should parents require non-Christian teens to attend church with them? And if so, how do they avoid creating hypocrites of their kids?

The cross will seem like an overreaction as long as man is big and God is small. The essence of sin is not harm done to man, but indignities done to God.

How should Christians live in a culture that increasingly views our faith as bigoted, immoral, and even dangerous?

What our marriages need most is probably not new and novel counsel from the latest book or seminar, but this one piece of timeless, biblical truth.

What do sexually illicit dreams reveal about our souls? Pastor John offers biblical principles for understanding dreams and practical ways to overcome them.

What can you expect when you set out on a journey through the entire Bible? Pastor John offers three cautions and nine life-transforming hopes for every Bible reader.

Are New Year’s resolutions helpful, are they harmful, or are they just a setup for eventual failure?

Journaling Bibles can be a great way to go deeper in God’s word, but many feel paralyzed, not knowing what to write (or not).

In our good concern for what and how we consume, how do Christians keep from being consumed by ethical consumerism?

The wonder and glory of Christmas will never dry up because the manger lets loose waterfalls of mercy that will flow forever.

As we gather around the dinner table this Christmas, how might we share the gospel with family who don’t understand the meaning of Jesus’s birth?

The second commandment forbids using an image or likeness of God in worship. Does that mean we should take down our nativity sets?

The Christ who took on flesh and dwelt among us never had a beginning. He existed eternally before, and will be forever after.

Victory over pornography use is no small thing, but that doesn’t mean our battle is over. God lays claim to every impulse in our hearts, however small.

Did the biblical writers expect Jesus to return at any moment, or were they waiting for certain events to take place before the end would come?

The greatest ache of the human heart is not to have wealth, comfort, or power, but to see and savor the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Why was Jesus born a Jew? The incarnation undercuts all ethnic boasting and throws people from every tribe, tongue, and nation on the mercy of a Jewish man from Nazareth.

If we don’t see much success in a career we thought God called us to, did we misread his call?

Whether a church is healthy or needs revitalization, every local congregation needs a consistent window to the greatness and glory of God from the pulpit.

Singing together is never just a formality in a church service. God uses truth in song to sustain, encourage, and recharge his people.

Every believer is already new in Christ, and yet vestiges of our old selves remain. We must fight every day to become who we already are.

The burdens and drudgery of life may feel like walls keeping you from joy. But inside these walls, God Almighty is working for your everlasting good.

If God made everything good, then do we honor him just by using what he has made? Pastor John explains the essential steps to God-honoring feasting.

Every single one of us can look over our lives and find failures we regret. How do we deal with remorse in light of God’s mercy?

Our culture saturates itself with entertainment that hardly gives a passing thought to God. Should Christians consume such media?

When you discover that God is not only perfectly glorious, but that everything he does is for his glory, your life may get flipped upside down.

Sexual desire doesn’t begin and end with physical attraction. God made us to cherish inner beauty and glory, not just looks that pass with age.

If heaven is a world of love, with no grief or pain or loss, then will we have any need to pray to God once we are there?

Only the grace of supernatural delight can empower us to resist the allure of sin’s constant temptations.

If someone’s sexual desires are low to the point of indifference, should he or she still be open to marriage down the road?

The Bible stresses repeatedly the power and greatness of Jesus’s name. But why does it emphasize his name, and not just his person?