Ask Pastor John

Retirement is not the last chapter of life — eternity is the last chapter. And the hope of being with Jesus forever should shape our final years on earth.

Little hearts need the hope and security of a big God. What can parents tell kids and teens in the middle of a pandemic?

When Christian parents have a number of educational options for their children, what biblical principles help us decide what’s best?

God never wastes his children. If you devote yourself to serving the Lord, he will never leave you without significant opportunities for good works.

The coronavirus is a wake-up call for everyone. Have we built our lives on a fragile foundation, or do we have true, unshakable hope in Jesus Christ?

Jesus may not give us everything we want, or even everything we think we need. But he will give us everything we truly need — all the way to the end.

No technology can ever thwart God’s sovereignty. His oversight extends even to those advancements that seem to take his place.

God calls husbands to provide and protect, not demean and belittle. Husbands must lead, but always with gentleness and grace, especially in the home.

Jesus doesn’t want disciples who seek him merely for what he can provide. He wants disciples who treasure him for who he is.

Jesus told his disciples, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” What kind of sword does the Prince of Peace bring?

Jesus calls us away from self-protection and toward taking risks of love. To follow a sacrificial Savior is to give and sacrifice with him.

Jesus does not discriminate. He offers the bread of life to anyone who calls on his name — even to those who have committed unspeakable crimes.

Are we free to be who we want to be, or are we instead the products of our backgrounds and environments?

If all of God’s plans stand, and all of his purposes come to pass, is praying for what we want pointless?

Suffering is not a hindrance to the spread of the gospel. Suffering is, very often, God’s means of spreading the gospel where it has never gone before.

How can a husband cultivate an atmosphere of holy joy at home if his wife struggles with chronic sadness or depression?

After adultery, couples may feel like their marriage is ruined beyond repair. What biblical realities can help them begin to find healing?

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.