Ask Pastor John

How can believers push past surface-level Bible reading to the reality behind the words? Pastor John offers five practices to enliven dry devotions.

Why do people reject God when creation proclaims his presence? Pastor John explains how truth becomes suppressed, both internally and externally.

How can those who have wandered far from God come back home to him? Pastor John offers hope in the face of deep failure.

How do Jesus’s teaching and example shape our leadership? Pastor John examines the traits of a godly leader in the home, church, or workplace.

What is God doing while we wait in a painful place? Pastor John shows how God uses waiting to produce a new security, a new song, and a new significance.

How can we find peace when struggling to see the goodness of our individual design? Pastor John illustrates God’s love and wisdom in his creation.

When does faithful lament become sinful complaint? Pastor John offers five statements on lament to help us cry out to God in great pain.

How do we cling to Christ when faced with the unknowns of aging? Pastor John encourages older Christians in the battle against bitterness and fear.

By nature, we are selfish and God-ignoring and God-belittling. But no matter how hard a heart may be, the sovereign God can still save.

Indwelling sin still pervades those who are in Christ. But God’s mercy is more than enough to meet, match, and master any guilt we bring to him.

How might pastors approach the many administrative needs of a congregation? Pastor John draws four helpful guidelines from Jethro’s counsel to Moses.

Why do Christians make such a big deal about sex? Pastor John shows what godly sexuality says about the God who made us and the Christ who redeemed us.

Why is Christianity the best religion? Pastor John offers four reasons, including the hope of the gospel and the uniqueness of the God-man.

How does God’s word guide our heart’s instruction in the night? Pastor John explains the ways God uses nighttime counsel to teach and lead us.

When does stewardship of the body cross over into self-glorification? Pastor John helps us test our motivations with three questions.

When we lift our hands in worship, are we displaying public faithfulness or public performance? Pastor John gives three ways to test our hearts.

How do we rejoice in God without neglecting to rejoice in our salvation? Pastor John clarifies how to rightly rejoice in God and his good gifts.

How does reading the Bible lead to life transformation? Pastor John offers three suggestions to experience more of the Spirit’s power.

How do we craft a personal mission statement? Pastor John helps us draw the details of our lives into God’s ultimate purpose.

How can we make New Year’s resolutions in a way that honors God? Pastor John explains the mystery of fulfilling resolves in the strength of another.

How can we root our joy in Jesus rather than in his gifts? Pastor John gives four strategies for loving God in and above every gift.

What does it feel like to meet the living God in the pages of Scripture? Pastor John gives us a glimpse into a profound encounter with God.

How do we avoid falling into spiritual complacency amid daily routines? Pastor John warns of the danger of viewing God as a nonfactor in everyday life.

How should we respond when we face accusations, especially if they seem unwarranted? Pastor John helps us bear all kinds of criticism with gutsy guilt.

How can we love our aging parents through the many challenges of caregiving? Pastor John shares counsel from Scripture and personal experience.

Why would a gospel-driven ministry define itself as Reformed? Because Reformed theology guards and glorifies the grace at the heart of the gospel.

How can trust regrow in the aftermath of adultery? Pastor John identifies two needed miracles for a marriage to survive and thrive again.

Can a Christian lose patience and not be in sin? Pastor John explains why patience and impatience may be more complicated than we think.

As we steward the body, our appearance might change for the better. How do we keep our focus on being a whole person, not just an attractive shape?

Satan wouldn’t exist if God didn’t keep him around — so why is he here? Pastor John explains four ways in which God is using Satan for his glory.

Differences in belief can feel bigger than they are — but sometimes they are truly big. What separates personal opinion from soul-damaging theology?

If God refuses to act “for our sake,” does that mean he refuses to do us good? Pastor John resolves a perplexity and holds forth lavish grace from Ezekiel 36.

Does Psalm 82 teach that human beings are gods? Pastor John describes the moment when Jesus quoted the psalm to escape an early death.

How could Jesus, the King of kings and true Son of God, be ashamed at the final judgment? Pastor John digs into Jesus’s argument for following him.

Are “fleshly” Christians truly Christian? Pastor John traces Paul’s distinctions between natural people, carnal Christians, and spiritual Christians.

How can we learn to rest in the saving work of Jesus Christ? Pastor John offers eight God-given ways to increase our confidence in him.

What is the bottom-line, existential, frightening, glorious question of Romans 8? Pastor John draws out two signs that a professing Christian is secure in Christ.

When pastors have the freedom to decide what to preach, how do we make a wise decision in line with the mind of Christ?

When we move to a new place, how do we find a good local church to call home? Pastor John offers nine steps to take in our search.

What should we do when two texts seem to say opposite things about God and his character? Pastor John digs to the common root of truth.

James says God cannot be tempted, but Hebrews says Jesus was tempted just like we are. How do these two passages fit together?

If a man wants to be married but is too young to pursue it, how can he keep his desires in the right place? Pastor John offers five weapons for the fight.

Sorrow and joy are not just sequential emotional states: first sorrow, then joy. Miraculously, we can experience overflowing joy in the midst of deep sorrow.

How can we delight in the good work we do while keeping our work in its proper place? Pastor John situates daily work within God’s larger purposes.

Does human evil really call for infinite punishment? Pastor John confronts the ultimate sin of ignoring God’s infinite value.

Pastor John connects God’s word with his ability to perform that word, grounding our faith in the unstoppable purposes of our loving God.

In Isaiah 58, does God condemn his people for having too much delight in his ways? Pastor John distinguishes hypocritical pleasure from true, generous joy in God.

God promised a home to faithful eunuchs in the Old Testament, but what about childless believers today? Pastor John sees three enduring blessings.

In the Bible, God sometimes tests his people to see how they will respond. Why does he do this if he already knows every heart?

Should Christians seek mystical experiences as a way to grow closer to God? Pastor John looks at how Paul responded to his own visions.