Ask Pastor John

If God has given helpful skills to both believers and unbelievers, what makes the difference between a merely natural ability and a spiritual gift?

How can Christians live so that, at bottom, we can say with Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”?

Christ bids his people both to wisely get and freely give, and he supplies us with the grace we need to discern when to do what with our talents.

The death of Christ was no accident. He came to be crucified, that he might hang the sins and sufferings of those he loves with him there.

Christian love labors to overlook the sins of others, just as Christ went to the cross to forgive us, not to shame us.

Real differences exist between real Christians. But where we lack unity of conviction, we can share unity of humble, sacrificial disposition.

We ready ourselves to suffer well when we look our life dead in the eye and say with Paul, “I count it all as loss compared to Christ.”

When Christ died, so did our sin-loving selves. Now, God sends suffering to weed out the sin that lingers and stunts our joy in Christ.

Preachers are emissaries of God’s revealed truth. So how should we talk about parts of the text we don’t understand?

Christian ministry is relationally painful. Friends in the ministry can leave and never return, as even the apostle Paul experienced near the end of his life.

Jesus, Paul, Peter, and the author of Hebrews all describe people who begin well in the Christian life before eventually making shipwreck of their faith.

No one likes to receive criticism, even when it’s well-intended. How can we learn to control our emotional responses and remain grounded in the love of Christ?

We all face crises, and without grace, we find our world collapsing in the midst of them. But there is strong and stable hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Scripture calls us to do everything for the glory of God. Does that mean no action we take is morally neutral?

What will the relationship between husband and wife be like in the age to come? Pastor John explains how the best parts of marriage point ahead to eternal joy.

How can Christians always pray and not lose heart? In part, by remembering the generous heart of God and his delight to hear his people.

How can a wife go on praying for her unbelieving husband after years, or even decades, of no evident change?

How can we see the glory of Christ? Renounce the praise of man. Devote yourself to Scripture. Turn to Christ through his word. Keep praying for sight.

Why is the fear of man such a big problem? Because those who fear men cast their vote against the trustworthiness of God.

How can Christians live fearlessly? Replace the fear of man with the fear of God. Fear man — live fearfully. Fear God — live fearlessly.

Godly submission does not require that a woman do everything her husband says. Before she is a wife who submits to her husband, she is a Christian who submits to Christ.

How do we know if we are able to bear the heavy calling of being the aroma of life to some and the aroma of death to others?

Pastors who flaunt their riches will not draw anyone to the hope of the gospel. They will draw men and women to the hope of luxury.

Men and women may face temptations peculiar to their sex, but we both share a deep, common depravity and a profound need for mercy.

Hope in God clothes a woman with a beauty that will never fade, never perish, and never cease to be precious in God’s sight.

How might we as parents teach our daughters, even at young ages, how to express their femininity without flaunting their body?

God calls church members to submit to their pastors, wives to their husbands, employees to their bosses. But is there also a sense in which God calls us to submit to everyone?

“Love your enemies,” Jesus says. But who are our enemies? The answer is broader than we might imagine.

In the wake of great betrayal, how do we respond with love and forgiveness without minimizing the evil of the sin?

Peter tells wives to win their husbands “without a word.” Does that mean a wife should never confront her husband over a pattern of habitual sin?

How can a father governed by anger begin to recover kindness and tenderheartedness? By freshly embracing God the Father’s forgiveness through Christ.

Is heartfelt anger toward God ever righteous, or even morally neutral — or is such anger always sinful?

Does the Bible teach that God has predestined some to disobedience and destruction, just as he has predestined some to salvation?

What are the two greatest questions in the universe? Pastor John explains by looking at 1 Peter 2:11–12.

When do innocent desires of the flesh become threats to the soul? When they cross over from serving God’s will to serving our rebellious self.

The biblical authors often intertwine faith and hope, yet they also distinguish them. So what is the difference between these two gifts of the Spirit?

When the light of Christ shines upon the darkness of our sin, we either run to Christ as the only covering for our shame, or we run further into darkness.

Scripture speaks of the Father judging the world, the Son judging the world, and sometimes even the word of Christ judging the world. So, in the end, who will judge?

The new birth is a sovereign work of the Spirit, but it is a work bound to the word. The Spirit of God works through the word of God to glorify the Son of God.

When we trust God with our money, we not only enjoy freedom from worry, but we magnify the shepherd, Father, and King who provides for us.

What makes Christian love different from non-Christian love? It is rooted in the cross of Christ, sustained by the Holy Spirit, and aimed at the glory of God.

Ecclesiastes tells us not to be “overly righteous,” but Jesus calls us to a righteousness that exceeds even that of the Pharisees. How can we put these two texts together?

You don’t have to commit great sins in order to fall away from Jesus. You just have to neglect your great salvation.

Did Jesus have to die a public, agonizing death, or could he have saved us by living sinlessly and dying in obscurity?

God clearly tests his people, but does he ever tempt them to sin? Pastor John explores the distinction between tests and temptations in James 1.

Hundreds of times, God tells us to “fear not.” So why does he also call us to work out our salvation “with fear and trembling”?

Sober-mindedness keeps us from the silliness that is allergic to serious moments, but it also keeps us from the somberness that doesn’t know how to be joyful.

Peter assures us of an inheritance kept safe in heaven; Jesus calls us to lay up treasures in heaven. Are eternal inheritance and rewards the same?

In an age inundated with entertainment, how do Christians stay awake to the glory of Christ and help others do the same?

Saving faith is the gift of God, who opens blind eyes and raises dead hearts. So what can unbelievers do when they find themselves unable to believe on their own?