Posts by Nick Batzig

 

David Brainerd rightly rises to the praiseworthy commendations of some of the greatest pastors and theologians of the last three hundred years. Certainly a man of clay feet, he, neverthless, lived his life desirous of being fully devoted to his Maker. I am sure that none of us have met anyone so wholly given to seeking to live his or her life for the glory of God and the good of the souls of men like David Brainerd.

 

We live in a day of comfort. Every new product boasts a greater measure of ease than that which preceded it. Our public discourse insists that the highest form of virtue is that we do not make others feel uncomfortable about their beliefs or lifestyles. Then we read the Bible and, in many places, we find it to be extremely uncomfortable. Of course, we all have our "go-to" encouragement passages; and, it's right that love them. These are the cherished Gospel promises and comforts. These are, without question, supremely important to the life of faith for the child of God.  Still, we find just as many uncomfortable warnings and rebukes in Scripture as we do comforting promises and encouragements. So how should we approach the severe passages of Scripture? 

 

In order to play the sweet songs of God's grace in our lives, we need to make sure that we have all of the biblical strings of grace tuned and in place. If we leave off one or two, we will inevitably be unable to play the beautiful melody of holiness in our lives in the way in which God has intended. 

 
 

There are many Psalms that we neglect until we find ourselves in the difficult circumstances of life. It's not until we go through the trials of life commensurate with those of the Psalmist that will we ever draw strength from the imprecatory Psalms and the Psalms of lament.

 
 

In our day, bribery in all its sophisticated and subtle forms may be the least mentioned sin. It is, however, in no way whatsoever absent from the pages of Scripture.