Ask Pastor John

Delight in God as most admirable. Delight in God as Savior and friend. Delight in God through his gifts. And you will delight yourself in the Lord.

If you struggle in your Bible reading, Pastor John commends copying down the Scriptures each day and gives four reasons why.

Spontaneous and memorized prayers teach families important aspects of a real, dynamic relationship with God.

God’s people are Christians before they are patriots, but they still work for the good of their homelands.

Prayers at meals, even when we don't feel like making them, form soul-nourishing habits of joy that can pass from generation to generation.

Food and sex easily turn from gifts into gods. Pastor John encourages believers to dethrone false gods by thanking the true God for his gifts.

Porn ravages souls. Porn demeans women. Porn destroys love. So should porn use be a marriage deal-breaker?

Christian hedonism does not ignore pain for the sake of joy. Rather, it exclaims that God is satisfying enough to give you joy in the midst of pain.

Don’t delight in delight, glorify God by rejoicing in him, and three more safeguards against idolizing joy for Christian Hedonists.

Jesus surpasses whatever good the world has to offer. So rather than worship those good things, disciples of Jesus receive them as gifts.

Some tire of listening to sermons, as though they were lectures. But a preacher is not a professor, but a herald of God, proclaiming the good news to the church.

God’s sovereign working in the gospel assures his people that no hardship is wasted and no wrongdoing will slip by unnoticed. He will settle every account.

God’s joy in himself bears up his self-sufficient, sovereign work in the world. Pastor John unpacks God’s infinite, trinitarian joy.

Christians celebrate interracial marriage, but black-white marriage especially touches sensitive cultural nerves. Pastor John identifies five of them.

In light of two regrettable tweets, Pastor John shares the lessons he learned about how, when, and where to speak online.

When catastrophes hit, pastors should lead their churches toward a healthy response — filled with mourning and worship.

While God calls us to spend most of our time in the thick of regular life and ministry, occasional retreats are good for refreshing the soul.

Pastor John reflects on his move to Tennessee — both his motives for moving and the projects he hopes to accomplish while living there.

Eternal life is sure for the bride of Christ. But prayers and exhortations of Christian community may be the very means God uses to preserve his people.

Pastor John encourages Christian loners — even those who have been hurt by the church — to pursue God in Christ-exalting friendships.