Ask Pastor John

When tragedy strikes, Christians have need to know how to respond. So how does the Bible guide us to think, feel, and act in the face of calamity?

How will the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize so-called “same-sex marriage” impact Christians and our churches? Scholar and Theologian D.A. Carson weighs in just after the ruling was announced.

In the trenches of day-to-day parenting, we need to remember the big picture — namely, that we have the unique opportunity, under God, to shape a form a human soul.

Money may allow us to buy stuff, but it can never buy contentment. If we try to use money to purchase our happiness, it will fail us every time.

The Lord takes away not so that we experience loss, but so that we know the fullness of hope and joy only Jesus Christ offers.

God’s grace is sufficient for our every weakness — even the subtle weakness of taking pride in our own “strength.”

Sex isn’t a topic the church should be embarrassed about. In fact, our God-given sexuality offers us an opportunity to display fundamental truths about God and his world.

When sex becomes all about “my pleasure,” it corrupts a pleasure that God intended to be shared and enjoyed in close, intimate relationship.

God has set boundaries for sex not because he wants to deny us some hidden pleasure, but because he wants us to experience the best joy possible.

What happens when a postmodern perspective on good and evil collides with a breathtaking tragedy like the holocaust?

Our hearts have a natural drive to seek glory. But unless we find that desire in God, we will never experience the satisfaction we so crave.

Unless our pursuit of pleasure has proper boundaries, we’ll always come up short of the lasting joy we’re looking for.

Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. But what about enemies who constantly kill and destroy innocent life like ISIS?

Sex may be a natural, physical act, but the union of a man and woman is from God himself. Only those with eyes to see can truly know the wonders of the marriage bed.

God has deep purposes in our most searing pains. We don’t always know what he is doing, but we can experience joy in the sorrow when we trust him.

To write with a calling from God isn’t simply to enjoy putting pen to paper, but to have an insatiable drive to awaken delight in God with whatever you say.

The process of writing — putting thoughts into words and sentences and paragraphs — clarifies our thinking in ways that dialogue simply cannot.

Doctrine and ethics are never far apart. The beliefs and views that lead distort one will inevitably corrupt the other.

The hope of heaven not only grants us comfort when we think of eternity, but also empowers our love for God and Neighbor today.

The resolve to keep moving forward in ministry doesn’t come from mere determination, but daily dependence on God’s amazing grace.