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In today's entry, I continue our series looking at the works of John Bunyan. The following paragraphs contain select verses from John Bunyan's "Mediations" which he wrote while in prison. Written in a poetic format, these verses record Bunyan's experiences of God's grace and goodness in his life while he was imprisoned without just cause. With each word it becomes powerfully clear that Bunyan's time in prison only served to strengthen and embolden him more in his zeal for God. I hope you find these verses as exhortational as I did, and if you want to read the complete work (I encourage you to do so!), you can find the PDF here .   I am, indeed, in prison now In body, but my mind Is free to study Christ, and how Unto me he is kind. For though men keep my outward man Within their locks and bars, Yet by the faith of Christ I can Mount higher than the stars. Their fetters cannot spirits tame, Nor tie up God from me; My faith and hope they cannot lame, Above th...

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15)   How often we turn to the words of ‘the great commission’ before we embark on a missionary trip or a weekend city-street mission.  And rightly so.  Before we begin our task for God, we ought to have our focus on God’s command to preach the gospel and make disciples. But what is our intention when heading out on endeavours like these?  To glorify God?  To win men and women for Christ?  To be a faithful witness? Or is it to try and prove a point? Living in a society that subtly but powerfully is pushing anything related to God out of the picture, it is possible for Christians to feel uptight, bitter, and perhaps angry towards unbelievers.  Seeing the name and work of Christ being cast into the gutter is going to grieve us, but taking it out on people around us isn’t exactly going to give them the desire to ...

Most kind and loving people have admirably low expectations for mothers of young children.  People constantly reassure me that my failures are okay, whether it’s that I forgot to bring something, do something, answer an email quickly, or even if it’s something more important: “Nobody can be perfectly patient all the time.”  “I didn’t read the Bible for years when we had littles.”  “They won’t remember the bad times.”  “The important thing is that you’re trying.”  “God knows what we need even when we’re too tired to pray.” Even great pastors like D.A. Carson and Martyn Lloyd-Jones are hasty to reassure us of the legitimacy of our struggle, the impossibility of being a mother of young children and a devotee of Scripture at the same time. There is much kindness in such reassurance.  I have no doubt that it is well-meant. But while pithy reassurances are comforting, they aren’t necessarily biblical or helpful. My heart is bleak ; I am not strong enough to stop burying myself in the Word ...

One of the happiest moments in life was when I realized that life was not defined by happiness but by joy in Jesus.-The Blueprint- Happiness is such a controversial word in my opinion because many people find themselves imprisoned by the meaning of this word. Truly if we were to analyze happiness we would realize that it is a state of being not an absolute. Happiness is circumstantial at best. Consequently, it is a feeling solely based on conditions, never concrete. If you were to show me 5 people that were happy...I could show you 5 more that were unhappy because of trying circumstances and events that were out of their control. Happiness is an emotion that is always changing. It lacks depth and the deeply planted roots needed to build a stable foundation upon. What do you mean?  Thanks for asking... Happiness says in essences if I feel happy today, if everything around me is conducive to my happiness, then guess what?... I feel happy today. But by some chance my circumstances don...

I’m always appalled at some who are quick to call another Christian “Pharisee.” Especially when they relish attacking those whom they see as Pharisees as a means of virtue signalling before another audience they want to please or win over.

Scripture Deuteronomy 10:21 (NASB) 21  He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. Deuteronomy 32:3-4 (NASB) 3    “For I proclaim the name of the  Lord ;      Ascribe greatness to our God! 4    “The Rock! His work is perfect,      For all His ways are just;      A God of faithfulness and without injustice,      Righteous and upright is He. 1 Chronicles 16:8-9 (NASB) 8     Oh give thanks to the  Lord , call upon His name;      Make known His deeds among the peoples. 9     Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;      Speak of all His wonders. Psalm 18:46 (NASB) 46  The  Lord  lives! Praise be to my Rock!      Exalted be God my Savior! Acts 16:25 (NASB) 25  But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; Colossians 3:16 (NASB) 16  Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and h...

(This article is part of a modernized series in which John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress, discusses four observable characteristics of Christian behavior) I begin with the first . That good works flow from faith . This is evident in several ways. First, from the impossibility of their flowing from any other thing; they must either flow from faith, or not at all: 'For whatsoever is not from faith is sin' (Rom 14:23). And again, 'Without faith it is impossible to please him' (Heb 11:6). Every man by nature, before faith, is an evil and a corrupt tree; and a corrupt tree cannot produce good fruit: 'Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?' (Matt 7:16,17). Now a man is made good by faith, and by that produces the fruits that are acceptable to God (Heb 11:4; Col 1:4-6). For this reason, sinners, before faith, are compared to the wilderness, whose fruits are briars and thorns; and whose hearts are the home of dragons; that is, of devils (Isa...