The Heidelberg Catechism - The Foundations Of Our Faith

PREACHERS: WHAT MAKES A SERMON “GREAT”? There are Nine Key Ingredients: 1. BIBLICITY. “Preach the Word!” (2 Tim. 4:2). The pulpit is no place for humanistic talks about your personal cultural insights. You are a messenger of Scripture. Rightly divide and expound that Word! 2. CHRISTOCENTRICITY. “We preach Christ” (1 Cor. 1:23; cf. Phil. 1:15-16). What made the apostle rejoice? “Christ is preached” (Phil. 1:18). Look closely at “The Contents Commission” in Luke 24:46-48. The command is to preach Jesus the Messiah as the Son of God (cf. Jn. 20:31), so the hearers can meet the Son of God in the Word of God and be transformed by the Spirit of God. His Gospel is the power of God to His hearers’ salvation (Rom. 1:16). 3. CLARITY. In Colossians 4:4, Paul asks the church to pray for him, "that I may proclaim it [the message, the mystery of Christ] clearly, as I should." He views clarity in presenting the mystery of Christ as a direct duty of the preacher and teacher. “A ...

COERCIVE CONTROL IS ABOUT POWER, NOT LOVE Coercive control is one of the most damaging forms of emotional abuse because it is designed to strip away another person's independence, confidence, and freedom. Some individuals with Dark Triad personality traits, namely narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, may use these controlling behaviors in different ways to dominate the people around them. Although these traits overlap, their methods often differ. THE NARCISSISTIC STYLE A person with strong narcissistic traits often uses coercive control to protect an inflated self-image. They may rewrite reality through gaslighting, deny obvious events, dismiss your feelings, and blame you for problems they created. Over time, you begin questioning your own memory, judgment, and even your sanity while they maintain the appearance of being right. THE MACHIAVELLIAN STYLE People with strong Machiavellian traits tend to approach relationships strategically. Their manipulation is often pa...

You don’t need to have been a Christian for very long to run into the challenge of prayers feeling as if they are bouncing off the ceiling. So if you’re wrestling with this question, you’re not alone. The famous Christian writer C. S. Lewis said that unanswered prayer, especially as he prayed for his sick and dying mother as a boy, was one reason he abandoned faith until his 30s. Lewis wrote: The trouble with God is that he is like a person who never acknowledges one’s letters and so, in time, one comes to the conclusion either that he does not exist or that you have got the address wrong. ¹ At this point it’s easy for atheists to scoff and say “I told you so!” but the challenge is there’s no solace in secularism. If atheism is true, there is no God to be silent, but worse than that, the  universe  is utterly impassive and entirely doesn’t care. And when suffering comes, or you see injustice, or when life feels unfair, well suck it up: if atheism is true, we live in...

Do you ever feel tempted to give up? Perhaps right now you feel overlooked, forgotten, mistreated, and you want to quit. Satan’s goal is to get you to do just that—throw in the towel and call it quits. Discouragement is one of his most effective weapons. But remember this: while disappointments are inevitable, discouragement is a choice. You do not have to yield to the devil’s debilitating whispers of doubt and fear or be trapped in self- pity. If we are ever going to reach our full potential, we must understand a very important truth: God is for us. He is not against us. He often uses trials to position us for greater blessing, and even in times of great disappointment, we can trust that He has our best in mind and will work all things out for our good. He knows how He wants to use the disappointment or hardship for our benefit, and He desires that we see Him as our only source of salvation and strength and blessing. When you feel tempted to yield to discourage...

One : Seek to experience God every moment of every day. As Wendell Berry noted, “There are no unsacred places; only sacred places and desecrated places.”  Two : Trust him in the hard places. Edwin Louis Cole observed, “You don’t drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.” The motivational speaker Jesse Itzler has popularized the phrase, “You didn’t come this far only to come this far.”  Three : Bring temptation immediately to Jesus. John Piper warned: “Sin gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be happier if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier.” But Jesus will give us his discernment and strength to defeat temptation if we will seek them from him (Hebrews 4:15–16).  Four : Trust your Father to do what is best. Chuck Swindoll is right:   ...

8 WAY NARCISSISTS TRAIN YOU TO ACCEPT ABUSE 1. They slowly introduce disrespect Small insults, subtle put-downs, and boundary violations begin—just enough to confuse you, not alarm you. 2. They start with love bombing They overwhelm you with attention, affection, and promises—so you emotionally invest fast and deeply. 3. They normalize bad behavior What shocked you at first becomes “just how they are.” You start adjusting instead of resisting. 4. They gaslight you They make you question your memory, feelings, and reality—so you stop trusting your own judgment. 5. They punish your boundaries Anytime you speak up, they withdraw love, get angry, or blame you—training you to stay silent. 6. They reward your tolerance When you accept the abuse, they suddenly become kind again—creating a toxic cycle of hope. 7. They isolate you They distance you from friends and family so you rely only on them for validation. 8. They shift the blame onto you Over time, you start believing you...

SOME SIGNS OF A CHRISTIAN NARCISSIST 1. They appear holy but lack humility. They focus on looking righteous while resisting correction and accountability. 2. They weaponize forgiveness. They pressure others to forgive quickly while refusing to acknowledge or change their own harmful behavior. 3. They believe they are spiritually superior. They act as though they are closer to God than everyone else. 4. They use Scripture to control people. Bible verses become tools for manipulation instead of love, wisdom, and truth. 5. They demand unquestioning submission. Any disagreement is labeled as rebellion, disrespect, or a lack of faith. 6. They lack genuine compassion. They may speak about love and grace but show little empathy when others are hurting. 7. They seek admiration through ministry. Serving God becomes a way to gain praise, influence, or status rather than to glorify God. 8. They refuse to take responsibility. Mistakes are b...

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15 “How To’s” Pastors Wish Someone Had Taught Them By Chuck Lawless on Sep 28, 2026 01:00 am I’ve taught seminary students now for 30+ years, and I’ve worked with hundreds of graduates in doctoral programs or local church events. I always want to know what leadership issues pastors wish someone had taught them. Here are fifteen I hear often, in no particular order: How to oversee a budget  – Because financial issues often create tension in a church, the battleground is not the best place to learn about budget preparation, proper budget percentages, spending policies, etc. How to lead a meeting  – One reason people don’t like meetings is that they’ve never seen one led well. A poorly conducted meeting is a waste of everyone’s time. How to interview potential staff  – More than one of us have conducted interviews that were incomplete at best, borderline illegal at worst. That happens when no one trains you in recruiting and interviewing. How to prioritize family w...

Grace Davie, who coined the term “believing without belonging,” writes, “Europe  believes, but it does not belong.” She is describing those who subscribe to some belief,  however vague that belief may be—for example, “general statements of belief, the  notion of a religious disposition, and denominational self-ascription” which “remain  relatively high, whilst those that pertain to regular religious practice or to the creedal  statements of Christian doctrine have dropped very markedly indeed.” Many Europeans  believe, but their beliefs are vicariously experienced at a distance from mediating  institutions like churches.” The trend in Europe is not toward atheism. In fact only twelve percent of Europeans  “don’t believe in any kind of God, spirit or life force.” The number increases to 22  percent if you include those who “don’t know what to believe.”Europeans do  believe,...

The author of the  First Book of Maccabees  regarded the Maccabean revolt as a rising of pious Jews against the Seleucid king who had tried to eradicate their religion and against the Jews who supported him. The author of the  Second Book of Maccabees  presented the conflict as a struggle between "Judaism" and "Hellenism", words that he was the first to use. [ 29 ]  Modern scholarship tends to the second view. Most modern scholars argue that the king was intervening in a  civil war between traditionalist Jews in the countryside and Hellenised Jews in Jerusalem. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] [ 32 ]  According to Joseph P. Schultz, modern scholarship, "considers the Maccabean revolt less as an uprising against foreign oppression than as a civil war between the orthodox and reformist parties in the Jewish camp." [ 33 ]  In the conflict over the office of High Priest, traditionalists with Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias contested against Hellenisers with Greek na...

After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23  John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24  (for John had not yet been put in prison). 25               Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. 26  And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness---look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." 27  John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' 29  The one who has the  bride is the  bridegroom . The friend of the  bridegroom , who stands and hears him, rejoices g...