Category Archives: Other

Other, Short Stories

The Prince and the Drawbridge: A Short Story

Leave a comment

The man was sickly, impoverished, and defenseless against danger. The local apothecary gave him cordial, but it turned out to be watered down liquor. A rich landowner lent him coins, but they slipped through the holes in his satchel. When wolves encircled his home, he would drive them back with sticks and stones, only to suffer greater wounds each night. And suddenly, his dwindling hope revived when a promising thought entered his weary mind:

“Perhaps the king shall take pity upon me.”

Stories of the king’s wisdom in medicine, abundance of wealth, and vast armory circulated among the villages, and the peasant man heard his fair share, too. More than that, the king had a reputation for being generous. In desperation, he boldly sought the king’s help—something peons would never entertain.

And after journeying three days, he looked upon the king’s towering castle with relief. But then his heart sank into his belly: a moat enclosed the castle and the drawbridge was raised. 

“Alas! I cannot enter,” he lamented. “I shall wait here, and perhaps one of the king’s men will notice me.”

But the sun soon sank behind the horizon, and so did his hope. Suddenly, the drawbridge lowered, and a rider upon a white steed emerged, but galloped right past him. And the drawbridge raised again. 

He began traveling home, his heart sorer than ever. But while on the way, a horseman drew near. “Friend,” he asked, “I saw thee at the entrance of the castle, appearing vexed. What burdens thee?” The man initially hesitated, but finally spoke up:

“I am dying, with no cure. My purse is empty and wolves prowl my fences. I heard your king was kind, and thought he could help me. But seeing no entry, I dared not force my way in.”

The rider nodded and said, “I shall see what may be done.”

The man’s eyes glimmered with hope and he asked, “Truly? And may I ask—who art thou?”

The rider then smiled and said, “I am the king’s son.”

The horseman then disappeared into the dusk, telling the man to return tomorrow.

At daylight, the man returned—and there was the king’s son beside the drawbridge. At his command, the drawbridge lowered, and the prince sat the man on his own horse and proceeded inside until they made it to the throne.

“My lord and king, I,” but then the king’s son raised his hand.

“Father, this man is poor,” he said. “He is sick and beset by foes. And he has come seeking thy mercy.”

Immediately, the king answered, “Let it be done. Fill his pockets with my own gold. Give him the healing cordial I have prepared. And arm him plentifully, that he may ward off the wolves.”

The son lowered the drawbridge to the king, and the peasant was welcomed into his presence, receiving all that he lacked.

The Scripture tells of another King, another Son, another drawbridge, and another needy man. We are needy sinners who require what only God can give us, and prayer is the drawbridge the Father lowers to those accompanied by His Son, that we may enter His throne-room to receive the grace and we need.

We cannot gain access on our own. We cannot sneak through the back door. There is no way of getting in unless the drawbridge is lowered by the Prince of Peace, Jesus.

And when He brings us into God’s throne-room, we always receive what we need, not what we may want. What He gives according to His will is better than what we want or what we might seek from this wicked world. Our spiritual illnesses cannot be healed by the placebos the world offers. Our spiritual poverty cannot be reversed by earthly riches. And we are defenseless against the wolf, Satan. But through prayer, we enter God’s throne-room, where He heals our soul’s diseases, enriches us, and equips us with the weapons we need to fight in spiritual warfare—so long as the Son brings us inside (Heb. 4:14-16)

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

book reviews, Other

Book Review: Shapers of Christianity by Nick Needham

Leave a comment

Christians need to study church history. Present-day believers can find soul-encouragement from the perseverance of yesteryear’s saints. Nothing will fuel your faithfulness today like reading about towering Christians who faced ridicule, persecution, and even death for the “crime” of following Jesus. Modern disciples can also learn to be more wary of false doctrine from studying the array of heresies which have arisen over the years, and how theologians in past centuries combatted such lies as beacons of biblical truth. There are a dozen more reasons to savor good books on church history, and today’s believers are blessed to have such a book from Nick Needham, Shapers of Christianity.

Excellent content + skillful writing = a book you cannot put down. I cannot recommend this short volume enough. Nick Needham is a modern-day expert on church history and the gold-nugget details that leave you saying, “Wow. I never knew that.” I burned through this book in four days. Needham paints brief sketches of the church fathers, reformers, and American theologians like B. B. Warfield and J. Gresham Machen.

To whet your appetite, here are a few little-known facts I gleaned from the book:

  • Irenaeus of Lyons (who wrote his best works during AD 175-195) was directly discipled by Polycarp, who was directly discipled by John the apostle.
  • Most arguments for the deity of Christ, the divine personhood of the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity were first facilitated by Gregory of Nazianzus (AD 330-390). He helped think through the Bible’s teaching on the Triune Godhead, shaping our Trinitarian doctrines into what they are today.
  • Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) wrote the first-ever systematic theology on substitutionary atonement.
  • John Calvin and other reformers cherished the commentaries written by a little-known Eastern Orthodox theologian, Theophylact of Ochrid (1050-1109). And that is saying something, considering the schism between the two theologies.
  • John Wycliffe (1330-1384), who led the way in giving us the English Bible we have today, was so detested by the Roman Catholic Church that they dug up his bones after his death and burned them. And, the Bible societies he founded were still active when the Reformation eventually made its way to England.
  • A lesser-known Russian monk named Tikhon of Zadonsk (1724-1783) transformed the world of devotional writing. He loved Western Christian literature, and Western Christians loved him back.
  • Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), though known for “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” preached much more on grace than wrath; and his neighborhood experienced such revival that they found it bizarre to engage in small-talk—unless it was biblical.
  • Without the organizational genius of John Wesley (1703-1791), Christianity in America would not be what it is today. Wesley also disliked open-air preaching, but did it anyway, explaining, “I love a commodious room, a soft cushion, a handsome pulpit. But where is my zeal, if I do not trample all these under foot in order to save one more soul?” (65).
  • Francis Turretin (1623-1687), an older Italian reformed theologian, was perhaps the chief reason why Princeton was once a champion of biblical truth. His “Institutes of Elenctic Theology,” was devoured by then-president Charles Hodge (Hodge persuaded one of his friends to translate the work into English, without which, we would not be able to read it today). And Hodge was a major influence on B. B. Warfield and J. Gresham Machen, whose writings were desperately needed in the age of modernism and liberalism.

Get your copy of Shapers of Christianity by Nick Needham in paperback from Banner of Truth.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Other, Theological Reflections

The Unexpected Blessing of Unanswered Prayer

Leave a comment

Unanswered prayer is a razor-sharp instrument of sanctification that the Lord uses to slice open our idolatrous, covetous, unbelieving, and impatient hearts.

That has been my experience, anyway.

When the Lord does not grant us what we want or think we need, our sinful inclination is to desire what we are praying for more than we desire the will of God, which may or may not include the things we have prayed for. The things for which we have yearned for and cried for in prayer may even be good, but our idol-worshipping hearts have a way of turning good things into god-things (Rom. 1:25). A good thing can swiftly become a golden calf and we can easily become fixated upon what we want, allowing everything in our lives to revolve around it, thus, inhibiting contentment with the Lord and His will.

Of course, this is contrary to the kind of God-pleasing obedience which Jesus exemplified in the gloomy garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:42). He prayed that the cup of God’s righteous indignation would pass from Him, if it were possible. For a brief moment, He prayed for a plan B. Nevertheless, He submitted to God’s sovereign plan of redemption, content with the Lord’s will, which was to “crush Him” (Isa. 53:10). Jesus desired the will of God more than what He prayed for.

Unanswered prayer can also reveal our unholy disposition to question God’s promises and provision, as if His word has failed because we have failed to receive what we have asked for in prayer. When the Lord denies our request(s), we can slip into unbelief and falsely suppose that God is going to give us a serpent or a stone, or worse, that He will withhold the bread and good gifts which He promises to give His children. Walking by sight instead of by faith, we can easily interpret a “No” from God as His displeasure or a failure to keep His word.

Unanswered prayer can also expose our impatience and unwillingness to wait upon the Lord. Perhaps He will give us what we are praying for, but today is not the day. Tomorrow may not be the day, either. Perhaps His denial or delay is because He has something much better in store. Only the Lord knows. But what is certain is that when we do not immediately receive what we are praying for, we have a tendency to grow frustrated and impatient.

To be certain, unanswered prayer can be painful, but it is often painful in the same way that open heart surgery is painful; the heart has to be lacerated and opened in order to get it working right. And the Lord has a way of using unanswered prayers to expose the evil of our hearts and show us that all we truly need is Him. Because of this, unanswered prayer can often be an unexpected blessing.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Other, Perspectives

The Pastor: A Spiritual Shepherd of the Saints

Leave a comment

He’s a professional holy man, they say. He only works two days a week, and never leaves the confines and comforts of his office, as some believe. Some think that he is disconnected from reality, and that the only time he experiences real life is at weddings and funerals. All of these misconceptions and more are associated with the office of pastor. But what is the truth about pastors and what does God say about them in His word?

According to the Scripture, pastors are primarily shepherds of the souls of a local church. His primary task is to feed, lead, protect, and rescue the sheep that God entrusted to him. A pastor is not a CEO or a “church boss.” He is a caretaker of a church’s spiritual health. That is what Peter meant when he commanded pastors, “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:2-4).

Pastors are also called to equip and train their congregations so that they might faithfully serve God and others. Contrary to popular belief, ministry is not relegated to the pastor only. Many mistakenly believe that the pastor is responsible for all of the work of ministry. And while he should serve alongside his people, his God-ordained job is to equip members of the church for the work of ministry. Paul wrote, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12).

And the pastor’s principal means of feeding the sheep and equipping the saints is the preaching of the word of God. The Scripture is the believer’s spiritual food, and is the pastor’s role is to prepare a feast for the people to eat (1 Peter 2:2). The Bible is the believer’s training manual for godly living, and the pastor’s task is to guide congregants through it (2 Tim. 3:16-17). He is not called to entertain, share his opinions, or run out the clock by rambling about the ills and ails of society. He is called to preach the Bible, which means explaining, interpreting, and applying what God says in His word. Paul thus commanded pastors, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:1-2).

The pastor’s character is also as crucially important as his calling. He is not free to live anyway he wants. He is called to live an exemplary life, and he may disqualify himself from the office of pastor if he brings reproach upon himself from living sinfully. That’s why the Scripture speaks of qualifications for pastors. Paul gave a lengthy list:

“Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:2-7; cf. Titus 1:5-9).

Will you pray for your pastor, and ask the Lord to help him shepherd faithfully and live holy? Will you hold him accountable to uphold a godly character?

Other, Theological Reflections

The Demand for Discernment

Leave a comment

It was disgusting and only bolstered my cibophobia (the fear of getting food poisoning). A few weeks ago, I was enjoying one of my favorite convenient meals: a Jimmy Dean breakfast bowl. I was savoring the eggs, potatoes, and sausage, and I bit into something bitter when I got down to the last few bites. And I immediately spit it out without any hesitation! Thankfully, even after having COVID three times, my sense of taste is still healthy and it probably saved me from food poisoning. 

And there is a soul-sanctifying “taste” that all believers should possess—something that the Bible calls discernment. Discernment is having the spiritual sensitivity to spit out what is bad for us and our relationship with the Lord, and it will save you from soul-poisoning. When you bite into false teaching, discernment kicks in and says, “Spit this out right now! It’s no good for you.” When you bite onto sin, which always appears as sweet, discernment sounds the alarm and says, “This is poisonous and detrimental to your sanctification. Don’t take another bite.”

Believers are commanded throughout all the Scriptures to be discerning. “Do not judge by appearances,” said our Lord Jesus, “but judge with right judgment” (John 7:24). Paul likewise admonished, “But test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thess. 5:21-22). John the apostle similarly told us that we ought not believe everything we hear: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” (1 John 4:1-2). The writer of Hebrews said that we ought to feast on the solid food of God’s word so that our “powers of discernment” can be trained (Heb. 5:14). And the apostle Paul prayed that believers would abound “in all judgment [or discernment]; that ye may approve things that are excellent” (Phil. 1:9b, KJV).

To further clarify, discernment is being able to see things the way God sees them. Discernment is having a heightened sense of what is right and wrong so that you can see things that are wrong when they look right. Discernment is being able to see a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Discernment is being able to see Satan when he is disguised as an angel of light. Discernment is being able to see the devil as a roaring lion when he appears as a cuddly kitten. Discernment is being able to see the appealing fruits of sin as the rotten and bitter fruits of demise that they truly are. Discernment is wearing the Bible as eye-glasses so that you can see the world, the devil, and the flesh for what they are.

The pressing question is, therefore, how can we become more discerning? Simply put, we must allow the Scriptures to renew our minds to enable us to see what is and isn’t the will of God. We have more luck seeing with our eyes closed than we do seeing truth and error without our Bibles opened. Only the word of God can illuminate the path of righteousness and show us the way we should go.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

Other, Theological Reflections

If God Saved You, He Will Keep You

Leave a comment

God’s promises are the kindling which fuels the fire of joy within the souls of His saints. When life is like a desolate desert of despair and discouragement, His unbreakable promises are rivers of refreshing gladness. They are the rainbows that bring us rest and relief after the heavy rains of tribulation. Like the sun rising after a night of terrifying storms, the promises of God give us a warm assurance that everything is going to be alright.

And one particular promise in the pages of Scripture that produces deep-seated and divine joy is God’s promise to preserve those who have been born again. God cannot lie and He has sworn in the testimony of Scripture that if He saved you, He will keep you. As long as Jesus remains at the right hand of the Father, then nothing can pluck you from the hand of His sovereign grace. If you are saved by grace, you will be kept by grace until the day when Jesus Christ returns. That is the joy-producing promise that Paul points believers to in the sixth verse of Philippians 1:

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (v. 6, KJV).

The Start of Salvation

“What gives me holy joy that the world cannot take away,” said Paul, “is knowing that God will always finish what He starts, especially the work of salvation He began in you.” According to Paul, your salvation is something that God initiated. He started it, not you. He ran toward you before you ran toward Him. He planned your salvation long ago in eternity past before you ever made plans to call upon His name for grace and mercy (Eph. 1:4). He chose you before you chose Him. “He first loved us,” wrote John in 1 John 4:19a.

    Think about the day you were saved for a moment. Perhaps you were kneeling at an old-fashioned altar or sitting with your head bowed in a church pew. Perhaps you were at church camp or Vacation Bible School, or in your parents’ backyard like I was.

    Now, think about this: did you plot the day of your salvation on a calendar? Did you plan to repent of your sins and trust in Christ like you plan a doctor’s appointment, three-months in advance? Did you rehearse what you were going to say and make sure everything was just right?

    Of course not! Your salvation story and mine is just like the apostle Paul’s—we were straying like lost sheep and minding our own business, and out of nowhere, we had a literal come-to-Jesus meeting (cf. Acts 9:1-9). Salvation wasn’t on our calendar—it was on God’s. And when the appointed time came for our hearts to be arrested by conviction and converted by grace, the Lord Jesus interrupted our selfish lives and drew us to Himself. The Lord opened our hearts like Lydia, the first Philippian convert (Acts 16:14). Indeed, our salvation was not a result of works, as Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9. Instead, it was and is completely owing to the good work begun by a good and gracious God.

    And knowing that God extended undeserved grace and mercy to sinners like us who deserve wrath and judgment ought to be sufficient to foster divine joy in our souls. But that is merely 50% of the precious promise which Paul calls our attention to. The other half that fuels joy all the more is this: “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

    The Sustenance of Salvation

    The God who saved you is the same God who will sustain you to the very end. It is more probable for the oceans to dry, the sun to cease shining, and God to no longer be God, than for you to lose your salvation. There is no “undo” button for conversion. You cannot be saved and lost and saved again.

    You will never fall off the potter’s wheel as clay being conformed to Christ. You can never evict the Holy Spirit from the home of your heart. You can never erase your name from Lamb’s Book of Life. You cannot loosen God’s saving grip on your soul. You cannot renounce your citizenship in heaven.

      Our Lord Jesus promised as much in the Gospel of John when he said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:37-39).

      And Christ also assured us in John 10, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).

      Salvation is a work God started, and He will finish it. An artist may have half-completed paintings in his studio for lack of time and inspiration. A woodworker may have half-built bookcases and desks in his shop for lack of time and resources. But there are no half-Christians in the workshop of salvation. God makes whole Christians out of unholy sinners and He will sustain them wholly by His grace until Christ Jesus returns.

      God makes whole Christians out of unholy sinners and He will sustain them wholly by His grace until Christ Jesus returns.

      This is not to say that we are easy clay to sculpt. This does not mean that we don’t try to jump off the potter’s wheel occasionally. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit’s living conditions in our hearts are clean and comfortable. God’s promise to keep us until the end does not exempt us from sin or serious falls in the Christian life. There will be times when we fall hard and hit rock bottom, committing atrocious sins like Peter, who denied that he even knew Christ. But we shall never fall away because, if we know Christ, we will always return in repentance just like Peter did when he wept bitterly. 

      This also does not imply that we can sit back leisurely and expect God to do all the work without any participation on our part. Just one chapter later, Paul commands: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12b). He likewise commanded in Colossians that we absolutely must “continue in the faith” (Col. 1:23). This means that we must make an effort—we must obey God’s word, fellowship with God’s people, strive for holiness, devote ourselves to good works, and everything else that the Bible commands.

      But even then, the effort we put forth is enabled and entirely dependent upon the same grace that saved us in the first place. That’s why in the very next verse of that same chapter, Paul says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13, KJV).

      And God will work in you to keep you saved until the end of history and the beginning of eternity. That’s why Paul adds at the end, “until the day of Jesus Christ.” The glorious day when Christ returns bodily and triumphantly—that is when you will be a finished product. Paul said it best in Romans 8: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30). That is the golden chain of salvation! The Lord planned your salvation in eternity past, accomplished your salvation in redemptive past—2,000 years ago, and He will finish it in the future when He glorifies you.

      And here’s the point to all of this: that day should give us joy this day. Sin and Satan often steal our joy when they whisper in our ear, “You’ll never make it. You wouldn’t have done that if you are a Christian. You’re probably not saved to begin with.” It is easy to become joyless when you focus only on the bad works—the sins that put you behind and hinder progress in your walk with the Lord.

      And while we shouldn’t make excuses for our sins or minimize them, we should remember that we are a work in progress—a work that God will one day complete. That ought to cause the wells of joy in our souls to burst. The covenant promise of God to keep us in the grip of grace should bring us holy relief, assurance, and glee.

      Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He now pastors the faithful saints of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
      Bible Gleanings, devotions, Other

      Content with Christ | Bible Gleanings – August 5-6, 2023

      Leave a comment

      He sat down to a sad supper that was far from scrumptious, but he wasn’t sad in his soul. The Puritan man nestled in his chair for dinner, with only bread and water on the table. And because the man was always pleased with God’s provision, he bowed his head and gave thanks: “All this, and Jesus, too?” What the man possessed in Jesus was greater than what he lacked in life. And he was content with Christ even if Christ was all he ever had. 

      King David felt this way, too. That is why he declared in the opening of Psalm 23, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (v. 1). He was content with God alone. He did not need anything else because just knowing God as His shepherd was better than whatever he didn’t have. Once, a little girl was called upon in a Sunday school class to read Psalm 23:1, and she effectively proclaimed David’s intent, saying,  “The Lord is my shepherd—that’s all I want.”

      This is the kind of cheerful contentment and sanctified satisfaction that should settle in the soul of every saint. The Scripture commands it: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”” (Heb. 13:5). In other words, be content because you have Jesus, and because you will always have Jesus. Be content like the prophet Habakkuk, who declared that he was happy with losing everything as long as God remained:

      “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail  and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places” (Hab. 3:17-19a).

      Are you content with Christ alone? Would you be satisfied with only Jesus if you had no food in your belly, clothes on your back, or a roof above your head? Would you be content with God if you lost all your money and earthly possessions tomorrow? If you had no friends, family, or anyone else to rely upon, would you be content with just the presence of the Shepherd? Can you say with Paul: “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 3:11-13)?

      Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

      Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

      For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word:

      Bible Gleanings, devotions, Other

      Without Love | Bible Gleanings – July 29-30, 2023

      Leave a comment

      The drums were drastically deafening. I felt like I was caught in a cloud, with thunder crashing around me. The band’s percussion was so earsplitting that even the vocalist was entirely drowned out. I was at a Christian contemporary concert with my former youth group, but it felt like I was at the foot of Mount Sinai when the thunder cracked and clapped across the sky (Exodus 19:16). The saddest part is that the vocalist was trying his hardest to sing a song with a significant spiritual message, but it was a futile attempt because all the audience could hear were snares, toms, and cymbals.

      And this is precisely what occurs when we attempt to preach the gospel or discuss spiritual matters without love. That is why Paul remarked, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1). Without love, our words sound like gaudy gongs and crashing cymbals. Even if what we are saying is good, godly, and gospel-saturated, lack of love will always speak louder and drown it out. People simply cannot hear what we are saying when there is no love, affection, or compassion present.

      It’s no wonder, then, that the Scripture emphasizes that everything must be done in and through love (1 Cor. 16:14). And this is especially true of the words we speak. Our words must be baptized in love and flow from an abundant spring of love within our hearts.  Thus, we are commanded to lovingly warn those who walk in error, as opposed to being harsh with them (1 Tim. 1:3-5). We are likewise admonished to always speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).

      Love opens the door to be heard. As the old idiom goes, “People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.” And unlike an unpleasant cacophony, speaking with love is a sweet song that is pleasant to the ears of the hearer. It is a revitalizing refrain that refreshes the weary soul. Hal H. Hopson, a modern hymn-writer, certainly grasped this when he wrote Though I May Speak with Bravest Fire, which opens like this:

      “Though I may speak with bravest fire,

      and have the gift of all inspire,

      and have not love, my words are vain,

      as sounding brass, and hopeless gain.”

      Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

      Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

      For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word:

      Bible Gleanings, Other

      Crown Him | Bible Gleanings – May 27-28, 2023

      Leave a comment

      Behind John stood a roaring Lion, while in front of him stood a butchered Lamb with a bloody white coat. This is what he said while he was “in the Spirit” (Rev. 1:10), receiving the Revelation of Jesus Christ: “And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Rev. 5:5-6). How can Jesus be both a sovereign Lion and a slaughtered Lamb? How can Christ be both the Lord and lowly?

      Because He earned the right to be the triumphal Lion by first becoming a humble Lamb. This is the great paradox of Christ: He was brought low in humiliation in order to be raised to the highest position of supremacy in the universe. He is exalted because He became a lowly man. He is seated on a throne because He was nailed to a cross. He became the Lord of life by submitting to the curse of death.

      That is why Paul said, “[Jesus], though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:6-11).

      Interestingly, one of John’s final glimpses of Jesus in Revelation is of a Lamb ruling and reigning. He described one scene like this, “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev. 7:17). The slaughtered Lamb rules as the sovereign Lord. And He forgives all of those who bow to Him in repentance and faith: “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). It is no wonder Matthew Bridges (1800-1894) penned these words in the Christ-exalting hymn, Crown Him with Many Crowns:

      “Crown him with many crowns,

      the Lamb upon his throne.

      Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns

      all music but its own.

      Awake, my soul, and sing

      of him who died for thee,

      and hail him as thy matchless king

      through all eternity.”

      Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

      Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

      For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word:

      eschatology, Other, Theological Reflections

      A Foretaste of Glory Divine: Rightly Understanding the Kingdom of God

      Leave a comment

      The old hymn by Fanny Crosby begins with these words: “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!” This remarkable stanza reflects a lovely reality in Scripture that gives believers unwavering hope in times of tumultuous trials and troublesome temptations: we fellowship with Jesus Christ now, but this is only a preview of the eternal fellowship that is yet to come. This is what theologians refer to as the “already/not yet” tension of eschatology (that branch of theology which deals with the future and last things). The “already” refers to the blessings of salvation and the kingdom of God that believers enjoy in this age, and the “not yet” refers to those same blessings which will be fully realized in the consummation when Christ returns. And this tension between the “already” and the “not yet” may be seen primarily in the Bible’s teaching regarding the kingdom of God.

      The Nature of the Kingdom of God

      One of the great themes of Scripture is the “kingdom of God,” which simply refers to God’s rule and reign in the hearts of His people who have submitted to His kingly dominion.1 The concept of the kingdom of God begins in and continues throughout the Old Testament,2 as it is dominated by a forward-looking anticipation of its arrival with the advent of the Messiah, who would restore God’s rule in the hearts of sinners whose rebellion is the result of the Fall. And at first glance, all the Old Testament expectations and prophecies regarding the kingdom of God appear to depict a literal kingdom characterized by triumphal victory, nationwide prowess, and Israel’s restoration to supremacy. After all, God promised that He would gather His people, establish the throne of David forever, and send a Messiah upon whose shoulders would be everlasting government (Jer. 23:3-4; 2 Sam. 7:9-13; Isaiah 9:6). Therefore, it is only natural that the most popular Jewish vision of the kingdom of God was interpreted solely in physical and political terms. For them, the arrival of the kingdom of God would entail God’s ultimate victory over evil, Israel’s vindication and restoration, and the fulfillment of all the promises made to David regarding his throne and rule.3

      However, it is not until one turns the page from Malachi to Matthew that the kingdom of God is defined in terms of an invisible and spiritual nature, which is primarily emphasized by Christ’s own testimony regarding the kingdom. As Jesus begins His public ministry, He repeatedly demonstrates that the kingdom promised in the Old Testament was not to be reduced to a purely political or geographical concept. Rather, as theologian Herman Bavinck observed, “Jesus introduces a new understanding of the kingdom: it is religious-ethical and not political; it is present in repentance, faith, and rebirth, and is yet to come as a full eschatological reality.”4 And nowhere is this spiritual understanding of the kingdom more clearly expressed than in Jesus’ response to the question of the Pharisees about the coming of God’s kingdom: “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:20b-21, emphasis mine). Thus, according to Christ, the kingdom of God that He came to usher in was initially a spiritual one, inaugurated as He thwarted demonic oppression and restored the rule of God within the rebellious hearts of sinners.

      Furthermore, when Jesus was pressed to claim literal kingship by Pilate, He replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36). Similarly, when Jesus was given the best opportunity to become an earthly king, He abandoned the scene, demonstrating that He had no interest in ruling over a purely earthly kingdom. As John wrote, “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6:15). Finally, that the kingdom Jesus ushered in was spiritual and not physical is apparent from His statement that entrance into the kingdom requires one to be, “born again.” As Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).5

      The Inauguration of the Kingdom of God

      Now that it is abundantly clear that the arrival of God’s kingdom was meant to be understood in spiritual terms, it must also be emphasized that the Scripture teaches that the coming of God’s kingdom is to occur in two stages. That is, the “inauguration” of the kingdom of God began with the first advent of Jesus, and the “consummation” of the kingdom will commence with the second advent of Jesus. Jesus ushered in the “beginnings” of the kingdom by His first coming, and the kingdom will be fully realized when Jesus returns bodily to subject all things to Himself and finish the work of redemption that He began. Thus, the kingdom of God manifests itself in two of the most significant redemptive events: the first and second coming of Christ.6 As Cornelis Venema observed, “What from the vantage point of Old Testament expectation appeared to be a single movement has now in the New Testament become a twostage movement. Whereas the Old Testament saw only one great, future Messianic age, coinciding with the coming of the Messiah, the New Testament further reveals that the present Messianic age awaits its consummation at Christ’s coming again.”7

      The kingdom of God first appeared with the arrival of the King, Jesus. He preached that the kingdom of God was “at hand” (Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:15). He also declared that the kingdom of God had “come upon” the people because of His ministry through the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28). He even instructed His disciples to preach that the kingdom of God had arrived (Luke 10:9). Thus, according to Jesus’ own testimony, the kingdom of God became dynamically active and present in His person and mission.8 Indeed, all throughout the Gospels, Jesus has an awareness that He was the promised “son of man” depicted in the book of Daniel as receiving and ushering in “glory and a kingdom” (Daniel 7:13-14).9

      The Consummation of the Kingdom of God

      However, as Jesus’ own words make clear, only the inauguration of God’s kingdom occurred during His first coming—there was more to come. Jesus instructed His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come” (Matt. 6:10a), indicating that the kingdom of God had not yet arrived in its totality. Jesus also spoke of a future day when He would “recline at table” with His disciples (Matt. 8:11-12). And most notably, Jesus assured His disciples during the Passover meal, “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 26:29, emphasis mine). Even Jesus’ sayings in the Beatitudes imply that His followers currently possess the kingdom of God, but have yet to fully possess it.10 As Christ said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven . . . Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:3, 5, emphasis mine).

      The Already/Not Yet Tension

      Because of this, author George Eldon Ladd observed, “For Jesus, the Kingdom of God was the dynamic rule of God which had invaded history in his own person and mission to bring men in the present age the blessings of the messianic age, and which would manifest itself yet again at the end of the age to bring this same messianic salvation to its consummation.”11 Thus, because of this “already/not yet” paradigm regarding the kingdom of God, there is no contradiction between Jesus’ proclamation that the kingdom of God was “at hand” and John’s promise that the kingdom would be fully realized at some point in the future (Rev. 11:15). This is why Paul can rightly call Jesus the Lord who is “highly exalted” (Eph. 1:22-23; Phil. 2:9) without contradicting the writer of Hebrews, who said, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him” (Heb. 2:8c). Paul even stated that Christ is King now, but the kingdom of God over which He reigns has yet to be fully effectuated: “[Christ will deliver] the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Cor. 15:24b-25). The kingdom of Christ is thus present still now, but not yet fully established—which is why it is sometimes called a “semirealized” kingdom.12

      And this is the tension the believer is currently experiencing. Those who are saved by grace through faith are members of “the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col. 1:13), but are living in a world dominated by the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). Believers have been made “a kingdom, priests to his God and Father” (Rev. 1:6a), but they must wait for the day when they shall reign in the new heavens and new earth with God and the Lamb (Rev. 22:5). For the believer, being part of God’s kingdom is joy-producing now, but the best is yet to come.13 And the good news is that the believer may still experience the profound blessings of the “already” while awaiting the “not yet.” As John Calvin aptly stated, “Earth is where we begin to taste the sweetness of God’s blessings, and where we are roused by the hope and the desire to see them fulfilled in heaven.”14

      1. A similar definition is found in Akin, Daniel, A Theology for the Church (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), 674.
      2. Granted, the Old Testament never uses the phrase, “the kingdom of God.”
      3. For more on the Jewish viewpoint of the kingdom of God, see especially Storms, Sam, Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications Ltd, 2012), 337.
      4. Bavinck, Herman, Reformed Dogmatics (Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group, 2011), 405.
      5. I owe this final observation to Wiersbe, Warren, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Volume I (Colorado Springs: Victor Books, 1989), 112).
      6. George Eldon Ladd said it well: “The Kingdom of God involves two great moments: fulfillment within history, and consummation at the end of history.” Ladd, George E., The Presence of the Future (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974), 218.
      7. Venema, Cornelius P., The Promise of the Future (Edinburgh, UK: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2000), 28.
      8. This is Anthony Hoekema’s argument in The Bible and the Future (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979), 43.
      9. Bavinck, 406.
      10. This is the assertion of George R. Beasley-Murray in Jesus and the Kingdom of God (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1986), 157-168.
      11. Ladd, 307.
      12. This is how it is referred to by Michael Horton in Pilgrim Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 219.
      13. Akin, 701-702.
      14. Calvin, John, A Guide to Christian Living (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2009), 96.
      Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English shepherd), and Dot (beagle).