Last Sunday I preached from Psalm 1 and I titled the sermon, ‘The Way of the Righteous Man’. But a dominant theme within this Psalm is that ‘The Lord leads the Righteous Man on his Way’. When you look at the Psalms it is easy to admire the habits and lifestyle of the righteous man while missing the important fact that it is the Lord who leads him on his righteous path. Psalm 1 is a creative way of teaching the truth found in Phil. 2:12-13 that while we have a responsibility to work out our salvation, yet it is God who works in us to both desire it and to carry it out.
The Lord keeps us away from the way of the evil
The righteous man, who is also called ‘Blessed’ in v. 1, not only keeps away from the way of the wicked, the sinners and the scoffers, rather he marches in the opposite direction of making God’s Law, the delight (v. 2) of his life. The word ‘law’ normally refers to the Torah, the Mosaic Law, contained in Genesis to Deuteronomy but here it refers to its more generic meaning i.e. ‘the instructions of God’, found all over the scriptures. Continue reading “The Lord Leads Us on Our Way”
The Great Reformer of the 16th century, John Calvin, along with Martin Luther, were the most influential voices of the Protestant Reformation. After the Bible, Calvin’s systematic theology titled ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion’ continues to be one of the greatest literary works which have helped to shape the soul of the church, both then and now. My attempt in this article is to present a summary of what he has to say on the subject of idolatry in general and specifically about its manifestation in the form of ‘veneration of images’ in the Catholic church during those times. I am sure that this will have implications for all of us who live in cultures where idolatry is a very prevalent religious practice, especially for those of us who live in India. And as you think about it, my hope is that this article will inspire some of you to take up this book and start reading it for yourself. 
This is the first book review that I am publishing on this site and it is a joy for me to introduce to you not just the book but also the author, who has had a great impact on my life and thinking. He is John Piper. With 33 years of pastoral experience, he has also been a prolific writer with many books to his credit. Although, my engagement with his writings has been largely limited to articles written by him on his online ministry platform, 
The Psalmist asks, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” and he answers his own question by saying, “By guarding it (his way) according to your word” (Ps. 119:9). And yet we need only to ask any young man or woman how easy it has been to keep his or her ways pure in accordance with God’s word and most responses would range from simple disappointment to utter despair. They will tell you how difficult it has been to even understand or accept the word of God, leave alone the very ability to walk by it. And the Gospels show us that this condition prevailed among Jesus’ disciples too, before something drastic happened in their lives. And that drastic action was taken by God at the Cross of Jesus Christ. 
Searching for the true nature of Jesus
A children’s catechism book that I was using to teach my children, expected them to first answer the questions ‘who made them and why God made them?’. The answer to the first question is obvious, ‘it is God’. But the second answer is not that obvious for many, even seasoned Christians. And the book answers the second question saying, ‘To glorify Him and enjoy him’. And I would totally agree that God’s Ultimate Purpose in creating everything is to display ‘His Own Glory’ so that his creation will also ‘glorify Him’.