Entries by Ricky Docto

JOSHUA 5:13-15

Today I read one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament from Joshua 5:13-15.  The people of God have just crossed the Jordan river, and are approaching the city of Jericho.  The text says, “When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold a man was standing before him […]

JAIL MINISTRY AND THE EXPANSION OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST

Click!!  The sound of the door locking behind me sounds like a shotgun going off, and rattles through my body.  It’s an odd feeling being locked in a room of around 20 inmates, with no guards present.  These men are all in jail for various reasons: drugs, robbery, sexual assault, murder, etc.  But there I […]

He who often thinks of God

He who often thinks of God will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe. The most excellent study for expanding the soul than the science of Christ, and him crusfied, and the knowledge of the godhead in the glorious trinity.

SIN, GUILT, AND THE FREEDOM OF CHRIST

I recently came across the following quote by John Piper that made me think about sin and the freedom Christian’s have in Christ from guilt and shame.  Piper writes: Sin creates a blinding guilt that makes a person feel hopeless and despairing that they could ever be forgiven and included among the righteous. This is […]

GALATIANS 5:16-26, PART 3

In the last part of this series, I argued that the Apostle Paul was describing for his readers what a life controlled by the flesh looks like.  He explained why the desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit are against each other, and he warned them about living lives characterized by works […]

RETHINKING JOHN PIPER’S MOST FAMOUS STATEMENT | @DESIRINGGOD

“God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him.”  This most famous quote from John Piper has served the church well over the past thirty years.  It has propelled people into missions, giving them the desire to see the nations declare the glory of God.  It has reoriented people’s theology, causing […]

FAITH, REASON, AND APOLOGETICS: ARE THEY COMPATIBLE? | @RELEVANT

Relevant Magazine has an excellent article discussing the relationship between faith and reason in apologetics.  The article concludes: So while apologetics affirms that faith is more than reason, involving trust and relationship, it is not less than reason. Apologetics does not surrender faith on the altar of cultural reasoning or relevance. Rather, it seeks to […]