Ask Pastor John

If God is sovereign, why should we pray? Pastor John encourages us to seek God with confidence in his power and plan for our lives.

How can the pastor of a growing church care for each member? Pastor John encourages shepherds to care tenderly for the flock and depend on God’s mercy.

How can we shift our prayers from rote repetition to an awareness of God’s larger purposes? Pastor John models praying Scripture back to God.

How can Christians act in obedience when they face a life-changing cost? Grace can sustain us through the painful consequences of following God.

How can we reconcile the pain we feel in this fallen world with God’s promise to keep us from all evil? Pastor John applies Psalm 121 to this life.

Even great evil serves God’s eternal purposes — yet God also gives us precious promises to comfort us in the midst of our pain and grief.

To redeem relationships, we need humility — but how do we get that kind of sacrificial heart? Looking to Christ and his cross strips away entitlement.

How can Christians tell the difference between true and false zeal for God’s name? Pastor John examines Jehu’s tragic history in 2 Kings.

Should pastors expose every fresh cultural outrage from the pulpit? Pastor John encourages pastors to condemn sin without being consumed.

When we face day-to-day pressure and stress, Jesus’s teaching steadies our hearts and minds. Pastor John offers eight truths to fight anxiety.

Is God’s pursuit of his glory and man’s pursuit of our joy a selfish transaction? Pastor John insists on keeping our joy in God connected to God himself.

Every recognition and reward we receive is a gift of God’s steadfast love, poured out so that we might magnify the glory of his undeserved grace.

How does Jesus’s silence before his accusers teach us how to suffer? Pastor John offers encouragement for Christians facing unjust treatment.

True freedom means our desires align with God’s; we want what he wants. Pastor John answers three questions from Galatians about Christian liberty.

What do we mean when we say God is sovereign? Pastor John traces God’s sovereignty throughout the Bible and draws out two big, soul-steadying truths.

We don’t need to wait for painful seasons to end before we feel joy again. By God’s grace, we can hold sorrow and joy in the very same heart.

If consciousness is part of the soul, what are the implications when the brain degrades and dies? Pastor John speaks to consciousness in both life and death.

How should Christians respond when an authority asks them to sin? Pastor John encourages believers to respect earthly institutions without compromising God’s word.

God’s children are set apart as saints, given the privilege of sharing in Christ’s moral beauty. Pastor John explains how God’s holiness draws us to him.

Christianity isn’t a fix for all suffering in this life — but it does offer unshakable joy in trials and immediate relief from the deepest of pains.

Do the souls of believers “sleep” in the grave after death, or do they go to be with the Lord? Pastor John explains the logic of the resurrection.

How can we show Christ’s love to a dying, unbelieving loved one? Pastor John shares ten ways believers can embody God’s love.

How should Christians steward pets? Pastor John offers guidance for enjoying animals without treating their companionship like human companionship.

Without Christ-exalting love, spiritual gifts serve as self-promotion — even when they produce powerful results.

How important are emotions in the Christian life? Pastor John looks to AI and suffering to clarify the essence of what makes us unique as human beings.