Ask Pastor John

What do Paul and Jude mean when they command Christians to pray “in the Spirit” — and what would it mean to pray “out of the Spirit”?

The Bible is perfect; preachers are not. So, why listen to the sermons of fallible men when we can read God’s infallible word for ourselves?

John Newton cherished the doctrines of grace. And he knew that the best way to commend them was with a spirit of graciousness.

Why learn math — especially if studying math feels agonizing? Pastor John addresses an 8-year-old boy struggling to persevere in school.

The Bible doesn’t say how old Christians should be when they marry — or how close in age. So, can a Christian marry someone significantly younger?

Killing an unborn child is illegal if the mother wants the baby — but legal if she doesn’t. The rights of the weak rest in the hands of the strong.

In a media-saturated age, obedience to Jesus requires intentional detachment from the patterns of the world — especially its patterns of entertainment.

Those who follow Jesus may suffer more in this life than those who don’t. But from the standpoint of eternity, they will suffer infinitely less.

People are starving for the grandeur of God. Christian preachers, more than all others, should know this truth — and shape every sermon accordingly.

We all need people who will remind us that Christ is far better than sin, and that unrepentant sin destroys. Without friends, our faith won’t survive.

God made everybody, knitting each of us intricately in our mother’s womb. Does that mean we are each unique, unlike any other person God created?

If God deserves all glory and praise, what does Scripture mean when it mentions God’s glorifying and praising us?

Until we come awake to the great spiritual war that surrounds us, we will never truly know the privilege and power of prayer.

Hebrews tells us that, by showing hospitality to strangers, “some have entertained angels unawares.” Does this suggest that angels walk among us in human form?

God made us to need other people — but not to be codependent on them. So, how can we tell the difference between healthy need and disordered neediness?

With eternity in view, any span of life is a vapor. However long we live, our time here is preparation for the endless days of heaven.

Some Christians seem to be always on the lookout for signs from God in creation or circumstances. Does the Bible encourage us in that search?

Should Christians make a habit of visiting loved ones’ graves? And if we do visit, how can we honor Christ in the cemetery?

Many wonder how a good God could govern a world filled with pain. But sometimes, pain becomes the very means God uses to awaken us to his goodness.

The Gospel of John speaks of a “disciple whom Jesus loved” five times. Who was this beloved disciple, and why does he single himself out like this?

After a year unlike any other, Pastor John looks ahead to new books and renewed ambitions to spread Christian Hedonism farther across the globe.

How can Christians challenge and correct one another in a way that honors Christ and acknowledges our common neediness before him?

God expects faithfulness of all his people. But faithfulness for one Christian may look far different than faithfulness for another Christian.

Paul tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. But Paul himself had many human enemies. So, are our enemies spiritual, human, or both?

The essence of God’s love is not that he makes much of us, but that he frees us, at great cost to himself, to enjoy making much of him forever.