Over at The Gospel Coalition, I’ve posted a new article on “Your Wilderness Wanderings Aren’t a Waste.” It overviews the theme of wilderness, spanning from Israel to Jesus, and reminds us that God’s ultimate goal in any wilderness season or situation is “to do you good in the end” (Deut. 8:3). Older TGC articles I’ve written can be viewed here.
Continue reading New articles and book excerptTag: Wilderness
Endorsements for Your Wilderness Is Not A Waste
With the release of Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste: God’s Purpose in Suffering and Struggles, I wanted to share two of the endorsements. My hope is the book is an encouragement to those in a trial, in a season of waiting, disappointed by life’s circumstances, or confused by where God is leading them.
Continue reading Endorsements for Your Wilderness Is Not A Waste
New Book Releases Today
I’m excited to announce my new book releases today with Moody Publishers. Your Wilderness Is Not a Waste: God’s Purpose in Suffering and Struggles can be ordered wherever you buy books, including Amazon, Moody Publishers, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook.com, 10ofthose, and WTSbooks,
The book walks through some of the physical and spiritual wildernesses in the Bible and offers us windows of hope to see how God works in our trials, troubles, and temptations. I’m praying it’s an encouragement for readers!
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Don’t Lose Hope in Hardship
One of the many lessons I’ve learned from David’s time in the wilderness is not to let present hardship rob me of future hope.
Continue reading Don’t Lose Hope in Hardship
Why Does It Matter that God is WITH His People (And What Happened When He Wasn’t)?
In the Bible, there’s a secret advantage that can turn any “mission: impossible” into guaranteed success. God calls His people to do difficult things they could never accomplish in their own strength or wisdom. How could a stuttering Moses who spent his middle age tending sheep in the desert tell Pharoah to free all the Hebrew slaves? How could Israel then make it all the way from Egypt to Canaan, both escaping Pharoah’s chariot in pursuit and enduring the desert littered with danger? How could Joshua lead God’s people into the promised land despite their overwhelming fear of its inhabitants? Or what supplied David with victory after victory despite overwhelming odds against him?
Continue reading Why Does It Matter that God is WITH His People (And What Happened When He Wasn’t)?
Four Lessons Learned in the Wilderness
(Last week wrapped up our Wednesday night class on “Lessons Learned in the Wilderness.” Below is a summary of four of those lessons. This article originally appeared at For the Church.)
Lessons Learned in the Wilderness (Part 8)
Each Wednesday night for the next few weeks, I’ll be teaching a class online about Lessons Learned in the Wilderness. You can view this on Facebook live at the Pennington Park Church account at 8PM.
This week we’ll look at an Oasis in the Desert from Deuteronomy 32. You can see the notes here and the video here.
Lessons Learned in the Wilderness: God’s Discipline
Each Wednesday night for the next few weeks, I’ll be teaching a class online about Lessons Learned in the Wilderness. You can view this on Facebook live at the Pennington Park Church account at 8PM.
This week we’ll look at God’s Discipline in the Desert from Deuteronomy 8. You can see the notes here. Here’s a related article I wrote on God’s discipline as a loving Father.
Past Weeks
Week 1: God’s Power to Part the Waters (Exodus 13-14)
Here’s are notes from last week, as well as a link to the video on vimeo.
Week 2: God’s Provision and Daily Grace (Exodus 16). Here are Lesson 2 Notes and here’s a link to the video from week 2. You can also read a related post on 10 Ways to Battle Worry.
Week 3: God’s Life-Giving Oasis versus the Mirage of Idols (Exodus 32). You can download an outline of the Lesson 3 Outline or here’s the video.
Week 4: David’s Positive Example versus Israel’s Negative Example (Psalm 63). Here is the Lesson 4 Outline and here’s the video.
Week 5: Grumbling (Numbers 11) vs Gratitude (Psalm 57). Here are notes for Lesson 5 and here’s a link to the video. A few related articles on grumbling are Give Thanks Together, Grumbling vs Gratitude, and Ingratitude Leading to Idolatry.
Week 6: Looking Back to Look Forward: Spiritual Remembrance (Deuteronomy 7:17-21). You can find the notes here and here’s the video.
Lessons Learned in the Wilderness (Part 6)
Each Wednesday night for the next few weeks, I’ll be teaching a class online about Lessons Learned in the Wilderness. You can view this on Facebook live at the Pennington Park Church account at 8PM.
David’s Trust in the Wilderness
Psalm 63 was written in the wilderness. Considering what he was experiencing helps us see why he uses the language he does. David likely wrote Psalm 63 either before he was king and fled from Saul (1 Sam. 23:14-15) or–more likely–while he was king but fled because of his son Absalom’s revolt (2 Sam. 15:24-17). In either case, he faced significant trials in the wilderness.
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