Posts by Matt Recker
How to Be a Merciful Person
Faith in the living God should make us tender and merciful to others. Too often, however, our faith can devolve into caustic legalism and critical judgmentalism toward those with whom we disagree. How can we maintain a merciful heart toward our neighbors all around us? Jesus challenges us in Matthew 9:13: “Go and learn what…
Read MoreA Life Worth Living
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption…
Read MoreHenry Dunster: Harvard’s First President a Profile of Baptist Courage
In the early days of our fledgling nation, pressure to conform to the Church of England drove many individuals to the new world. Henry Dunster was one of many who departed England for the freedom and spiritual life available in the colonies, immigrating to the new colonies in the 1640. Soon after arriving to the…
Read MoreBible Answers for Suicidal Thinking
A tragic wave of suicides among the rich and famous rocked our news pages recently. This past weekend two others jumped out of Manhattan buildings to their death. These unspeakable tragedies remind us that sometimes the least likely people in the least likely places are thinking about suicide. It also calls to mind that Philippian…
Read MoreConfronting Loneliness
A recent study deems loneliness a national epidemic, plaguing nearly half of our population. Specifically, 46% of Americans report “always feeling alone,” and 27% feel as though people do not understand them. Generation Z (ages 18-22) is the loneliest generation according to this study. Another important finding is that social media provides no cure for…
Read MoreGrow, Christian, Grow!
May I ask you lovingly but directly, are you growing spiritually? Are you continually developing stronger spiritual character of love, self-control, peace, and holy desires? Jude tells us we need to be “building up yourselves on your most holy faith” (Jude 20). What a challenge! This makes clear our personal responsibility for our spiritual growth…
Read MoreThree Powerful Steps in Standing for Truth
One might think that the first century church was full of heaven on earth: the apostles were present, miracles were abundant, and revelation was fresh and new. The books of 1, 2, and 3 John, however, give us an open window into severe inner tensions within Christ’s body. In 1 John we discover “many” deceivers,…
Read MoreThree Powerful Facts the Resurrection Proves
Looking at the resurrection from a purely scientific or philosophical standpoint it may seem too impossible to be possible, too unbelievable to believe, and too incredible to be credible. Yet it is true. Jesus lives. How can you explain the Apostles Paul or Peter, without the reality of the resurrection? There is no way such…
Read MoreThree Powerful Ingredients in Gethsemane’s Cup
Incredibly, Jesus prayed three times and did not get His prayer answered: “Let this cup pass from me” and “take away this cup from me,” He cried. (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36). It was not possible. What exactly was in that mysterious cup that caused Jesus to shrink from drinking it? What was in it that…
Read MoreThree Powerful Proofs for Jesus’ Bodily Resurrection
Is the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ a hoax? Does one commit intellectual suicide by believing in the resurrection? Others may wonder, “What does it really matter? What difference does it make if Jesus did rise again?” The resurrection does matter because life matters. If Jesus rose again from the dead, then we have assurance we…
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