Author: Pastor Rich Lusk
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How to Read the Bible: Bride Figures
Egalitarianism ruins everything. And that includes how we read the Bible. When we read the Bible through the lens of an ideology (like feminism or egalitarianism) that is contrary to the Scripture, it is like wearing blinders. We end up missing very basic things about the biblical text. This TGC article is a good example of this kind of…
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John Piper on Emotional Blackmail
“Not feeling loved and not being loved are not the same. Jesus loved all people well. And many did not like the way he loved them. Was David’s zeal for the Lord imbalanced because his wife Michal despised him for it? Was Job’s devotion to the Lord inordinate because his wife urged him to curse…
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John Calvin, on Why Pastors Need to Be Thick Skinned
None are more exposed to slanders and insults than godly teachers. This comes not only from the difficulty of their duties, which are so great that sometimes they sink under them, or stagger or halt or take a false step, so that wicked men find many occasions of finding fault with them; but added to…
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Find a Spouse, Build a House: Conference Follow Up
I had a great time in Austin at the conference hosted by King’s Cross, pastored by my good friend Garrett Craw. Michael Foster and I have collaborated several times now, including speaking together at the Stronghold Conference (Huntsville, 2021) and an 1819 podcast but this was our best joint venture yet, as I thought our talks complemented each other…
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Gems from Esolen
Here are a couple of great quips from Anthony Esolen’s book Out of the Ashes: “The health of a society may be gauged by how full the churches are, those beating hearts of culture and communion.” “We do not produce many great comedians in the present. We do produce a lot of material for comedians in…
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C. S. Lewis on Women’s Ordination
From C. S. Lewis’ essay against priestesses in church – a couple of the best paragraphs he ever wrote: “It is painful, being a man, to have to assert the privilege, or the burden, which Christianity lays upon my own sex. I am crushingly aware how inadequate most of us are, in our actual and…
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Headcoverings in 1 Corinthians 11: A Short Note on a Renewed Controversy
Since some folks have been discussing headcoverings in 1 Corinthians 11 recently, here is what you need to know: My sermon on this text: HERE (I think this sermon demonstrates pretty conclusively that first century Christian women did NOT wear headcoverings in worship.) Sermon follow up: HERE My essay “Women, Ministry, and Liturgy” which takes up headcoverings…
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Why We Need More Christian Billionaires
This is a follow up to my sermon from September 18, 2022. A couple weeks ago when I preached on wealth from Matthew 6, we saw that Jesus’ view of wealth is deep, complex, and full of wisdom. But it is also easy to misunderstand. Some people think Jesus taught as ascetic message and idealized a a…
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Your Biggest Problem
This is my pre-worship exhortation from a recent Sunday: We live in a world full of problems. But do not let the world’s problems cause you lose sight of the biggest problem in your life: Your own sin. Your biggest problem is not what they are doing down in Montgomery, or in DC, or over…
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William Carey and the Hope that Propelled the Modern Missionary Movement
“Christ must reign, till Satan has not an inch of territory.” — William Carey Carey worked as a missionary in India for 40 years. He began the work in 1793. He did not see his first convert until 1800. When a Hindu man named Krishna Pal professed faith in Christ, Carey wrote in his journal,…
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