Matt Fletcher

Great balance of showing compassion while sharing truth as Wes Huff responds to the question of why a good God would allow evil: "Well, that is arguably the hardest and most pressing apologetic question there is, because ultimately, the very tidy philosophical and theological answer isn't the right answer sometimes. You know, sometimes the right answer to the wrong question is the wrong answer, because I've encountered situations where someone has brought up a variation of the problem of evil to me, and I've just felt uneasy about maybe the tenor that they're coming at with the question...and asking them, 'You know, that's a great question. Why are you asking that question in particular?' and finding out once again (like the previous question related to it), they're personally hurting. And so, in that sense, I could give a tidy answer about if you're positing that something is good, you're positing that there's an objective good and evil, and if there's an objective good and evil, then you're positing an objective law, and objective law needs an objective lawgiver. So where do we find the groundwork for an objective lawgiver to begin with? Otherwise, you may not like certain things, but to say they ought not to happen is actually an ethical leap to an objective reality that you may or may not have groundwork for. But if that person is struggling because a family member of theirs has cancer, then that particular, maybe tidy, tied-up-in-a-nice-bow answer is not going to speak to them whatsoever. And so that's why that's the hardest question because there are actually very good answers to it, but often it doesn't speak to the person in front of you, because questions have questioners that sit behind them. And one of the pitfalls of my chosen field of ministry apologetics is that sometimes we give answers where we talk at people rather than with people. And there's a danger to that because the Christian faith isn't just an intellectual assent, right? It's a personal relationship. And that should also be played out in the answers that we give..."

@TexasPreacher So true! I’m headed back to my fishing hole, the county jail, tomorrow morning!

The reason that preaching in the streets, jails, and homeless shelters is so useful for preachers, and especially the Reformed type, is that it requires you to interact with the unwashed, unclean, non-church people, and to learn how to do so in a way that they understand. They don't care about Calvin, theological nitpicking, seminary jargon, and ethereal platitudes. It'll teach you not to preach over people's heads and to keep your fancy language in the study. It trains you to keep to the point—Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If you're a preacher or a seminary student, go find a fishing hole outside of the church bubble & plunge in.

@TexasPreacher Well said, brother. In two weeks our church is hosting a conference titled “Through the Lens of Scripture: A Biblical Analysis of RC and EO.” Perhaps we should have added a third component on HC (Happy-Clappyism)! websterbible.churchcenter.com/registrations/…

Ironically, Rome/EO & the happy-clappy megachurch are two sides of the same coin. One uses incense, icons, vestments, and repetitive chant. The other uses lights, loud music, and polished production. Strip it all down, and they both run on the same juice: aesthetics and atmosphere used to generate a false sense of encounter with God, and galling eisegesis. One calls it mystery, the other a “move of the Spirit.” Either way, people are carried along by something carnal & external. The one side kisses wooden pictures and bows down to statues; the other sways to technicolor lights & music. But both deploy pragmatism & both bank on the laity not knowing their Bibles when it comes to proper worship. Both appeal to the flesh. Both are centers of pomp, glitter, & idolatry. Two sides of the same coin.

@wagraham Theo of Golden

I need audiobook recommendations for a long drive. Help?

In 2 Samuel 23:8–11 are recorded the names of King David’s mightiest warriors, known simply as “the Three.” Who are these men, and what do they have to do with us? matthewhuntfletcher.com/john1317/2026/…

@grcastleberry @Phil_Johnson_ Well done. Good interview. Helpful insights from Phil. Thank you both for taking the time to have this conversation.

Thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with @Phil_Johnson_ . We covered the leadership and preaching of MacArthur, Charles Spurgeon, and advice on editing/writing.

“I call upon you not to forget the book of the soul. Let not newspapers, novels, and romances be read, while the prophets and apostles lie despised.” — J. C. Ryle

“Of making many books there seems no end, though few of them are really profitable. There seems a rage for cheap printing and publishing. … Amidst the flood of dangerous reading, I plead for my Master’s book.

@LigonDuncan Amen. I love how Dale Bruner describes this moment when Jesus says, “Mary,” and she turns….

See Mary weeping, "Where is He laid?" As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb Hears a voice speaking, calling her name "It's the Master, the Lord, raised to life again" The voice that spans the years Speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace to us Will sound 'til He appears For He lives, Christ is risen from the dead.

“See, what a morning, gloriously bright, with the dawning of hope in Jerusalem; folded the grave-clothes, tomb filled with light, as the angels announce ‘Christ is risen!’” Why should we sing about folded up grave clothes? To make the comparison between Jesus and Lazarus. Lazarus was raised to the resumption of life. Jesus was raised triumphant over death. Lazarus came forth from the grave, bound with linen strips and wrapped in a cloth (John 11:44). By contrast, the disciples saw the linen cloths of Jesus folded up in a place by itself (John 20:7). Nothing to unwrap. No one to unbind. Jesus did not struggle to get free. He did not stumble out of the tomb. He got up on resurrection morning, took off those nasty death pajamas, and folded them neatly in a corner because he had no need for them anymore. Jesus was not simply living again; he was done dying forever. “Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered.”

You’re warmly invited to celebrate our Risen LORD this Easter! Plus, it’s Baptism Sunday—a truly joyful morning awaits. We’d love to see you there!

From Artemis II. Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

“[Satan] will tell you at the beginning of your lives, it is too soon to serve God, — he will tell you at the end, it is too late. Oh, be not deceived!” — J. C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men

"If to-day he deigns to bless us With a sense of pardon'd sin, He to-morrow may distress us, Make us feel the plague within, All to make us Sick of self, and fond of him." — Charles Haddon Spurgeon “The Prayer of Jabez,” 1 Chronicles 4:10

“When you ask for the highest joy, and pray to be on the mountain with Christ, remember it may be as much a blessing; yea, a blessing indeed to be brought into the Valley of Humiliation, to be laid very low, and constrained to cry out in anguish, ‘Lord, save, or I perish!’

Join us Friday and Sunday!

Idols drain us, because they are insufficient and hollow; God gives and blesses us, because he is so super-sufficient, so full.

I’m blessed to serve with such a great team!

“In this as in many a harder trouble of my checkered life, I calmly roll all my burden upon the Lord. I await with quietness and confidence His wise disposal of events. His hand is on the helm; and whither He steers us, all will be well.” — John G. Paton (1824-1907)

“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” — Ps. 130:3-4 God, who has every right to punish us but pardons us for the sake of his Son, is worthy of our reverent thanks and utmost praise.