Author: Ryan Higginbottom

Ryan lives in Washington, PA with his wife and two daughters and teaches mathematics at Washington & Jefferson College. You can connect with him at his blog.

The Old Testament Teaches Us About the Holy Spirit

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Far too often, Christians don’t know what to make of the Holy Spirit. Most have seen the chaos of Spirit-obsessed communities and the coldness of those who ignore the Spirit. People shake their heads as they walk away: Well, I know I don’t want that.

But that’s hardly adequate for our understanding of the third Person of the Trinity.

Compared to the Father and the Son, modern Christians might feel there is comparatively little in the New Testament about the Holy Spirit. Passages such as John 14 and John 16 teach us that he is the Spirt of truth, the Helper, the One who convicts sinners and who glorifies the Son. We can also look to Romans 8—the most Spirit-filled chapter of the Bible. But Christians often want more.

I have good news for you. There is more.

A Syllogism

Here’s the logical proposition. God promises his presence to be with Christians in the person of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15–17). Second, God has shown us in many places in the Old Testament what it looks like when his presence is with believers. Therefore, we can learn what the Holy Spirit is like by looking at the Old Testament occasions where God’s personal presence was active.

Examples

We could multiply examples, but here are just a few.

  • The Spirit brings fear of the Lord and a greater understanding of God’s holiness (Ex 3:4–6).
  • The Spirit brings God’s word for his people; specifically, he brings instruction (Ex 19:7–9).
  • The Spirit gives direction and leading (Ex 13:17–22).
  • The Spirit gives rest (Ex 33:14).
  • The Spirit protects and gives wisdom (1 Chron 14:8–12).

Additionally, we (rightly) speak of the Holy Spirit giving God’s people comfort, encouragement, correction, and calling. God provided all of this for his people through his personal presence in the Old Testament.

Reading to Understand

God does not change, so we can learn about who he is now by reading about his interaction with his people throughout time. This isn’t to say that God acts in all possible ways to all people at all times.

However, we will get a better understanding about the work of the Holy Spirit by understanding him (in part) as the fulfillment of God’s promise to dwell personally with his people.

Post credit | Photo credit

Links for the Weekend (2025-11-21)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Why Euthanasia Feels Intuitive

Tim Challies writes about what it’s been like to live life in Canada while the Medical Assistance in Dying program is gaining traction.

May we instead be people who value life enough to be joyfully inconvenienced by others and who value humility enough to become willingly dependent upon others. May we be people who give up any thoughts of autonomy in matters of life and death and instead entrust ourselves to a faithful God who alone has such authority. May we stand strong against the cultural tide and prove ourselves to be people who truly value life.

On Being a Playful Father

I enjoyed this article by Alan Noble about playfulness and fatherhood. The world needs more fathers who play with their children!

There is something lovely about a father who can bring himself to be silly and playful. And there is something tragic about a father who is so caught up in himself and the cares and addictions of the world that he cannot be silly and playful. Godly fathers should strive for playfulness. The world needs more joy. It is a very dark place.

To the Young Woman in the Restroom at the Wedding

Our poem of the week: To the Young Woman in the Restroom at the Wedding, by Midge Goldberg. This is one of those poems that brings a crushing reality to bear in its final line.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2025-11-14)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

When It Feels Like the Temptation Is Coming From Outside

Tim Challies writes about the power of accurately labeling demonic influence when it is present. (He mentions that such conversation is likely a weakness of Reformed Christians, which sound right!)

I did not speak to Satan or rebuke him, and I did not fret that I had become possessed by a demon. Rather, I came to believe that some evil spiritual being had learned of a specific form of vulnerability and was using it against me. And for a time, it was effective—it truly did shake my confidence and diminish my joy. It left me afraid of when these thoughts would come back into my mind and concerned about what they may have been saying about my heart. But as I began to consider that the thoughts may have been external instead of internal, I was able to respond accordingly. And when I was not able to see victory despite my efforts, I turned to the elders of my local church. God saw fit to honor their prayers and deliver me.

The Gift of Midlife Friendship

Staci Eastin writes about the blessing of friendship in our middle years.

A couple of my friends from when I was a young mom are no longer living. Some have moved far away. But the ones who remain in my life are such a comfort to me. We are older now, and the years show. We are too tired to try to impress anyone. But we cling to each other, and to our God. Because those are the only things worth holding on to.

To My Almost-Adult Kids: Don’t Be Afraid of These Three Words

Amy Medina writes a letter to her almost-adult children, urging them to ask for help when they need it.

But, my beloved children, please hear me when I say that one thing I’ve learned the hard way is that asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s actually a sign of strength. I’m not talking about the whiny cry from a kid who doesn’t want to do his chores. I mean the kind that comes with maturity – recognizing your God-designed limits and God-intended interdependence. It’s what true wisdom looks like, and it’s a mark of humility. 

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Corporate Worship: An Engine of Christian Hope. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Corporate Worship: An Engine of Christian Hope

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

For the Christian, the corporate worship service is (ideally) the highlight of the week. Yes, that gathering is a chance to reconnect with close friends and to put “worldly cares” aside. Even more, this is a time when believers hear from and worship the triune God—that essential activity for which we were made and which properly reorients our souls.

Something else is happening in that worship service. We are taking part in a grand rehearsal. Worship is happening in heaven right now and will surely be a central part of life on the new earth. Thus, the elements of the worship service point us forward, signposts of our heavenly business.

I’ve been thinking of Christian hope as the joyful expectation that God will keep his promises. The corporate worship service offers numerous chances for us to look ahead with anticipation.

Singing

There is a lot of evidence in the Bible for heavenly worship (Rev. 4:8–11, 22:3). Singing will certainly play a role.

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. (Rev. 14:1–3)


And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb… (Rev 15:2–3)

Singing engages our emotions and our wills in ways that spoken words do not. As we join in song in corporate worship, we can look ahead and imagine an even greater crowd, a more glorious sound, and our praise unstained by distraction or worldly desires.

Giving

For those who take a purely logistical angle on the weekly tithe/offering, there seems no need for this in heaven. We won’t need to pay a pastor or an electric bill then, will we?

But our giving doesn’t happen on Sundays out of convenience. It is just as much an act of worship for modern Christians as the first fruits of the harvest were for Old Testament believers. Through this lens, it’s not surprising to learn that giving back to God will continue in the coming age.

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Rev. 4:9–11)

In heaven we will fully understand how worthy God is of all we have, including all he has given to us.

Proclaiming the Gospel

The best Christian worship services proclaim the gospel not only during the sermon but through the structure of the liturgy. The gospel is so central and glorious that we will be focusing on it for eternity.

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:9–10)

God Speaks

Hope is meant to sustain us with a vision of joy to come. Our hope may be stoked by sorrow or by joy, but the Christian worship service is another great incubator for this hope.

Many churches rightly feature the Bible throughout corporate worship. God’s people need to hear God’s word. And this is unlikely to stop in the new creation.

He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Rev. 21:3)

God will be with us; we will have fellowship with him; he will speak to us in a way we haven’t fully known here on earth.

No worship service is perfect. But what goes on then is glorious, and that includes training our minds and hearts to long for the world to come.

Post credit | Photo credit

Links for the Weekend (2025-11-07)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Wellness Cannot Save You

The impulse to seek out wellness is everywhere. Alan Noble has a good caution for us: wellness cannot bear the weight of being our savior.

The appeal to wellness is the allusive dream that one day you may be holistically well enough to live at perfect peace with the universe. It is a desire for shalom. And people will spend billions of dollars a year chasing after it. But as I said earlier, health cannot bear the burden of godhead. It is insufficient. It will come crashing down on us.

Speak with a Christian Accent

Trevin Wax writes about the way we tend to talk like the people we spend time around. He urges us to keep our Christian accent.

At the same time, the Christian accent isn’t merely about abstaining. It’s about adding—words of blessing when others curse, words of encouragement when others tear down, words of peace in the middle of conflict. Our conversations should taste different, seasoned with the salt of grace.

Why the Leaves Fall

Here’s a nice video from The John 10:10 Project about why and how tree leaves fall in the autumn. The Christian perspective on this is refreshing!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2025-10-31)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Fear is Not a Sin

Ed Welch writes about fear and our response to it. He emphasizes Jesus’s compassion in caring for those who are fearful.

Fear and grief are part of most every day. We do not apologize for them; we speak them. Then Jesus immediately responds with his most intimate words and promises. Fear and anxiety, in turns out, are first steps to knowing God’s kingly authority over all things and his heart of compassion for you.

Why We Need to Talk About Body Image in Women’s Discipleship

Andrea Lee is a counselor and she write about the importance of addressing body image for women.

When want to change our bodies, it’s because we think it’ll get us something we value. We may want to lose weight so we’re noticed and praised. We may want to have strong, defined muscles so we’re seen as powerful. We want something that we believe a “better” body can get us. It’s not always wrong to seek changes in our bodies, but we need to consider our motivation. The reason we want to change our bodies tells us something about who or what we worship.

Plant in Peace

Our poem of the week: Plant in Peace, by Ashlyn McKayla Ohm. This is a poem meditating on a famous passage in Jeremiah 29.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Never Leaving, Never Forsaking. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Never Leaving, Never Forsaking

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

One of God’s most precious promises comes from Hebrews 13:5.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Like all of God’s promises, this one will greatly repay any time we spend turning it over in our minds and reminding our hearts it is true. (Perhaps it’s worth noting at the beginning that this promise is a negation!)

God’s promise to never leave or forsake his people should be the foundation of lasting contentment. If we have him, we have him forever, and this is a far greater treasure than any amount of money we could possess.

So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6)

When God says he will never leave, this is not a promise to be loyal like a puppy. Rather, God’s promise gives us confidence that he will be our great helper. With God at our side, we need not fear anything, certainly nothing that man can do to us.

Some of us have been hurt by those we know and love. Even more of us have had those dear to us leave. They move away (or we do). We drift apart as friends. Some departures are more dramatic: harsh words, hurt feelings, someone turning and walking away.

God will not abandon us. We cannot offend him so much that he gives us a cold shoulder. By his Spirit, he stays close, always ready to hear, to speak (through his Word), to comfort, to guide, and to protect us.

Better than a Spouse

We take sobering vows when we get married. Most of these vows include a version of “until death do us part.” So even those we love the most will eventually leave. Death is still an enemy, separating life-long companions and friends.

Yet God makes a promise to us that even a spouse cannot. His promise has no asterisk or grave-related exception. When death comes and separates us from all we know and love, God’s promise is still true. He is present, and he won’t leave.

If the Lord does not return before our death, as our body starts to cool we will immediately be with him in spirit. He will not abandon our soul to the grave. And this in-between state will also end. When the world is remade and our body and soul reunite, we will be with the Lord forever. The dwelling place of God will be with man, and we will see him face to face. He will not leave.

This is good, good news! And it can offer you or your friend great comfort in times of grief, pain, and loneliness.

Post credit | Photo credit

Links for the Weekend (2025-10-24)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

What is Your Busyness Doing?

Many of us feel too busy. But, as Alan Noble explains, some forms of busyness can have seriously negative spiritual consequences.

It seems to me that busyness is deceptive. It often starts out virtuous, a courageous effort to manage the daily affairs of your life for the sake of your loved ones and to honor God—in the model of the ant. But the rhythms of hustle can overtake you. They can be seductive. There is a numbness that sets in when you are busy. Your mind is preoccupied with obligations and must-do’s and planning for the future so that sins, conflicts, problems, and issues in your life that aren’t directly related to your busyness get submerged, ignored. What started out virtuous seems to take up more and more space in your consciousness. You begin answering emails at all hours of the day. You check your phone constantly. You feel the need to stay “plugged in.” You feel uncomfortable when you aren’t actively doing something “productive.” This is acedia. And it’s tied to the refusal to believe that God is sovereign over all creation.

Who Are the Righteous Mentioned Throughout the Psalms?

Admit it—you’ve wondered who the Psalms are referring to when they mention “the righteous.” Christopher Ash is here to help.

First, we struggle to know what to make of it when psalmists claim to be righteous, sometimes in quite strong terms. For example, the prayer “Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness / and according to the integrity that is in me” (Ps. 7:8) rather alarms us. What if the Lord did judge me according to my righteousness? He would find it severely wanting. Dare I pray this?

In an Artist’s Studio

Our poem of the week: In an Artist’s Studio, by Christina Rossetti. This is a sonnet about an artist and his love/subject.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2025-10-17)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

We Need To Talk About Jealousy

Andrew Wilson has written a very helpful explanation of the distinction between envy and jealousy. Among other things, this explains why God is legitimately described as jealous!

The point is much sharper when we consider things from God’s perspective. Having taken the Israelites out of Egypt and carried them through the wilderness, how could he greet his people building idols and worshiping foreign gods with anything but fierce jealousy? That is how lovers react when they are betrayed—and the greater the love, the greater the betrayal and the greater the jealousy.

When Community Becomes an Idol

Lauren Cox writes about a time when she was new to an area and without many friends. The Lord taught her a lot about community and idolatry.

Without community, though, I felt more depleted and vulnerable than I had anticipated. I struggled to find joy in my everyday life, which always came naturally to me. My sense of inner security and peace felt shaken. I struggled to resist the enemy’s lies that because I hadn’t made many friends, I was unloved, not enough, or had lost my touch in this season of life. And after weeks and months of this ache, I began to wonder if this was something bigger than simply missing my loved ones in different cities.

How Can I Increase My Love for God’s Word?

Kenneth Berding looks to Psalm 119 for help on how to grow in our love for the Bible.

These are wonderful words! But they also highlight a tension many of us feel. We don’t always feel love for God’s Word. Many of us read it out of duty (which is fine on its own)—and even benefit from our reading—but would really love to increase our love for God’s Word.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called The Negations of Heaven. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

The Negations of Heaven

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

What will heaven be like? We know only partial answers to this question from the Bible, but this doesn’t stop many from speculating. This is something Christians dearly want to know.

Some of what we know of heaven is stated positively. God will dwell with his people; he will be their God; he will make all things new.

But, curiously, some of what we learn about heaven is stated negatively. Why is that?

I have two main passages in mind. In Revelation 21:4, we learn the following about heaven.

  • God will wipe away every tear.
  • Death will be no more.
  • There will be no more mourning, crying, or pain.
  • The former things will have passed away.

In addition, we read in Revelation 22:3 that there will be nothing cursed in the new creation.

In 1 Peter 1:4, the apostle writes about our inheritance with negative language. We have been born again “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.”

Perhaps the reason for this is obvious, but it’s worth saying out loud. The Bible is teaching us what heaven will be like by contrast. Our current life is full of tears, death, mourning, crying, and pain. All of the inheritances we know about perish, get defiled, and fade away. What is heaven like? It is the opposite of all of the cursed parts of our current experience.

From when we’re very young, this is how we learn. We acquire new information by making a bridge from the known to the unknown. We are familiar with pain; we understand physical, emotional, and mental anguish. The new heavens and the new earth will have absolutely none of that.

This short observation is not groundbreaking, but it is an invitation. This week, when you feel the curse of sin scratching its thorns against your shins, or when you feel nearly crushed by the weight of sin and suffering, think of the contrast the Lord has promised you. Look to the future with hope, for one day the earth will be remade and sin will be no more.

Post credit | Photo credit