Four Keys to Living Faithfully in Exile

Four Keys to Living Faithfully in Exile – “Perhaps you’ve found yourself stuck in a geographical location, and every circumstance — no matter how hard you’ve tried to escape — seemed to hold you there. Maybe you’ve seen all your hopes, dreams, and plans go terribly awry.”

Five Steps to Meditating on the Bible

Five Steps to Meditating on the Bible – When you read and study the Bible, make it count.

498 Years Ago Today

498 Years Ago Today – Happy Reformation Day!

Does Halloween Scare Off Americans?

Does Halloween Scare Off Americans? New Data from LifeWay Research – How do you view the holiday? 

Jesus Came Knocking

Jesus Came Knocking – “And we should ask ourselves, is Jesus knocking — or pounding — on our door? Are we hearing him?”

Five Points for All Our Fears

Five Points for All Our Fears – “Perhaps God has given us these five points so that we have something to say to the things that creep in the dark night of our souls.”

Activism, Apathy, or Affliction?

Activism, Apathy, or Affliction? – “Perhaps we have not seriously enough considered seasons of sincere fasting and prayer among God’s people – days of affliction of the body for the sharpening of the soul.”

4 Building Blocks to a Healthy Relationship with Food

4 Building Blocks to a Healthy Relationship with Food – Brad Hambrick continues his helpful series on the believer’s relationship to food.

Why “God’s Not Dead” Resonated, and What It Missed

Why “God’s Not Dead” Resonated, and What It Missed – “If college makes it plausible to believe “God is dead,” the Church should make it hard to believe anything other than “God is alive.”

Should Christians Take Part in Halloween Celebrations?

Should Christians Take Part in Halloween Celebrations? – There are plenty of views on this topic. Here’s a fairly balanced approach.

4 Great Reasons to Read Romans

4 Great Reasons to Read Romans - “All roads in the Bible lead to Romans, and all views afforded by the Bible are seen most clearly from Romans, and when the message of Romans gets into a person’s heart there is no telling what may happen.” 

Interruption Is God’s Invitation

Interruption Is God’s Invitation – “What if we learned to experience interruption differently? Rather than viewing all outside interruption as the enemy of productivity and creativity, what if we viewed our lives as communicative vessels for the sake of the other?” 

Parents, You Can’t Build Heaven Here

Parents, You Can’t Build Heaven Here – “These verses can turn panicky parents into pilgrim parents with a purpose.”

Debunking 4 Myths About Religious Freedom

Debunking 4 Myths About Religious Freedom – Russell Moore addresses the attacks on religious freedom we commonly hear.

Before Galaxies Stood Forth, He Knew You

Before Galaxies Stood Forth, He Knew You – “But before all that, God knew you. He chose you before the foundation of the world.”

Six Ways to Cultivate Thankfulness and Joy

Six Ways to Cultivate Thankfulness and Joy – “As we make gratitude a habit by practicing it over and over, it becomes part of us. Natural. As natural as complaining. And eventually thankfulness will drive out that demon of grumbling and we’ll experience more and more consistent joy.”

I Went Away for Just 6 Days...

I Went Away for Just 6 Days... – Tim Challies (a Canadian) writes about the candidate elected Prime Minister in Canada this week. It is a good perspective to hear as we work our way through the politics of the next year.

20 Quotes from Albert Mohler’s New Book on the Sexual Revolution

20 Quotes from Albert Mohler’s New Book on the Sexual Revolution – You’ll pick up a lot just from the quotes.

Eight Life-Changing Things Someone Taught Me

Eight Life-Changing Things Someone Taught Me – These are great lessons to celebrate and if you haven’t learned them yet, maybe today is your day.

A Praying Man

A Praying Man – “It is a blessing to my heart to know that this father in the faith is storming heaven on my behalf day by day, that I need only to drop him a note with a particular request and he is sure to take it to the Lord.” 

Microscopes Make the World Larger

Microscopes Make the World Larger – “We must augment our big picture perspectives and high speed, high volume approaches with patient, slow-paced, careful, prolonged observation, examination, and reflection as well as time-intensive discussion.”

What Joe Biden and Paul Ryan Can Teach Us About Fatherhood

What Joe Biden and Paul Ryan Can Teach Us About Fatherhood – “The Biden/Ryan cases ought to remind us to think about the relationship between ambition and fathering. One does not need to aspire to be President or Speaker to be blinded by ambition.” 

The Freedom of Getting Over Yourself

The Freedom of Getting Over Yourself – Here is a quote to ponder from G.K Chesterton.

Tips for Being a False Teacher

Tips for Being a False Teacher – The article is written using humor to communicate truth about false teachers and false teaching.

The Old Me Made New

The Old Me Made New – “God does not only mean to rub the page clean. No, he intends to write a new story in sin’s place, replacing what was once broken, wicked, and dead with love, faithfulness, and life.”

Ways to Prepare for Tomorrow’s Church Service, Today

Ways to Prepare for Tomorrow’s Church Service, Today – Here are some good suggestions for preparing for worship with other believers…before you arrive.

Relevant, Old Paths

Relevant, Old Paths – “My father’s values were old, traditional values. But just because they were old and traditional didn’t necessarily make them good. They were good values because they were biblical values, and biblical values are relevant in every generation.”

20 Ways Being a Mom Makes You a Better Leader

20 Ways Being a Mom Makes You a Better Leader – Great examples of motherhood and patterns of leadership.

Why Doubt Can Give You Hope

Why Doubt Can Give You Hope - Lee Strobel on how we misunderstand wrestling with doubt.

Don’t Coddle Your Fears

Don’t Coddle Your Fears – “What I chose to believe would make all the difference in my behavior and in my future.”

When Routines Become Idols

When Routines Become Idols – “How do we know if our routines are an idol? The ways we respond to interruptions in our routines are a good indicator.” 

If the Bible Rarely Talks About It

If the Bible Rarely Talks About It – “In my theology classes, we often find ourselves wrestling with questions about which the Bible has relatively little to say. And students always wonder if that means these issues aren’t that important. If the Bible doesn’t have much to say about it, should we?”

The Problem With a Nicodemus Culture

The Problem With a Nicodemus Culture – This is a good word on our “Christian culture” from Russell Moore. The video is less than three minutes and worth the watch.

Five Ways Children Will Change the World

Five Ways Children Will Change the World – “You know, early on in our marriage we talked about how we might change the world by writing a book or getting on the cover of Time, but now we’re realizing our best shot at changing the world is through raising the kids God has given us.”

Gospel Conversation in an Age of Texting, Tweeting, and Distraction

Gospel Conversation in an Age of Texting, Tweeting, and Distraction – “Suggestions for enhancing our spiritual lives and our evangelistic efforts.”

Death Is Not ‘Okay’

Death Is Not ‘Okay’ – Death is not “okay” because it’s the result of life in a fallen world. Death is not the way it was meant to be.

Let’s Be Clear About What Real Christian Persecution Looks Like

Let’s Be Clear About What Real Christian Persecution Looks Like - What it really means to have your faith "under attack."

A Marriage Leaning on Jesus and Longing for Heaven

A Marriage Leaning on Jesus and Longing for Heaven – This is a follow-up story on a great story of a young couple’s marriage commitment.

Five Steps to Meditating on the Bible

Five Steps to Meditating on the Bible – “To meditate is to think deeply about what God has said to us in the Bible and to prepare our minds and hearts for prayer. Scripture is the foundation of our praying; meditation readies us for it by helping us focus, understand, remember, worship, and apply.”

The Church is Not a Drive-Through Restaurant

The Church is Not a Drive-Through Restaurant – “Because of cultural influences on the church in America in our time, we tend to treat the church like a drive-through restaurant.”

3 Ways to Support a Friend Who's Returning to Church

3 Ways to Support a Friend Who's Returning to Church - Sometimes, returning to church is just as hard as deciding to leave in the first place.

Joyless Christianity is Dangerous

Joyless Christianity is Dangerous – “Joy is one of the vital gauges on the dashboard of the Christian life. When the needle dips — when you lose your joy — you should take note. To stay safe, you need to pay attention to your joy.”

“White Sugar Makes Me Angry”

“White Sugar Makes Me Angry” - Jim Newheiser helps us understand the heart causes of our anger.

Five Attractions of Passive Sanctification

Five Attractions of Passive Sanctification – “Passive sanctification is an error that has stalked and hurt the Christian church and many Christian lives through the years. The basic idea is that personal holiness is achieved without any personal activity, without any physical effort.” 

Generation Z: A Look at the Future

Generation Z: A Look at the Future – “They’re the new kids on the block, the teenagers. They’ve grown up in a post-9/11 culture, filled with wars, terrorism, economic recession, racial unrest, sexual-identity expansion, and lots of uncertainty.” 

8 Ways to Stay Hungry for Missions after a Short-Term Trip

8 Ways to Stay Hungry for Missions after a Short-Term Trip – This is a good word for all who participate in short-term missions.

9 Things You Should Know About Global Persecution of Christians (2015 Edition)

9 Things You Should Know About Global Persecution of Christians (2015 Edition) – Don’t forget. Remember and pray.

Use Anxiety to Your Advantage

Use Anxiety to Your Advantage – “Jesus cares about our anxious hearts. And he teaches us how to direct our minds and hearts in order to please God.”

11 Ways to Learn to be Full

11 Ways to Learn to be Full – What should Christian “contentment” look like. Here are some markers to consider.

The Earliest List of the NT Canon

The Earliest List of the NT Canon – “It is often claimed that the New Testament was a late phenomenon. We didn’t have a New Testament, according to Athanasius, until the end of the fourth century.” But that isn’t quite the case.

Why Doesn’t Mark Say Anything About Jesus’ Birth?

Why Doesn’t Mark Say Anything About Jesus’ Birth? – “If the virgin conception was an historical event that was well known to the earliest Christians, why wasn’t it mentioned by Mark?”

Sexual Orientation Doesn’t Mean Anything

Sexual Orientation Doesn’t Mean Anything – “Laws backed by substantial fines and penalties, not to mention the potential for publicly shaming violators, require some form of objective clarity.” 

I Was Embarrassed by the Bible

I Was Embarrassed by the Bible – “If the Bible is truly God’s self-revelation—inspired by him and profitable for his people—then I must embrace the whole counsel of God in order to have a healthy, balanced, fruit-filled faith.”

4 Questions That Will Deepen Your Understanding of God

4 Questions That Will Deepen Your Understanding of God - A few things to ask yourself.

Are There Degrees of Sin?

Are There Degrees of Sin? – R.C. Sproul: “Many Evangelical Protestants have rejected the idea of degrees of sin because they know that the Protestant Reformation rejected the Roman Catholic distinction between mortal and venial sins. As a result, they’ve jumped to the conclusion that there are no distinctions between sins in Protestantism.”

Take A Quiz on Christ

Take A Quiz on Christ – How well do you really understand the Person and Work of Christ?

A Prayer for Days When Difficulties Feel More Real Than Hope

A Prayer for Days When Difficulties Feel More Real Than Hope – And those days come.

Give It to God

Give It to God – Where do you go when you reach the end of resources?

Love and Repect: Basics for Marriage

Love and Repect: Basics for Marriage – “There are three things that we can take away from this. The lessons are not limited to three, but we should make a point of grasping at least these three things.”

12 Pillars of Faith for Parents of Children with Disabilities

12 Pillars of Faith for Parents of Children with Disabilities – “Believers need a theology of disability that both glorifies the Creator and honors the incredible value of every human life.”

3 Diagnostic Questions to Detect Sports Idolatry

3 Diagnostic Questions to Detect Sports Idolatry – “Throughout church history Christians have struggled with their relationship to sports, which is appropriate since we’re called to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).”

6 Myths Millennials Believe About Purpose

6 Myths Millennials Believe About Purpose - Figuring out what true success looks like.

Thick Skin, Tender Hearts, and Four Types of Leaders

Thick Skin, Tender Hearts, and Four Types of Leaders - This is a good discussion for church leaders at all levels.

The Joy of Living in Jesus’s Shadow

The Joy of Living in Jesus’s Shadow – “At least one man in history worthy of his own movie settled happily into the background of another story.”

If I Deny Christ, Can I Still Go to Heaven?

If I Deny Christ, Can I Still Go to Heaven? – Jesse Johnson replies to a question he was asked while leading AWANA: “In light of the shooting in Oregon, where the gunman asked students if they were Christian, and if they said ‘yes’ the gunman shot the student in the head, what would happen if a Christian lied? What if it would have been me, and I would have said ‘no’? Would I still go to heaven when I die?”

A Sample Statement on Regular Church Attendance

A Sample Statement on Regular Church Attendance – This statement was developed by a local church but it speaks well for all of us. Here are seven reasons why faithful attendance practically matters.

A Biblical Answer to Poverty: God’s People and the Marketplace

A Biblical Answer to Poverty: God’s People and the Marketplace – How should Christians respond to poverty? 

Hope Beyond the Heavy Burdens You Carry

Hope Beyond the Heavy Burdens You Carry – God’s blessings in this life often come with greater burdens.

How to Diffuse the Accusation of Intolerance

How to Diffuse the Accusation of Intolerance – Here is one approach to taking on a tough question. You should also read the comments below the article for more discussion.

3 Truths to Help Our Children Weather the Gender Storm

3 Truths to Help Our Children Weather the Gender Storm – The gender revolution is under way, and our children are invited to the revolt.

8 Stats That Will Change the Way You Think About Wealth

8 Stats That Will Change the Way You Think About Wealth - If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you are one of the richest people on earth.

The Only FOMO to Fear

The Only FOMO to Fear – “There’s one legitimate FOMO we should all fear: the fear of unbelief and missing out eternally.”

A Grief Like No Other

A Grief Like No Other – This article offers wisdom and counsel for comforting a friend who has lost a child.

Patrol Your Borders

Patrol Your Borders – Here is an important principle of time management.

Bad News, Indeed — Playboy Opened the Floodates and Now the Culture is Drowning

Bad News, Indeed — Playboy Opened the Floodates and Now the Culture is Drowning – “Pornography is such a pervasive part of modern society that Playboy is now a commercial victim of the very moral revolution it symbolized and promoted for decades.”

Gambling Is a Justice Issue

Gambling Is a Justice Issue – “Let’s hold out a vision, for all of us, of an inheritance that comes not through predation, and not through luck, but through sonship, through grace.”

I Need Thee Every Hour

I Need Thee Every Hour – Here’s a good thought on an old hymn.

Talking About Jesus with America’s Least Religious Generation

Talking About Jesus with America’s Least Religious Generation – This is a clear article on sharing your faith in an unbelieving culture.

How a Marriage Can Survive the Worst

How a Marriage Can Survive the Worst - 6 keys to maintaining a relationship through terrible times.

A Prayer for Bringing Our Friends to Jesus

A Prayer for Bringing Our Friends to Jesus – This prayer would be appropriate during this season of Explore God.

Idolatry: A Fatal Attraction

Idolatry: A Fatal Attraction – We all struggle with idolatry in one form or another. Here are some helps in diagnosing your idolatry.

Accessing Maturity

Accessing Maturity – “What is the underlying measure of maturity for Paul? In a word: ‘discernment’. It’s all about how Christians think and make judgements. Immature behaviour derives from a lack of discernment.”

Five Strategies for Daily Bible Reading

Five Strategies for Daily Bible Reading – Here are some basic ideas to develop a consistent habit of Bible reading.

Positive Purity

Positive Purity – “Sexual purity has two components to it: the turning away and the turning toward, the stopping of one kind of behavior and the beginning of another.”

Refuting 5 False Theories About Jesus

Refuting 5 False Theories About Jesus – Here are five popular alternative theories about Jesus, concluding with some general guidelines for how Christians can respond to them.

Stop for Margin

Stop for Margin – Margin is a choice. We all have limited hours in each day. 

God Doesn’t Need You to Be ‘Qualified’

God Doesn’t Need You to Be ‘Qualified’ - How God uses even the most unlikely people to change the world.

The Christian’s Pledge of Allegiance

The Christian’s Pledge of Allegiance – “It’s old — and it’s bold, bolder than we often give it credit for. In fact, the audaciousness of its historic claims easily get obscured by our familiarity with the ancient lines.”

You Are Not Enslaved to Your Past

You Are Not Enslaved to Your Past – “Christianity means change is possible.”

Reignite Your Prayer Life

Reignite Your Prayer Life – How’s your prayer life?

Can the Devil Read My Mind?

Can the Devil Read My Mind? – Here’s a well-thought answer.

3 Ways for Christians to Respond to Tragedies

3 Ways for Christians to Respond to Tragedies – It’s simple and helpful.

Arguments for the Creator Point to Inconsistent Worldviews

Arguments for the Creator Point to Inconsistent Worldviews – Both Christians and non-Christians see evidence for a Creator. How does this belief affect our lives?

Only Christ Can Truly Satisfy

Only Christ Can Truly Satisfy – “Every person in the world wants to know what will make him or her happy. We’re all desperately seeking for the person, place, or thing that will meet our expectations, needs, and wants. What will truly satisfy the desires of our heart?”

We Should Pray for Healing

We Should Pray for Healing – “Should we pray for healing? Yes! The New Testament instructs us to ask God to distribute this gift for the glory of Jesus.”

5 Warning Signs for the Church in a ‘Facebook Culture’

5 Warning Signs for the Church in a ‘Facebook Culture’ – “What effect does ‘social media’ technology have on the way we view the church? On the way we conceive of life in Christ’s body?”

The Number One Reason to Trust the Bible

The Number One Reason to Trust the Bible – “If a person’s identity and authority affect how much credibility we give to their words, then it follows that who we say Jesus is will affect how we trust the Bible.”

Forgiveness: A Marriage Best-Practice

Forgiveness: A Marriage Best-Practice – “Marriage is a covenantal partnership that involves two people, a husband and wife, working towards a common goal: to represent Christ and his people to the world.”

Four Ways to Live While in Exile

Four Ways to Live While in Exile – “We have all known seasons of exile, in one form or another. Perhaps you have found yourself stuck in a geographical location, and every circumstance, no matter how hard you have tried to escape your environment, seemed to hold you there.” 

Give Your Weakness to God

Give Your Weakness to God – “Redemptive vulnerability — a vulnerability that leads to life — is where we share our brokenness in order to display the surpassing power and sufficiency of Christ and the gospel, which transforms us increasingly into the likeness of Christ.”

20 Truths from Sticking Points by Haydn Shaw

20 Truths from Sticking Points by Haydn Shaw – “Relating across generational lines can be difficult. How do people of varying ages understand each other better?”

You Were Made for the Godward Life

You Were Made for the Godward Life – “Living as if God were a part of life, and not the fragrance and brightness of all of life, is what the Bible calls foolishness.”

How Do I Know That God Loves Me?

How Do I Know That God Loves Me? – “How do we know God love us? Many are assured of God’s love through his gentle or generous providences.”

15 Bible Verses For The Struggling College Student

15 Bible Verses For The Struggling College Student – “God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons we could learn no other way” -– C.S. Lewis

A Prayer for Healing Our Allergies to Grace

A Prayer for Healing Our Allergies to Grace – What a good word for today…and many days.

Can a Good God Bring Pain?

Can a Good God Bring Pain? – “Do you believe that God can author pain or suffering in your life for your good? Could affliction, from a larger, longer perspective, be a carefully, lovingly chosen method for blessing?”

The Perspicuity of Scripture

The Perspicuity of Scripture – “What is so hard about the hard sayings of Jesus is not our inability to understand them fully but to believe them fully and obey them fully.”

9 Things You Should Know About Global Hunger

9 Things You Should Know About Global Hunger – Our church is addressing global hunger on November 15. Here are some things to know.

How Do You Know Jesus Really Rose from the Dead?

How Do You Know Jesus Really Rose from the Dead? – Here are some answers to a key question our world asks regarding a key doctrine.

Home Alone

Home Alone – “One of the most common conflicts in homes today is triggered by a smartphone. Someone in most homes has cultivated the habit of disconnecting from others in the room and constantly checking his phone. In fact, if you’re around long enough, it feels less like a habit and more like a right or basic need — air, food, sleep, and Facebook.”

When Can A Child Respond to the Gospel?

When Can A Child Respond to the Gospel? – “Few issues weigh more heavily on Christian parents than the salvation of their children.” 

Christianity Is Not Dying and Millennials Are Not the Problem

Christianity Is Not Dying and Millennials Are Not the Problem – Tony Morgan reviews the new book, Generational IQ. I’ve ordered my copy. Here are some highlights.

Why Four Gospels?

Why Four Gospels? – Why did God give us four gospels instead of just one? Here are some good reasons.

A Quick And Easy Guide To The Planned Parenthood Videos

A Quick And Easy Guide To The Planned Parenthood Videos – Mollie Hemingway provides a quick and easy guide to the 10 videos that have been released to this point.

Where Is God in Tragedy?

Where Is God in Tragedy? - Yesterday’s shooting in Oregon targeting Christians raises deep questions.

3 Ways You Might Be Teaching Your Kids the Prosperity Gospel

3 Ways You Might Be Teaching Your Kids the Prosperity Gospel – “The message is simple: God’s desire for every Christian is that they be healthy, wealthy, and happy. We simply name what we want and God’s hand will move to give it to us. Sadly, this message is deceiving millions, and it might have infiltrated your parenting.” 

Praying for a Breakthrough

Praying for a Breakthrough – “Increasingly intense fighting always precedes strategic breakthroughs. Strategic ground is not yielded easily.”

The Prosperity Gospel Has Gone Viral

The Prosperity Gospel Has Gone Viral – “Regrettably, the prosperity gospel has gone viral. Being more nuanced and subtle than you may think, it is very active in the church. Like a computer virus it is draining vitality and productivity in the covenant community. And you know what the worst part is? You may not even know that you are impacted by it.”

The Bait-and-Switch Over Same-Sex ‘Marriage’

The Bait-and-Switch Over Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ – “Is it going to become impossible for a Christian to hold public office in America?”

There Is No Crown Without a Cross for Your Kids

There Is No Crown Without a Cross for Your Kids – “All of us parents know this is true: no person gains any character, humility, empathy, or integrity in the context of comfort. These attributes grow by God’s grace in the fertile ground of pain, struggle, and humiliation.”

Enjoy Your Possessions Before They Possess You

Enjoy Your Possessions Before They Possess You – “No matter how much (or how little) we possess, there are four things that will help us rightly enjoy the gifts God has given us.”

Is the Enemy of My Enemy My Friend?

Is the Enemy of My Enemy My Friend? – “In a time of cultural conflict, the enemy of our enemy may well be our friend. But, with eternity in view and the gospel at stake, the enemy of our enemy must not be confused to be a friend to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The Last Enemy

The Last Enemy – “Death rises to testify that life is absurd and God, if He exists, is either indifferent or impotent or perhaps both. No wonder the Apostle Paul calls it an enemy. The last enemy.”

Two Ways to Sing to God

Two Ways to Sing to God – “How do you approach worship on a Sunday? What draws you to sing and engage physically during the church’s gathered times of singing? Do you wait for a particular feeling to sing?”