4 (Good) Ways Your Hard Kid Is Changing You

4 (Good) Ways Your Hard Kid Is Changing You – “God uses all kinds of things in our lives to change us, including hard kids. Here are four ways he might be using yours to do just that.”

4 Responses to Cultural Change

4 Responses to Cultural Change – “We’ll often find ourselves going against the flow of popular culture in certain areas of life. It’s necessary for us to have a solid biblical foundation to stand on in the midst of a rapidly shifting cultural landscape.”

What Does the Bible Say About Race?

What Does the Bible Say About Race? – While the world divides, God unifies.

Oh, the Blessed Kindness of Our Father

Oh, the Blessed Kindness of Our Father – “It’s a relief to know you don’t love us to the degree we love others, but to the degree you love Jesus—which is 100%. This is our peace, hope, and joy. It’s also the basis and rocket fuel for our repentance.”

The Most Important Issue for Christian Voters in 2020 Isn’t What You Think It Is

The Most Important Issue for Christian Voters in 2020 Isn’t What You Think It Is – “As it turns out, Christian voters’ critical issues aren’t all that different from the public at large. Health care (65 percent), terrorism (54 percent) and immigration and climate change (both 49 percent) are the most critical issues facing voters, far outpacing all other issues.”

What Does Paul Mean When He Says, “Act Like Men”?

What Does Paul Mean When He Says, “Act Like Men”? – “It would be incorrect to use this translation to mean to act in some distinctively masculine way to the exception of some feminine way of acting. If by acting manly, someone means act courageously, then such a translation would work.”

What Can Learn from the #MeToo Moments in Genesis

What Can Learn from the #MeToo Moments in Genesis – “The point of comparison is not to foster a false moral equivalency, but to make the necessary point that sexual sins can be committed by men and committed by women, against men and against women.”

Good Men Work Hard and Sleep Well

Good Men Work Hard and Sleep Well – “Good men know that unless the Lord works in, and through, and over their work, they accomplish nothing truly meaningful or lasting.”

Virginia and the Lie at the Heart of the Pro-Choice Movement

Virginia and the Lie at the Heart of the Pro-Choice Movement – “Virginia’s senate narrowly repealed laws regulating abortion in the state. While only affecting Virginia, their action has nation-wide implications because it exposes the lie at the heart of the pro-choice movement—namely that being pro-choice is about being pro-woman.”

How God Can Redeem the Lost Years of Our Broken Past

How God Can Redeem the Lost Years of Our Broken Past – “Do you often look back on your life and feel haunted by failed relationships, self-destructive seasons and choices that derailed your dreams?...Yet, isn’t it strange how Jesus always finds a way to redeem what was once considered lost?”

What We Learn When We Teach Kids the Bible

What We Learn When We Teach Kids the Bible – “Here are five ways God can powerfully transform you while you teach children.”

Ask God for the World: The Missing Prayer the Nations Need

Ask God for the World: The Missing Prayer the Nations Need – “If someone were to listen in on your prayers over the last week, would they hear a zeal for God’s glory among all the nations? Would they hear concern for the more than two billion men, women, and children who are among groups still unreached by the gospel? Would they hear compassion for imprisoned and endangered brothers and sisters in persecuted countries?”

Your Phone Is Teaching You How to Pray

Your Phone Is Teaching You How to Pray – (not in a good way) “We tend to fill every moment of awkwardness or discomfort with distraction, but prayer requires patience.”

Loving Your Widow With Wise Stewardship

Loving Your Widow With Wise Stewardship – “Since one of you may live a long time, there are things you can do now to love your future widow or widower in the future…”

Dear Church—Don’t Overlook and Undervalue the Elderly

Dear Church—Don’t Overlook and Undervalue the Elderly – I was at a conference a few years ago and was told I was wasting my time with a multi-generational approach to ministry. I still think it’s valuable.

Modern Feminism’s Hated Enemy: Womanhood

Modern Feminism’s Hated Enemy: Womanhood – “Feminism can only survive if women continue to hate the very elements of their nature that differentiate them from men.”

Why 1 Corinthians 13 Isn’t Just for Weddings

Why 1 Corinthians 13 Isn’t Just for Weddings – “For the well-being of our marriages, our families, and our churches, we need an accurate measure of what love does and does not look like. We need a biblical definition of love.”

Help! I’ve Fallen Behind On My Bible Readings!

Help! I’ve Fallen Behind On My Bible Readings! – Here are some helpful suggestions to get back on track and overcome obstacles.

Who Is Yahweh?

Who Is Yahweh? – “The world doesn’t need any more tinkering with religion. It needs God. It needs to see God.”

Don’t Compartmentalize Your Christianity

Don’t Compartmentalize Your Christianity – “Many people who call themselves Christians live functionally compartmentalized lives. Whether they realize it or not, they have divided their lives neatly into two drawers: real life and spiritual life.”

Beware the Complacency of “Once Saved, Always Saved”

Beware the Complacency of “Once Saved, Always Saved” – “Having a faith that endures to the end is evidence that you possess the salvation you could never lose. Not enduring to the end is evidence you never had it to begin with.”

The FAQs: Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan and Jerusalem’s Holy Sites

The FAQs: Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan and Jerusalem’s Holy Sites – “What is the plan’s proposal for Jerusalem and the holy sites?”

God’s Loving Law

God’s Loving Law – “By warning us of what is wrong, God shows love for his creation. This is love because what is wrong is what will hurt us. Sin corrupts God’s good gifts. It perverts his gifts and harms us.”

What Winter Can Do to a Soul

What Winter Can Do to a Soul – “In those times, when we feel down and just want to hibernate into our igloos, let’s remember that it’s precisely at these moments that we need the people of God most.”

10 Reasons Every Church Should Send Their Pastor on a Mission Trip

10 Reasons Every Church Should Send Their Pastor on a Mission Trip – I’m thankful my church embraces this already and I encourage other churches to do the same.

Battling the Post-Holiday Blues

Battling the Post-Holiday Blues – “I think one reason the melancholy fog descends so quickly after the new year is that we anticipate a new day, a new start, a new something that will be different. And better. And wonderful. And when that doesn’t happen, we’re left disappointed and maybe even a tinge cynical.”

The Era of Sin Management

The Era of Sin Management – “Here are six biblical thoughts to help us.”

What Apostates Don't Say

What Apostates Don't Say – “When people walk away from Christianity, there are some common reasons they give...But there is one thing that I don’t hear an apostate say that should get our attention: They don’t say much about Jesus.” 

What’s So Great About the Ascension

What’s So Great About the Ascension – “Jesus didn’t just raise from the dead–he Ascended into heaven. But what does the Ascension mean, and why does it feel like just a footnote?”

Rejoice Always

Rejoice Always – “The tribulations of life are inevitable. But they do not have the last word. The crucified and risen Christ is the world conqueror.”

How to Pray Against Satan

How to Pray Against Satan – “Perhaps the best way to approach this challenging question is by taking note of what Satan seeks to accomplish and formulate prayers that God would counteract the goals Satan seeks to achieve.”

Upon The Death of a Celebrity

Upon The Death of a Celebrity – “Bryant’s death brings our own death to the fore of our minds, even if we think we haven’t thought about it. It pushes death into our face, no matter which way we wriggle or squirm to avert it.”

Your Words Will Outlive You

Your Words Will Outlive You – “We underestimate the power of words, both in the moment and also down the road (see Prov. 18:20–21). Words don’t always go away. They lodge in nooks and crannies of our brain and return to us when we need them most, maybe years or decades later.”

America’s Favorite Poison

America’s Favorite Poison – “Regardless of how much Americans love to drink, the country could be safer and healthier if we treated booze more like we treat cigarettes. The lack of serious discussion about raising alcohol prices or limiting its sale speaks to all the ground Americans have ceded to the ‘good guys’ who have fun. And judging by the health statistics, we’re amusing ourselves to death.”

How Do I Talk To My Kids About Ethnicity?

How Do I Talk To My Kids About Ethnicity? – Nana Dolce tackles this subject and provides three helpful lessons to teach kids about ethnicity. She provides simple and biblical content to disciple kids on this subject. 

How to Have That Hard Conversation

How to Have That Hard Conversation – “When you have a hard conversation, don’t shy away from hard truth. But don’t shy away from the eternal hope or practical entailments of the cross, either.”

Judas’s Demise in Matthew 27 and Acts 1. Do They Contradict?

Judas’s Demise in Matthew 27 and Acts 1. Do They Contradict? – “Matthew and Luke provide quite different accounts of Judas’s demise. Matthew has Judas hang himself, while Luke ends with Judas’s body burst open (cf. Matt. 27:3–8; Acts 1:18–19).”

The Eternally Wounded Christ

The Eternally Wounded Christ – “Jesus, under the figure of the slain lamb is the centerpiece of heaven. There is, in these words, a clear depiction of the ongoing visible reminder of the sufferings of Christ for the redemption of His people. There are several reasons why…”

Everything You Need to Know about the New Coronavirus from China

Everything You Need to Know about the New Coronavirus from China – “If you’re concerned about the virus that’s so much in the news, this article from the The Verge will get you caught up.”

Pro-Life is Pro-Woman

Pro-Life is Pro-Woman – Chelsea Sobolik reviews the annual March for Life and it's emphasis on caring for the unborn and the women who bear them in their wombs.

God Will Be Good Again Tomorrow

God Will Be Good Again Tomorrow – “Faith in a sovereign and gracious God freed David to rejoice and give thanks in today’s deliverance, today’s victory, today’s mercy — even while tomorrow’s troubles stormed the gates of his mind.”

6 Bible Verses For New Beginnings

6 Bible Verses For New Beginnings – “Beginning again isn’t easy but trusting in God makes it a lot easier.”

How to Have Faith in Exile

How to Have Faith in Exile – “We’re exiles in that this earth is not our true home.”

Why Christians Support Abortion (And How We Can Change That)

Why Christians Support Abortion (And How We Can Change That) – “there are three primary categories of people who believe you can be a follower of Christ and support abortion.”

Do You Know the Lovingkindness of the Lord?

Do You Know the Lovingkindness of the Lord? – Charles Spurgeon expounds on the question.

Personality Tests Don’t Excuse Your Sin

Personality Tests Don’t Excuse Your Sin – “Sometimes, instead of using our personality-test results as a tool, we can almost view them as an infallible declaration of who we are and how we will act. Even worse, we can use them as an excuse for sin.”

Why Anti-Refugee Sentiment Within Christian Circles Is Anti-Jesus

Why Anti-Refugee Sentiment Within Christian Circles Is Anti-Jesus – “When U.S. Christians promote the message that the comfort and traditions of Americans come before the very life of vulnerable human beings because they are strangers, we are in direct opposition to what Jesus taught.”

An “I Love You” Family

An “I Love You” Family – “Some people go their whole growing up years without hearing the phrase.”

What Kind of Parent Are You?

What Kind of Parent Are You? – “Helicopter parenting, lawnmower parenting, free-range parenting, tiger parenting, attachment parenting, baby-led, and serenity parenting—the list of descriptive parenting terms is endless. Or here is one of mine: janitorial parenting—letting your children do whatever they desire and you clean up after their mistakes, allowing them to avoid accountability.”

5 Reasons to Recover Benedictions at Church

5 Reasons to Recover Benedictions at Church – We began ending with benedictions last year. Here are some of the good reasons for it.

Did My Dad Die Because I Lacked Faith?

Did My Dad Die Because I Lacked Faith? – “Faith is a gift, and you can never presume that God owes it to you.”

If God Can Be Trusted With Death, He Can Be Trusted With Life

If God Can Be Trusted With Death, He Can Be Trusted With Life – Seth Lewis: “Quoting promises about Heaven will always be easier than keeping commands about Earth. Trusting God with life after death will always be easier than trusting him with life before it.”

How to Trust God Is Good When It Seems He’s Not

How to Trust God Is Good When It Seems He’s Not – “He heard the Israelites when they cried out to Him in Egypt, and He hears you.”

Ruthless Nations Will Fear the Lord: The Coming Triumph of World Missions

Ruthless Nations Will Fear the Lord: The Coming Triumph of World Missions – “One indispensable motive for our mission to the nations is hope — the confidence that we are engaged in a cause that will triumph in the end.”

20 Truths for ‘Unburdened’ by Vance Pitman

20 Truths for ‘Unburdened’ by Vance Pitman – “The primary call on my life is not to do something for Jesus; the primary call on my life is to be with Jesus”

The Implications, Once We Learn How God Works

The Implications, Once We Learn How God Works – “It’s important to note that these principles are illustrated all through scripture.”

20 Benefits of Being in God’s Word According to Psalm 119

20 Benefits of Being in God’s Word According to Psalm 119 – “If only the world could grasp the benefits available to the soul who seeks God through His Word—willing to see it as truth, clinging to it at every turn.”

Don’t Pursue Your Dreams. Pursue Obedience.

Don’t Pursue Your Dreams. Pursue Obedience. – What is God’s great plan for your life?

The FAQs: Trump Administration Issues Clarification on Religious Freedom in Public Schools and Colleges

The FAQs: Trump Administration Issues Clarification on Religious Freedom in Public Schools and Colleges – “Last week the Trump administration issued new guidance on religious freedom in public schools. In a separate action, the administration also proposed a new rule to protect the rights of religious student groups at public universities.”

Abortion Regret Isn’t a Myth, Despite New Study

Abortion Regret Isn’t a Myth, Despite New Study – “What women may refuse to disclose to researchers at a clinic, they’re confessing in Bible studies decades later.”

A Breakthrough in Our Family Devotions

A Breakthrough in Our Family Devotions – Here’s one family’s idea.

Stop Talking So Much…And Other Tips for Leading a Small Group Bible Study

Stop Talking So Much…And Other Tips for Leading a Small Group Bible Study – Here are several good reminders and suggestions for Bible study leaders.

You Have More Influence Than You Realize

You Have More Influence Than You Realize – “Pick a woman in the Scripture that is known for anything and you’ll find that she was a woman of influence.”

What to Do When You Have More Than Enough

What to Do When You Have More Than Enough – “So, if there was extra manna, what should they have done with it? They should have shared it.”

Is Something Evil Only If It Harms Others?

Is Something Evil Only If It Harms Others? – “The essence of evil, all evil — what makes evil really evil — is that it always involves finding more pleasure in something other than God.”

Why Roman Catholic Countries Should be Considered Unreached

Why Roman Catholic Countries Should be Considered Unreached – “The question is, when dealing with the Roman Catholic church are we dealing with a church that, although it has many issues, can be used by God to bring people to Himself, or are we dealing with a false religion that is on par with Islam, Buddhism, and all of the major false religions on earth?”

The Difference Between Praise and Worship

The Difference Between Praise and Worship – God deserves our worship. He deserves our praise. 

Life Isn’t about Jesus Joining Our Team

Life Isn’t about Jesus Joining Our Team – This is a good word as the presidential impeachment trial begins today.

Weddings and Shadows

Weddings and Shadows – “Marriage is good, but it is a shadow of something better–a better marriage between Jesus and His Bride, the Church.” 

You Didn’t Do ‘Nothing’ Today

You Didn’t Do ‘Nothing’ Today – “Maybe you feel like your life is achieving little. But by God’s grace, maybe you are doing far more than you think.”

One of the Most Overlooked Reasons Why We Should Trust the Bible

One of the Most Overlooked Reasons Why We Should Trust the Bible – Jesus trusted the Bible.

When All That Remains Is Ash: Lessons of God in the Australian Fires

When All That Remains Is Ash: Lessons of God in the Australian Fires – “A consuming fire takes all, there is no standing before it. Some try. Some take their stand to defend their possessions and the sum of their labors, but they too must turn from the heat or perish. Are we comfortable with this image of God? Or do we prefer it when his flame is contained? 

Dr. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Still Speaks to Us Today

Dr. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Still Speaks to Us Today – The article includes links to the letter.

Hostility, Fragility, and Hope: Lessons from Pastoring Through Racial Tensions

Hostility, Fragility, and Hope: Lessons from Pastoring Through Racial Tensions - “Remembering the work and vision of Martin Luther King Jr., we remind ourselves from the word of God that we can and ought to remain hopeful.”

How Christ Is the Center of Scripture

How Christ Is the Center of Scripture – “One way to understand the Christ-centered nature of Scripture is to use two key metaphors.”

4 Perils of Platform

4 Perils of Platform – “Here are four temptations anyone seeking or using a public platform should be aware of.”

Evangelical Popes: How Scholars Can Steal The Bible from People

Evangelical Popes: How Scholars Can Steal The Bible from People – “The implication is ‘you can’t understand the Bible on your own, so let the scholarly experts explain it to you.’ The result is that the supposed experts are in effect stealing the Bible from the people in the pew.”

Why We Need, More Than Ever Before, a Theology of Mankind

Why We Need, More Than Ever Before, a Theology of Mankind – “May God continue to raise up those who will patiently and faithfully plumb the depths of Scripture in order that the church might mature in her confession of a theology of mankind.”

10 Ways Porn Culture Will Target Your Kids in 2020

10 Ways Porn Culture Will Target Your Kids in 2020 – “So let’s get to know the enemy so we can gear up for those battles! Here are TEN things to look out for this year as you raise kids in a hypersexualized porn culture AND what you can do about it!”

Go to God Together: Why the Church Gathers to Pray

Go to God Together: Why the Church Gathers to Pray – “We all want such power in our lives, in our families, in our churches, in our cities, and we should not expect God to do it apart from our praying. So, what did the church in Acts pray together for?”

How Can I Know If I’m Working Too Much?

How Can I Know If I’m Working Too Much? – There are a lot of variables but here are some things to consider.

The Confessions of a Recovering Evangelist

The Confessions of a Recovering Evangelist – “In a society full of people who would rather speak than listen, people are starving for someone who is willing to offer them their ears.”

The Greatest Bible Lesson Ever Taught

The Greatest Bible Lesson Ever Taught – “The Lord Jesus condescended to become a preacher of the gospel, and he was not ashamed to exercise his calling before an audience of two persons, neither does he now refuse to become the teacher of even one.”

5 Features That Made the Early Church Unique

5 Features That Made the Early Church Unique – “Why, if Christians were seen as offensive and were excluded from circles of influence and business and often put to death, did anyone become a Christian?”

Every Place Is the Same Now

Every Place Is the Same Now – “For decades... the possibilities available outside the home were far greater than those within its walls. But now, it’s not merely possible to do almost anything from home—it’s also the easiest option. Our forebears’ problem has been inverted: Now home is a prison of convenience that we need special help to escape.”

James 3:1 and the Trembling Teacher

James 3:1 and the Trembling Teacher – “So, trembling teacher, it’s good to feel the weight of your responsibility. It’s good to realize that this work shouldn’t be taken lightly. Preparing to teach should be a careful and diligent process, one that is steeped in prayer and study and conscientiousness. But it’s also essential to remember that God can and does work through our weaknesses.”

The Top 50 Countries Where It’s Hardest to Be a Christian

The Top 50 Countries Where It’s Hardest to Be a Christian – “Every day, 8 Christians worldwide are killed because of their faith. Every week, 182 churches or Christian buildings are attacked. And every month, 309 Christians are imprisoned unjustly.”

What the Church Can Do About the Alcohol-Related Death Epidemic

What the Church Can Do About the Alcohol-Related Death Epidemic – “Over the past decade, American has been so distracted by the opioid crisis that we hardly noticed an even deadlier epidemic.” 

Do You Have a Toxic Relationship With God?

Do You Have a Toxic Relationship With God? – “Many Christians find themselves in toxic relationships with Christ without even realizing it, because they are the one who is exhibiting poor behaviors. They do not glorify God in the way that the Bible instructs. Here are key signs you might be in a sour relationship with Him.”

The Role of Emotions in Saving the Preborn

The Role of Emotions in Saving the Preborn – “How do we seek to convince those desiring an abortion to preserve the life of their preborn children, especially if they already know the facts of human development in the womb?”

The Struggles of the Christian Life

The Struggles of the Christian Life – “Struggles are a significant part of the Christian life. If our view of God and life is too simple, then it can lead to frustration and fear.”

Don’t Ever Stop Praying: The Refreshing Privilege of Unceasing Prayer

Don’t Ever Stop Praying: The Refreshing Privilege of Unceasing Prayer – “Persevere to become the person God is remaking you to be. Ask, praise, thank, and confess to your Father — and find that he hears and helps without ceasing.”

10 Things You Should Know about the Priesthood of All Believers

10 Things You Should Know about the Priesthood of All Believers – “Our role as priests—a role that includes both male and female—is a premier theme throughout Scripture.”

A Revolution Has Come to World Missions

A Revolution Has Come to World Missions – “The world is on the move.”

Keeping Primary Attention on Life’s Main Focuses

Keeping Primary Attention on Life’s Main Focuses – “There are many strong, attention-grabbing focuses in life that are clearly of secondary importance (or even of very little importance) compared to our primary purposes.”

The Strangest Thing Jesus Said

The Strangest Thing Jesus Said – “No one ever spoke like this man.”

Aging: Rounding Third and Heading Home

Aging: Rounding Third and Heading Home – “Two eighty-year-old men in the Old Testament pretty much sum up the two extremes.”

Should Followers of Christ Use Recreational Marijuana?

Should Followers of Christ Use Recreational Marijuana? – “Disciples should be wise stewards of their time and energy, and what happens during times of recreation is spiritual formation too.”

Heresy Often Begins with Boredom

Heresy Often Begins with Boredom – “The sort of Christian boredom that can lead to heresy comes in many forms. Here are a few common culprits.”

Seven Ways to Sabotage Your Prayer Life

Seven Ways to Sabotage Your Prayer Life – “This short catalogue of biblical hindrances are given so that we might pray more— more heartily, more joyfully, more powerfully, more boldly — not less, remembering that boldly never means recklessly.”

This Nine-question Quiz Will Ruin Your Day

This Nine-question Quiz Will Ruin Your Day – “If you really want to uncover the things in your life that steal your worship from God, then you need to do an Idolatry Detection Test.”

Reflections on the Life and Death of Our Newborn Granddaughter

Reflections on the Life and Death of Our Newborn Granddaughter – This is a good read regarding family, grief, and God’s provisions.

3 Unchanging Truths for a Post-Truth World

3 Unchanging Truths for a Post-Truth World – “The first thing we should note is that a post-Christian age is not a problem for God.”

Help! I’m Struggling to Strike a Work/Life Balance

Help! I’m Struggling to Strike a Work/Life Balance – “The holy grail of modern life is to achieve work/life balance. But despite millions of ‘new decade resolutions’ to that effect, the vast majority will fail miserably in 2020, making this year as miserable as last year for themselves and for those around them.”

When Godly People Disagree: Lessons from Acts 15

When Godly People Disagree: Lessons from Acts 15 – What do we do as God’s people when we are working through disagreements?

Bible Literacy Crisis! (And What You Can Do About It in 2020)

Bible Literacy Crisis! (And What You Can Do About It in 2020)

How to Explain War to Children

How to Explain War to Children – “How do we talk about war and rumors of war with our young children?”

Accepting “No” as God’s Will

Accepting “No” as God’s Will – “We must accept the fact that God sometimes says no. Sometimes He calls us to suffer and die even if we want to claim the contrary.”

When You’re Tired of Mourning

When You’re Tired of Mourning – “Sometimes it seems as if each year brings new facets of grief. New layers build upon the old, and weariness sets in. I grow tired of mourning.”

How to Make Evangelism More Normal in Your Church’s Life

How to Make Evangelism More Normal in Your Church’s Life – We are all busy. But we all have the same 24 hours a day and we all have time to do what is most important. Evangelism has to be a priority.

Laziness, Our Respectable Sin

Laziness, Our Respectable Sin – “In Proverbs 6:6-11 alone, we find four characteristics of a lazy person.”

The Unbelievable Reality of Prayer

The Unbelievable Reality of Prayer – “Something that has greatly encouraged me over recent years has been considering the reality of prayer from God’s perspective as described in Revelation chapters 4 and 5.”

Are Hell and the Cross Overkill for Sin?

Are Hell and the Cross Overkill for Sin? – “When God is left out, there’s no way to have an infinite crime deserving of an infinite punishment.”

Stop Treating the Church Like the ACC Network

Stop Treating the Church Like the ACC Network – “Sign me up for the parts I like, but don’t ask me for a commitment”

An Unexpected Antidote to Infighting

An Unexpected Antidote to Infighting – “If we evangelize more, we’ll fight each other less. Here are three reasons why.”

When Your Spouse Won't Change

When Your Spouse Won't Change – “God calls us to lay our life down for our spouse. What does that look like when it feels like we are the only ones upholding the covenant?”

How Well Do You Know Your Hymns? (A Quiz)

How Well Do You Know Your Hymns? (A Quiz)

New Year, New Fears

New Year, New Fears – “For me, every new year brings uncertainty, and 2020 is no different. Before me lies twelve unwrapped boxes containing the expected and the unexpected. The good and the bad. The victories and the defeats. The joys and the sorrows. And I’ll get to open these boxes one after the other, not knowing what to expect.”

Talking to Jehovah’s Witnesses? Start Here

Talking to Jehovah’s Witnesses? Start Here – Here are some good tools to work with.

2 Ways to Grow in Teachability

2 Ways to Grow in Teachability – “Following Jesus means being teachable, so we ought to cultivate that attitude ourselves. But what exactly does teachability look like in the life of a follower of Jesus? Here are two main ways it shows up.”

Let Not Food Destroy the Body: Laying Aside the Weight of Preferences

Let Not Food Destroy the Body: Laying Aside the Weight of Preferences – “So, how should Christians think about food? How do we balance being good stewards of our bodies while not becoming consumed by a certain diet or exercise plan?”

States Move to Stop Male Athletes from Competing as Girls

States Move to Stop Male Athletes from Competing as Girls – “Lawmakers in five states have drafted measures aimed at preventing high-school-age athletes from competing in sports categories different from their biological sex.”

5 Features That Made the Early Church Unique

5 Features That Made the Early Church Unique – “What made the Christian community so different?” It makes us Christian community stand apart from culture today too.

The Name That Opens Heaven: Why God Will Hear Our Prayer

The Name That Opens Heaven: Why God Will Hear Our Prayers – “For two thousand years, Christians have been praying in Jesus’s name, and for good reason. But when was the last time you paused to ponder why?”

How Do We Respond to Claims That Christianity Is Dangerous?

How Do We Respond to Claims That Christianity Is Dangerous? – “It’s not harmful or unloving or immoral to stand up and say, ‘The commands of our Creator are good for us.’”

Ten Truths about a Liar

Ten Truths about a Liar – Here are ten important truths about Satan.

The Other Woman in His Life

The Other Woman in His Life – “The chief way you can support your son’s marriage is by loving his wife.”

Why Unreached People Groups Still Matter in Missions

Why Unreached People Groups Still Matter in Missions – “Here are three reasons to believe the Great Commission still speaks to the unfinished task of reaching UPGs—and why this still matter in missions.”

Submit to One Another

Submit to One Another – “The fact that submission has become something of a dirty word in relation to our modern sensibilities has much to do with Western culture’s increasingly post-postmodern rejection of authority. Anxiety about authority and submission has even crept into the church.”

Why Your Time Really Is Where Your Treasure Is

Why Your Time Really Is Where Your Treasure Is – “The average American spends 705 hours per year on social media...the average American spends 2,737.5 hours per year watching television.” Was it hard to find time to spend with God this week?

How to Recognize the Holy Spirit: Nine Tests for Spiritual Fruit

How to Recognize the Holy Spirit: Nine Tests for Spiritual Fruit – “Of all the blessings that are ours in Christ, is any greater than the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit?”

5 Ways the Death of Jesus Saves You

5 Ways the Death of Jesus Saves You - “There is no greater example of love than Jesus’ death on a cross.”

Why You Need Sermons That Don’t Directly Apply to You

Why You Need Sermons That Don’t Directly Apply to You – Here are six good reasons.

A Strange Split in the UMC

A Strange Split in the UMC – “It is a church where significant parties have already abandoned basic Christian anthropology and an orthodox understanding of biblical authority.”

When Mentoring Gets Messy

When Mentoring Gets Messy – “Younger Christians will disappoint you. So will older ones. You will disappoint them, too. But if your mentoring relationships cause you to seek Jesus and his help, you’ve already succeeded.”

The Ten Commandments of the God of Consumerism

The Ten Commandments of the God of Consumerism – “Business can draw people into kingdom life, opening a door for them to join the gathered people of God who study his Word and live it out in their various callings.”

Sticking with Community in a ‘Gotta Go’ World

Sticking with Community in a ‘Gotta Go’ World – “Our digital technologies are increasingly subverting our understanding and experience of community, even as they disguise themselves as catalysts for connection.”

Our Busy Rushing Ends in Nothing

Our Busy Rushing Ends in Nothing – “May we remember what really matters, and Who matters the most.”

How Do You Define Evangelism?

How Do You Define Evangelism? – “Evangelism at its simplest is the telling of the gospel. But evangelism includes not just the telling.”

What Every Marriage Needs Most

What Every Marriage Needs Most – “The biggest investment that a wife or a husband can make in their spouse is the investment they make in their own souls.”

The Only Bible Reading Plan You Need

The Only Bible Reading Plan You Need – “Here are the five reasons I open my Bible.”

A Timeshare in Babylon

A Timeshare in Babylon – “Sexual sin is not a merely ‘personal sin’, a kind of foible of our personality, a misfiring of our biology, but it is a declaration of allegiance, it is the purchase of a timeshare in Babylon.

Facing Reality

Facing Reality – “I need help to see reality.  I need God and others around me to point out where I’ve engaged in self-deception or reality distortion. If left to myself, I am prone to imagine things differently than they really are.”

Stop Clinging to Confederate Currency

Stop Clinging to Confederate Currency – “For us to accumulate vast earthly treasures in the face of the inevitable future is equivalent to stockpiling Confederate money. It’s not just wrong. It’s stupid.”

What Was God Doing before Creation?

What Was God Doing before Creation? – “While we obviously cannot fully comprehend what God was doing ‘before’ creation, God did reveal some details about His pre-creation activity in Scripture. This helps us to understand His nature, as well as His relationship with and His plans for creation.”

The Long Obedience

The Long Obedience – This reflection on a lifetime of serving the Lord is a blessing and challenge.

Dads, Your Children Need Both Quality and Quantity Time with You

Dads, Your Children Need Both Quality and Quantity Time with You – Randy Alcorn has several good encouragements for fathers.

How to Survive the Scariest Passage in the Bible

How to Survive the Scariest Passage in the Bible – “Christians may disagree over what constitutes the scariest passage in the Bible. But most would agree Jesus’s concluding words in the Sermon on the Mount rank near the top.”

10 Things You Should Know about the Priesthood of Believers

10 Things You Should Know about the Priesthood of Believers – Ed Welch explains the priesthood of believers.

Stop That Steamroller! A Practical Application of Matthew 7:6

Stop That Steamroller! A Practical Application of Matthew 7:6 – “Knowing when to step back requires the ability to separate the dogs and the hogs from the lost sheep looking for a shepherd.”

Quoting Scripture Contrary to Its Purpose is Devilish

Quoting Scripture Contrary to Its Purpose is Devilish – This is a good reminder about the interpretation of scripture and ways it can be misunderstood if we take it out of context of the whole Bible.

The FAQs: United Methodists Propose a Plan to Split Their Denomination

The FAQs: United Methodists Propose a Plan to Split Their Denomination – Pray for our United Methodist churches and friends. The issues ultimately come down to the authority they embrace. Decisions come from answering the question, “Is the Bible the word of God or just a suggestion book?”

The Ancient Problem of Discontentment

The Ancient Problem of Discontentment – “Discontentment is a problem as old as time. God had created Adam and Eve in perfect relationship with himself and each other. They lived in a beautiful world, free to eat from any tree except one. But they wanted precisely what they didn’t have.”

Billy Graham, Prince Albert, and Two Lives Changed Forever

Billy Graham, Prince Albert, and Two Lives Changed Forever – This is a story that blesses and gives encouragement and hope in our Gospel efforts.

Why The Church?

Why The Church? – “Unchurched Christian” is not a biblical category. 

Your Church Needs You This Sunday: Two Prayers to Prepare for Worship

Your Church Needs You This Sunday: Two Prayers to Prepare for Worship – “For as long as Christians have gathered, there has been the temptation to habitually miss church.”

How Is God Present in Our Pain?

How Is God Present in Our Pain? – “In our pain we know God is not absent, but in our pain we also wonder whether God is present. Or perhaps more correctly we wonder how God is present.”

What a Zombie Ant and Sin Have in Common

What a Zombie Ant and Sin Have in Common – “Sin wants to own you. Sin doesn’t like to die, but it has no problem killing you. Sin will make it look like you, but that is not the real you. Not the fully alive, true you that God intends for you to be.”

The Foolishness of Pride

The Foolishness of Pride – “Pride makes us look foolish. Pride is the root sin behind so many other sins and spiritual dysfunctions.”

Humbly Coming Before Our Father: The Privilege of Christian Prayer

Humbly Coming Before Our Father: The Privilege of Christian Prayer – “Too often, we presume what our Father will not do for us or what our Father will not give us, and thus we never ask. We treat ourselves like orphans although God has made us sons.”

Forgetting What Is Behind?

Forgetting What Is Behind? – When is “looking back” beneficial to a believer or should we always be “forgetting what is behind”?

Gospel Fluency in a World of Improv

Gospel Fluency in a World of Improv – “What would it look like for you and I to take a step toward showing and sharing the gospel this new year?”

Resolve Yourself to the Local Church: How Community Spurs Spiritual Growth

Resolve Yourself to the Local Church: How Community Spurs Spiritual Growth – “If you want to know God more, pray more frequently, and serve God more faithfully, join a church and commit to God’s people. If you’re already a member of a local church but you’ve been living on the margins, perhaps this new year is your call to resolve afresh to fold your life more thoroughly into the life of the church.”

Say What No One Else Will

Say What No One Else Will – “When a man spends his brief existence as a remote-clicker, a couch-sitter, an unending joke-teller, when he starves his soul — that which he should not trade for the world (Mark 8:36) — on triviality, and wraps his affections around frivolity, he has become a shadow in a world that desperately needs men of great density.”

How to Mind Your Own Business When Everyone’s Sharing Theirs

How to Mind Your Own Business When Everyone’s Sharing Theirs – “Paul, in his letters to the Thessalonians, gives us divine guidance for a social-media age.”

What Should I Expect My First Time Through the Bible?

What Should I Expect My First Time Through the Bible? – “So what should you expect? Let me give you three negatives to scare you off, and nine positives to suck you back in.”

Fasting Isn’t for the Spiritually Elite. It’s for the Hurting

Fasting Isn’t for the Spiritually Elite. It’s for the Hurting – “Fasting is the kale of the spiritual disciplines. We know it’s good for us, but we don’t seek it out on the menu.”

2020 & Your Political Cage Match

2020 & Your Political Cage Match – “With a rambunctious year upon us, it’s of utmost importance that Christians walk with wisdom when it comes to political interactions.” 

Four Lies My Teachers Told Me

Four Lies My Teachers Told Me – “Even for us who follow Christ, these persuasive lies can be disorienting if we’re not prepared for them.”

Learning to Say “Amen”

Learning to Say “Amen” – “Do you know what helped me most to say “Amen” to the circumstances that were crushing and that I didn’t understand? Being in the Word and practicing saying “Amen!” to what the Scriptures say.”

True Friends Confront Sin

True Friends Confront Sin – “Jesus was a friend of sinners, but you never get the sense in the Gospels the Son of Man was overlooking their sin. People were drawn to Jesus not because he turned a blind eye to their iniquities, but because he brought grace and forgiveness to them.”

The Word of the Year

The Word of the Year – “We need more than what existentialism offers us. There is Truth. There is Reason. There is Purpose. His name is Jesus.” 

Unexpected Christian Heroes

Unexpected Christian Heroes – “As a leader of an international prison ministry, I hear stories every day of people inside prison and those released that many would consider unexpected heroes.” 

Neither Sin nor Death nor Elections Can Hinder God’s Work in 2020

Neither Sin nor Death nor Elections Can Hinder God’s Work in 2020 – “We’ll have plenty of hindrances next year, but none too great for God’s love and power to overcome.”

My Soul Faints for You: Pursuing Joy in Every Prayer

My Soul Faints for You: Pursuing Joy in Every Prayer – “The prayers of the Bible are very diverse and pursue joy in a wide variety of ways.”

12 Steps to Making Better Decisions in the 2020s

12 Steps to Making Better Decisions in the 2020s – “The decision-making process is circular: the decisions we make are not only determined by our worldview but they help to shape our worldview.” 

Why Bible Reading Can Be Such a Challenge

Why Bible Reading Can Be Such a Challenge – “All of us must confront the regular sins of laziness or lack of discipline, sins of the flesh, and of the pride of life. But there are additional pressures.”

Abortion Was Leading Cause of Death Worldwide in 2019

Abortion Was Leading Cause of Death Worldwide in 2019 – “Abortion was the number one cause of human death worldwide in 2019 by far, with over 42 million killed.”

Decade in Review: Marital Norms Erode

Decade in Review: Marital Norms Erode – “The transformation of our legal system as to marriage was rapid and top-down. Changes in law brought changes in culture, and they're not all rainbows.”

All You Need for Another Year

All You Need for Another Year – “If we sow bountifully, we will reap differently. And our God loves to fill (and refill) the cups of those who eagerly pursue him, and gladly pour themselves out for others.”

God Knows No Time

God Knows No Time – “So no matter how chaotic 2019 looked or how bleak 2020 is looking, your world is not out of control; no, it’s under careful rule. Right now, Jesus rules over all things for the sake of you, his child. This is where peace is to be found.”

Living Gospel-Seized Lives in 2020

Living Gospel-Seized Lives in 2020 – “Father, in response to these words you spoke through Jeremiah, hear our prayer for 2020. May it be a year filled with knowing you better, resting in your grace, and serving you faithfully.”

5 Reasons Matthew Begins with a Genealogy

5 Reasons Matthew Begins with a Genealogy – “Matthew’s genealogy has a past, a present, and future. In Jesus Christ we’re now brought into this family; Abraham and David become our fathers. It becomes our genealogy, our family tree.”