Fighting Fear and Anxiety

Fighting Fear and Anxiety – “The world is fearful and anxious, but it is fearful and anxious about the wrong things.”

The Bereans Had No Bibles: Re-envisioning Acts 17

The Bereans Had No Bibles: Re-envisioning Acts 17 – “We would all benefit from evaluating anew what it means to be a Berean. Three fundamental truths can help us form a more accurate conception.”

Helping a Child Through the First Faith Crisis

Helping a Child Through the First Faith Crisis “Nothing convinces a child of the reality of God and Jesus Christ like seeing the parents living out their faith.” 

A New Perspective on Friendship

A New Perspective on Friendship – “My tears flowed as I shared my deep sense of loneliness and isolation in this season of life.”

Cul-de-sacs or Conduits?

Cul-de-sacs or Conduits? – “Am I a cul-de-sac? Do I receive the blessings of God for my own benefit without passing them on? Do I hoard them for myself alone? Or am I a conduit of God’s blessing and love, spreading his blessing to others?”

Faithful in Every Fearful Change

Faithful in Every Fearful Change – “How do we remain steadfast when life, by nature, seems so inconstant and so impervious to our yearning to be still?”

Second-Hand Reality Check

Second-Hand Reality Check – “When times of self-examination reveal that I have placed too high a priority on earthly possessions, what’s the remedy? Jesus gives the answer.”

We Remember Needed Words At The Right Time

We Remember Needed Words At The Right Time – “God says exactly as much as we need through His Word. He brings it to our minds at the right time, and through it demonstrates His heart of love and compassion.”

More Than Seven Sons: How Ruth Teaches Us to Care for Our In-Laws

More Than Seven Sons: How Ruth Teaches Us to Care for Our In-Laws – “Ruth teaches us that godly, loyal love will compel us to care for our in-laws, or more broadly for our families.”

Looking for Your Role in God’s Kingdom? Start Here

Looking for Your Role in God’s Kingdom? Start Here – “There are four broad concepts that have helped steer the direction of my work and ministry. If you’re trying to find your role in serving the kingdom of God, remember these four things.”

Aiming Inside

Aiming Inside – “The thing that struck me as odd was that consistently when applying James’ wisdom to their lives, they aimed outside rather than inside. These are instructions given to the church, but their applications were always outside the church.”

Paul Was a New and Wiser Socrates (And How We Can Imitate Him)

Paul Was a New and Wiser Socrates (And How We Can Imitate Him) – “John Stott was right: ‘Paul was a kind of Christian Socrates, although with a better gospel than Socrates ever knew.’”

Doxology

Doxology – “Enjoy the journey as it is a gift from God, but remember: we were created for more.”

Distracting Ourselves to Death

Distracting Ourselves to Death – “We all tend to do this. Whether we search on our phones, in our careers, or in our family life, we seem to be looking for something. It is as if an eternal ache has been implanted in our hearts.”

Teachable

Teachable – “I spend most of my time teaching, but if there was one thing I wish I could teach people, it’s ‘teachability’! Teachability is a precious quality, that’s hard to cultivate.”

Burnt Cheese and Gospel Conversations

Burnt Cheese and Gospel Conversations – “God lovingly receives even our weakest efforts. He asks us to share his good news consistently and faithfully, through the ins and outs of our ordinary lives.”

Mothering Little Children with a Big God

Mothering Little Children with a Big God – “Soon after we welcomed our first baby home, I realized that mothering would require more of me than I could possibly give…During those early years, God used several truths to help me lean into his strength when my fatigue and fears threatened to overtake me.”

Difference Belongs at Home

Difference Belongs at Home – “In Christ, we belong to a body, not a bowling league. And God begins preparing us for that body through membership in the family.” 

When I Lived In A Barn

When I Lived In A Barn – “I do want to remember, and teach my own children, that being surrounded with fine things doesn’t make everything fine. They are just things.”

Help Someone Home to Heaven

Help Someone Home to Heaven – “The path of faith must not be journeyed alone. Perseverance is a community project. God intends each of us to protect others from apostasy. We can be tempted, however, toward shallow relationships.”

Suffering Calculus

Suffering Calculus – “In this world full of suffering, we are bound to conduct suffering calculus in our minds. The question is not whether or not we will make these comparisons but whether or not we will come to the right conclusions of compassion and courage or the false computation of competition.”

6 Christian Athletes to Watch in the Tokyo Olympics

6 Christian Athletes to Watch in the Tokyo Olympics – “If you’re looking for a few athletes in particular to cheer along, we recommend following these six Christ-following competitors.”

What Will We Do with Our Times?

What Will We Do with Our Times? – “We are given the present, and not given times past or future. The only challenges we can face, the only problems we can confront, the only difficulties we can overcome are the ones that meet us here and now.”

Stitch by Stitch

Stitch by Stitch – “It is God who mends, who heals; who brings ragged pieces together into a stronger whole. It is he who embroiders our lives, making our mended and mending places especially beautiful under His care.”

How the Good King Rules His Church

How the Good King Rules His Church – “In a world where we’re so often cynical about our leaders—whether political, business, or even church leadership—the fact that Jesus is our eternal, ascended, enthroned king is really good news because we can trust him.”

Confessing Our Hope

Confessing Our Hope – “Lord Jesus, because of who you are, and what you’ve done for us, not hoping is not an option.”

The FAQs: 3,400+ Christians Killed by Nigerian Jihadists in 2021

The FAQs: 3,400+ Christians Killed by Nigerian Jihadists in 2021 – “More than 3,400 Christians have been murdered in the past 200 days by Nigerian jihadists, according to a report by a Nigerian human-rights group. This is an average of 17 Christians in Nigeria being killed every day this year.”

Does Your Sin Affect Others?

Does Your Sin Affect Others? – “Sin is social. Its effect rarely stay confined to the sinner but spreads to and affects their close relations.” 

I’ve Searched For Identity

I’ve Searched For Identity – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, ESV)

God Above All Governments

God Above All Governments – “God is above all governments of men; the message we speak is more powerful to transform than any governmental philosophy or program, speech or law; and the Spirit in us grants amazing powers through normal means — sometimes extraordinary means — even in times of suffocating suppression through otherwise normal people who believe resolutely in God to accomplish his will in the hearts of men.”

Navigating “Compassion Fatigue” as We Enter a New School Year

Navigating “Compassion Fatigue” as We Enter a New School Year – While written for educators, the principles are true for many of us as we move into the fall season. There’s weariness everywhere. How do you continue to lead when you feel like leaving?

Fueling your Joy

Fueling your Joy – “The magi see Jesus and they rejoice. Wonderful! I would too. But they don’t, they rejoice exceedingly. OK, I’d like to think I would too? But in fact they don’t do that either, they rejoice exceedingly with great joy. When did I last react to Jesus with an overflow of joy so manifestly profound that it requires that level of superlative?”

Crisis

Crisis – “In the telling of his story, the psalmist goes back and forth. Between relief and alarm. Death and rescue. The way we often do. In the context of crisis.”

Lessons from London for a Divided American Church

Lessons from London for a Divided American Church – “In the American church it has become our recent practice to highlight secondary theological distinctives as our shared love for the gospel and biblical orthodoxy fades to the background.”

Sisters, the Gospel Is Everything

Sisters, the Gospel Is Everything – “The gospel is not just one more thing to schedule into your day planner or kitchen calendar. The gospel shapes everything about you—requiring you to come to God on his terms.”

Becoming Human at Home: Herman Bavinck on the Family

Becoming Human at Home: Herman Bavinck on the Family – “How should Christians think about the home in modern individualistic societies?”

No Family Is Too Busy for Church

No Family Is Too Busy for Church – “The church, however, is not the enemy of the Christian family, but its devoted ally and fullest destiny. Healthy families know how desperately they need the church, and they gladly build their lives around her, in order to serve, nurture, and love her.”

Joy and Idol-Smashing

Joy and Idol-Smashing – “Healthy, Christian marriages require a lot of idol-smashing. Being angry, being right, money, intimacy, parenting, miscommunication – there is no end to the ways we can idolize ourselves and what we want from our spouses.”

Christian Student Clubs Triumph Against Religious Discrimination

Christian Student Clubs Triumph Against Religious Discrimination – “Christian student clubs continue to prevail in court against the unjust religious discrimination of university officials.”

Battling Anger, Frustration, and Impatience

Battling Anger, Frustration, and Impatience – “Lately I’ve wondered if there’s a way to head that flare-up off at the pass.”

Doing Math to the Glory of God

Doing Math to the Glory of God – This answer to a child holds some good parenting tips and good discipleship direction for us all.

Even the Sparrow

Even the Sparrow – “If these tender creatures could find safe refuge for their offspring at the epicenter of the Temple, the place where the psalmist yearns and faints to be, what is keeping us from drawing near to God?”

How Forced Migration Built the Church of Antioch

How Forced Migration Built the Church of Antioch – “The most remarkable truth we learn, when we slow down and consider this passage and its background, is how forced migration helped to build the church of Antioch—and how God still uses it today.”

You Called? 4 Considerations When Discerning the Call to Ministry

You Called? 4 Considerations When Discerning the Call to Ministry – “There are 4 widely recognized aspects to the biblical call to a teaching ministry…”

Waiting on the Lord May Be the Hardest Thing We Are Asked To Do

Waiting on the Lord May Be the Hardest Thing We Are Asked To Do “Throw away your watch and your calendar, follower of Jesus.  You’re on heavenly time now and nothing happens on your schedule.”

What Should We Make of Unanswered Prayers?

What Should We Make of Unanswered Prayers? – “The Bible provides at least four possible answers.”

The Priority of Prayer

The Priority of Prayer – “Prayer should be as second nature as breathing. When we’re faithfully following the Lord, the command to ‘pray without ceasing’ should be at the forefront of our minds, not the back. We need to make prayer a priority.”

Help Someone Home to Heaven: How to Walk with the Wayward

Help Someone Home to Heaven: How to Walk with the Wayward – “Whether you are a man or a woman, we need help from fellow sign-holding saints to point us away from temptation and toward our heavenly home.” 

What Motivates Sin (and How to Fight It)

What Motivates Sin (and How to Fight It) – “It’s when you think you’re missing out on something good that you try to grab things God hasn’t given you in a way he hasn’t allowed.”

The Scariest Verse in the Bible

The Scariest Verse in the Bible – “Let me share with you the scariest, most terrifying verse, in all of the Bible for church leaders.” It’s a big one.

Why Does God Allow the Righteous to Suffer?

Why Does God Allow the Righteous to Suffer? – “Suffering is universal…If he is all-loving and all-powerful, why does God allow the righteous to suffer?”

The Comfort of Samson

The Comfort of Samson – “Judges is one of those books of the Bible that we tend to read at a distance. … And yet it provides some exquisite comfort to sinners like you and me (not to mention, some equally exquisite conviction to boot).”

The Humbling To-Do List

The Humbling To-Do List –  “An unfinished to-do list is the most stinging reminder of how frequently we fall short of even our least ambitious goals.”

Even to Your Old Age: New Life for Christian Grandparents

Even to Your Old Age: New Life for Christian Grandparents –  “The word grandparent does not even appear in the English Bible. Nevertheless, we know this role is essential to God, our extended families, and our local churches.”

The Touch

The Touch – “What a difference it would make in the world if we determined to be as constant as Jesus in reaching out with a helping, healing touch.”

The Loneliness of Being Different

The Loneliness of Being Different – “Our problem isn’t God’s failure to heal—it’s our expectation of what that healing should look like.”

A Spirituality of Quitting

A Spirituality of Quitting – “Think about the various times in the Bible that quitting, changing plans or giving something up, was required to faithfully walk with God.”

The ‘It’s Just a Movie’ Mistake

The ‘It’s Just a Movie’ Mistake – “I used to think everyone was wooed by the characters and qualities they admired onscreen. Turns out, many aren’t even aware of the ways movies subtly impress upon us visions of character, virtue, and vice.” 

 

A Man Among Men: Why Friendship Is Worth the Fight

A Man Among Men: Why Friendship Is Worth the Fight – Augustine said, “In this world two things are essential: life and friendship. Both should be highly prized and we must not undervalue them.”

Can Our Loved Ones in Heaven See Us During Important Times in Our Lives?

Can Our Loved Ones in Heaven See Us During Important Times in Our Lives? – There is much discussion on such topics that is less than sure but here are some interesting ideas.

Context Matters: In the World, but Not of the World

Context Matters: In the World, but Not of the World – “The context of words and phrases in the Bible always matters. Both parts of this little saying are located within Jesus’s prayer. How are they connected to his requests?”

Call it Racism, Not ‘White Supremacy’

Call it Racism, Not ‘White Supremacy’ –  “All variables equal, I think it’s a mistake for Christian social justice advocates to adopt the mainstream practice of talking about ‘white supremacy’ and ‘whiteness’ instead of sticking with ‘racism’.”

My Church, My People

My Church, My People – “It is in times like these that I wonder how people cope with tragedy without family or church to help share the load. We are created for community, to rejoice and to weep within the nurturing circle of mutual care.”

A Few Surprising Perspectives about Your Unchurched Neighbors

A Few Surprising Perspectives about Your Unchurched Neighbors – Recent research has some helpful notes about your neighbors and their views of engaging with spiritual things.

How Do You Respond To Loss?

How Do You Respond To Loss? – “The spiritual battle during times of suffering is fundamentally won or lost in how we interpret the things we are now suffering, not the suffering itself.”

Putting Flesh on the Bones of ‘Hope’

Putting Flesh on the Bones of ‘Hope’ – “When the Bible uses the word ‘hope,’ it’s in the context of a sure deliverance.”

When Nightmares Become Reality

When Nightmares Become Reality – “What does someone who loves God do when face-to-face with the nightmarish realities of life now? How should we react when the worst fear comes true: the abuse uncovered, the terminal diagnosis given, the relationship severed?”

Being Discerning and Being Critical Are Not the Same Thing

Being Discerning and Being Critical Are Not the Same Thing – “The discerning person will also discern what is good, right and true because that is their primary concern. The discerning person will have both good words and critical words to say.”

Seem or Be?

Seem or Be? – Too many people settle for “seeming” righteous or holy instead of “being” so.

No Matter Your Age, God’s Still Got a Mission for You

No Matter Your Age, God’s Still Got a Mission for You – “You will never reach the age when there is not a good work for you to do for God’s kingdom.”

Delivered by Affliction: How Trials Awaken Us to God

Delivered by Affliction: How Trials Awaken Us to God – “While God delivers the afflicted by their affliction, not everyone turns to God in pain, for both Satan and God have purposes in affliction.”

Individualism Goes Deep

Individualism Goes Deep – “We live in an age of individuals. Which doesn’t sound like it’s saying very much because we can’t imagine anything else.” We need each other as the church.

Gentle Confrontation

Gentle Confrontation – “Too many Christians are cowardly when it comes to the vital task of confrontation.” Yet, it must be with gentleness and humility born of love and care.

Exchanging Truth for a Lie: Image, Idolatry, and the People of God

Exchanging Truth for a Lie: Image, Idolatry, and the People of God – “Images will always be transformed into the object of their worship.”

Learning Church Commitment from Lucy Hutchinson

Learning Church Commitment from Lucy Hutchinson – Here are good reminders and challenges toward the value of Christian community.

The Illusion of Porn “Literacy”

The Illusion of Porn “Literacy” – “Contemporary progressivism faces a pressing dilemma. It must continue the sexual revolution’s legacy of free love and sex-positivity, but it must do so in a Pornhub age, in which maximal sexual liberty has produced not an egalitarian paradise but a brutal human marketplace. For elite liberals, pornography has always been the badge of liberation that wouldn’t stay pinned on quite right.”

Delighting in God’s Love and Faithfulness

Delighting in God’s Love and Faithfulness – “Such kindness moves us to repentance like nothing else. Such love compels us to worship you, and love others with more compassion and grace.”

Scepters, Crowns, Thrones

Scepters, Crowns, Thrones – “If there are scepters in God’s invisible kingdom, they are not grasped in clenched fists but joyfully surrendered to the true king. If there are crowns in God’s invisible kingdom, they are worn only so they can be removed to be thrown at his feet…”

Sin is Like a Snowball

Sin is Like a Snowball – “Sin is never content to remain small, and if it is allowed the space and time it will gain momentum and eventually morph into a giant ball of evil. The farther down the hill sin rolls, the harder it is to stop, and when it finally reaches the bottom we can’t quite believe what it has transformed itself into.”

Ambassadors of Heaven

Ambassadors of Heaven – “When you become a Christian, no matter your upbringing, nationality, race, culture, language, gender, or economic status… your primary identity is in Christ.”

How Much Media Is Too Much Media?

How Much Media Is Too Much Media? – “To be a real Christian in the days ahead will require a commitment to being more intentionally detached from the world’s patterns of entertainment.”

The Look

The Look – “Can you imagine? Peter had just denied Jesus for the third time. The rooster was crowing. Then, Jesus looked at Peter.”

More Literal Than Thou

More Literal Than Thou – “Most of us will continue to read the Bible in translation, so it’s important to keep a couple key truths in mind.”

God’s Dumb Children

God’s Dumb Children – This is a helpful reflection on Jonah and on us: “God’s spokesman could no longer speak to God. He had been struck with dumbness. And the reason for this is simple. Sin had stolen his voice in prayer.”

We the Screamers: Why Pro-Lifers Seem Obsessed with Abortion

We the Screamers: Why Pro-Lifers Seem Obsessed with Abortion – “How do you convey to people that abortion isn’t a cause so much as an emergency? How do you explain that this destruction is happening here, now, all around us?…It all sounds so melodramatic, so unreal—unless it is true.”

Friending Today, in Light of the Day

Friending Today, in Light of the Day – “Friends love in every season—even when life is messy, mercurial, or magnificent.”

The Treasure Slipping Silently Away

The Treasure Slipping Silently Away – “Time, one of the greatest of all our treasures, falls continually overboard, slipping silently away.”

What Does the Church Most Need Today?

What Does the Church Most Need Today? – “What does the church most need today? In answering this important but rather general question, Psalm 81 is uniquely important and helpful.”

The Pastor’s Pain Which Few Ever See

The Pastor’s Pain Which Few Ever See – “Novelists say no loose ends can ever be left dangling.  Readers want everything to come together. But reality hands us ten thousand loose ends.”

Single in a Church of Families

Single in a Church of Families – “Because of sin, misconceptions, and distortions, Christians — the married and unmarried alike — need to be reminded what the Scriptures teach about singleness in the new-covenant people of God.”

We Are Too Slow in Recognizing Our Own Sin

We Are Too Slow in Recognizing Our Own Sin – “We always tend to see the sins and shortcomings of other people more clearly than we see our own sin. As Jesus said, we are the kind of people who notice the speck in the eyes of others rather than the plank in our own eyes. It is hard to honestly assess our own spiritual condition.”

Husbands, 8 Admonitions to Love Your Wife

Husbands, 8 Admonitions to Love Your Wife – “What follows are eight admonitions to love our wives with respect to their various facets.”

3 Simple Reasons We Believe Misinformation

3 Simple Reasons We Believe Misinformation – “The young people who make up Gen Z are supposed to be smarter about this kind of stuff than their Boomer parents or grandparents, right? How are these internet curators and trend-setters getting duped themselves?”

Stay on Mission—Even in the Later Years

Stay on Mission—Even in the Later Years – “Length of days prepares us to help younger people see and trust God’s sovereign providence in their lives.”

9 Things You Should Know About Mainline Protestantism

9 Things You Should Know About Mainline Protestantism – “Who exactly are mainline Protestants? Here is what you should know about the faith tradition that once dominated the American religious landscape.”

We Are Both Ambassadors and Peacemakers

We Are Both Ambassadors and Peacemakers – “There are other identities we receive from God in Scripture, but few rival these two. The Bible’s narrative reinforces the invitation and necessity of living in these two roles.”

A Vision for Engaging Post-Christian Culture

A Vision for Engaging Post-Christian Culture – “Everybody worships, because you gotta serve somebody.”

God Doesn’t Get Tired Of Answering Prayer

God Doesn’t Get Tired Of Answering Prayer – “I may get tired of being needy, but God doesn’t get tired of providing for his children. I may get tired of always asking, but God doesn’t get tired of answering his children.”

False Worship and the World

False Worship and the World – “Don’t be a ‘person of faith.’ It’s a meaningless statement, like saying ‘I like food’ or ‘I like to sleep.’ Be a person who admits he doesn’t know what he believes, or a devout Buddhist or Muslim. Then, at least, you stand in well-defined ignorance or false worship.”

The Real Difference Between Sheep and Goats

The Real Difference Between Sheep and Goats – “There is nothing quite as disheartening, dishonest, and disorienting as a professing Christian who does not love others.”

What Nature Can (and Should) Teach Kids About God

What Nature Can (and Should) Teach Kids About God – “Nature can, and should, teach kids about God. For looking to nature, and then to the Bible, to learn something new about God equips children (and adults) to find joy in the world God has made and in the grand task of making Him known to the world.”

Returning to ‘Normal’: The Gift of Harmonious Living

Returning to ‘Normal’: The Gift of Harmonious Living – “Why is this unity both good and good for us? Why should we be so intentional about community and unity in our local churches?”

The Narrowest Religion in the World

The Narrowest Religion in the World – “The Christian religion is at once the broadest and the narrowest in the world. It is a faith that admits every possible kind of person. But it admits them in only one way.”

Nurture

Nurture – “They are in the nursery. In the classroom. While we work and worship, they care for our children in back rooms and church basements, sharing the love of Jesus with those in their care.”

In Jesus’ Name

In Jesus’ Name – Here is a well-stated prayer for a Wednesday morning.

Making the Christian Life More Complicated Than It Needs To Be

Making the Christian Life More Complicated Than It Needs To Be – “There is no circumstance in which God has nothing for us to do, no situation in which we cannot be faithful to his calling on our lives.”

Walking to Death: Isaac and Jesus

Walking to Death: Isaac and Jesus – “How beautifully and intricately the Old Testament prefigures Christ.”

A Safe Place for Sinners to Change: Six Marks of Gospel Presence

A Safe Place for Sinners to Change: Six Marks of Gospel Presence – “Gospel presence aims to communicate both that God is for you, and that your sin is not welcome.”

Speak Only What Is Good to Give Grace

Speak Only What Is Good to Give Grace – “On any number of issues, consider how many words people have deployed to divide rather than reconcile, to hurt rather than heal, to demean rather than lift up.”

When the Troubles of My Heart Are Enlarged

When the Troubles of My Heart Are Enlarged – “We may not be able to identify with the reason David felt desperate, but we sure can identify with desperation. And as we pray in our desperate situations, what are we asking God for? Is there a deeper reason than just our desired outcome?”

Finding Hope When You’ve Made Mistakes with Your Children

Finding Hope When You’ve Made Mistakes with Your Children – “If we could be all they need, they wouldn’t need Jesus.”

How Do I Find Strength to Endure at Work?

How Do I Find Strength to Endure at Work? – “Christians have access to several resources that those who do not know Christ just do not have.”

Nurturing Gospel Encouragement in Suffering

Nurturing Gospel Encouragement in Suffering – “Jesus told us to expect hardship, persecution, and sorrow. In this article we are challenged to ‘embrace suffering in three ways—as a tag, a target, and a tool.’”

You Will Fail Sometimes. Don’t Quit.

You Will Fail Sometimes. Don’t Quit. – “Living the Christian life has to be an honest endeavor. One where we admit that we stink at some of the things we’re supposed to be good at. One where we ask God to examine us, to show us our true struggles, to change us by His power.”

Let’s Stop the Racial Insanity

Let’s Stop the Racial Insanity – “If we stop talking past each other and instead start talking to each other, we might be able to devise solutions that are accepted across the racial and political spectrum.”

A Biblical Theology of Pleasure

A Biblical Theology of Pleasure – “Those who serve well and suffer much need to know God created pleasure and wants them to enjoy it.”

Why “Abba” Does Not Mean “Daddy”

Why “Abba” Does Not Mean “Daddy” – It’s popular to say in Christian circles but doesn’t quite carry the meaning many think.

We’ll Never Over-Do These Three

We’ll Never Over-Do These Three – “We pray the rest of our lives will be consumed, not with plate-spinning, but with these three abiding realities: Faith, Hope, and Love.”

How Would You Summarize the Old Testament in 2,000 Words?

How Would You Summarize the Old Testament in 2,000 Words? – “Tom Schreiner provides a good summary of the entire Old Testament storyline.”

12 Strange Foods Brought to Church Potlucks

12 Strange Foods Brought to Church Potlucks – This was interesting as we begin the week.

Remembering How God Has Led

Remembering How God Has Led – “It’s not the drama of one’s initial testimony that determines what kind of Christian life we have: it’s simple faith, not in our faith, but in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.”

What Are Justification and Sanctification?

What Are Justification and Sanctification? – “Christ has won both justification and sanctification for His people. Both graces are the concern of faith in Jesus Christ, but in different ways.”

Dusting When the Light Is Dim

Dusting When the Light Is Dim – “It is only later, when we have received much more significant light, that we are enabled to see more, to see how deep our sin goes, to see how tightly it clings, to see how much remains.”

A Place to Eat, Sleep, and Watch: Emptiness in the Modern Household

A Place to Eat, Sleep, and Watch: Emptiness in the Modern Household – “New purpose can invigorate the Christian family to address the fact that perhaps the pandemic didn’t so much create a childcare crisis as expose a household one and gave us a fresh opportunity to find solutions.” 

Does the Bible Say I Am Unique?

Does the Bible Say I Am Unique? – “You are not random. You are not a sample of humanity. You are you by God’s creating and providential design.”

Critical Race Theory: Plundering the Egyptians or Worshiping Ba’al?

Critical Race Theory: Plundering the Egyptians or Worshiping Ba’al? – “Yet precisely because CRT’s narrative conflicts with scripture’s overarching narrative, we should reject any temptation to buy into it as a system of thought.”

We Probably Need to Stop Saying ‘Prayer Works’

We Probably Need to Stop Saying ‘Prayer Works’ – “Can you see the problem? ‘Prayer works’ reduces the entire value of prayer to its efficacy as we judge it. I need healing from my illness, no problem, prayer works! But the minute prayer doesn’t seem to work, well, prayer becomes useless to me. It has stopped working and that was the entire point wasn’t it?”

Christians Need More Intergenerational Friendships

Christians Need More Intergenerational Friendships – “Forty percent of the students said that guidance from a more mature Christian in their life (mentor, pastor, chaplain, campus minister) has been one of the most helpful components of cultivating Christian faith while in college.”

The Essence of Ministry

The Essence of Ministry – “What is most essential to your life? What is your focus? Or what do you wish filled your time?” 

Christians Create in Response to Creation

Christians Create in Response to Creation – “Christians are derivative creators who can express themselves artistically in response to God’s creation and using raw material from God’s creation.” The rest of the world does this too, they just don’t realize it.

Moms and Dads: Show Your Need

Moms and Dads: Show Your Need – “I wish I would’ve shown my kids my need for Christ more. I worked so hard to show them my godliness that I didn’t show them my need. I should have been more transparent. I should have shown them just how much I needed Jesus.”

An Inexpressible Gift

An Inexpressible Gift – “Inexpressible? Paul certainly spent a lot of time expressing the gospel! So what did he mean?”

The Contagious Sin of Cynicism

The Contagious Sin of Cynicism – “Cynicism today, as at any time, contradicts the three vital signs of Christianity according to Paul: faith in Jesus Christ, love for all the saints, and hope as we await the return of Christ..”

Look! God Is in Ordinary Stuff

Look! God Is in Ordinary Stuff – “If we look closely, every created thing can proclaim the character of God.”

Does Your Prayer Life Need to Change?

Does Your Prayer Life Need to Change? – “I would like to provide here a list of different methods of prayer that could help some who are struggling maintain a better prayer life.”

Why Does Hell Exist?

Why Does Hell Exist? – “Is such punishment too extreme? Does my selfishness or pride really deserve such treatment? How can God be loving and send someone to hell?”

It Is OK for Christians to Not Be Happy All the Time

It Is OK for Christians to Not Be Happy All the Time – “Life is sometimes hard. We will sometimes feel like it is all too much. On those days, come to God through Jesus. Pray and tell him how you feel.” 

Turn Your Eyes

Turn Your Eyes – “Do you need a reminder today in your everyday living? To turn your eyes upon Him?”

Does God Give Us More than We Can Handle?

Does God Give Us More than We Can Handle? – The clear and short answer is “yes”.

For Those with Little Faith

For Those with Little Faith – “‘O you of little faith…’ The words run through the Gospel of Matthew as a kind of refrain, reminding us of the disciples’ wavering trust. And perhaps of our own. Four times, we hear this rebuke cushioned with tenderness, this tenderness steeled with rebuke.”

Worthy of It All: Heaven’s Praise for the Lamblike Lion

Worthy of It All: Heaven’s Praise for the Lamblike Lion – “Not only is Jesus the regal Lion, the long-anticipated ruler arising from the royal tribe of Judah, with the strength and power of heaven itself, but he is also the gentle, lowly, self-giving Lamb, who gladly lays down his own life that his people might live.”

See Glory, Be Glorious: How Our Holiness Honors God

See Glory, Be Glorious: How Our Holiness Honors God – “The glory of God is God’s ultimate purpose in all he does, including the sanctification of his people.”

Why Comfortable Christians Go Prayerless

Why Comfortable Christians Go Prayerless – “There is a peacetime casualness in the church, a casualness about spiritual things. There are no bombs falling in their lives, no bullets whizzing overhead, no mines to be avoided, no roars on the horizon. It’s all well in America, the Disneyland of the universe. Why pray?”

How Did Our Culture Get Here? We Neglected God’s Holiness.

How Did Our Culture Get Here? We Neglected God’s Holiness. – “The diminishing of God leaves people without external, objective morality. And as moral standards go, so does a clear sense of guilt over wrongdoing. In its place has arisen shame and anxiety—internal, subjective indicators of wellbeing.”

Hoping and Groaning Well

Hoping and Groaning Well – “Dear Father, the pressure is off. We don’t claim these promises; they claim us. We don’t have to fear anything—dying or living, global turmoil or local chaos, what people think of us or what Satan throws at us. We’re not naïve, we’re yours.”

On the Longing to be Seen, Heard, and Known

On the Longing to be Seen, Heard, and Known – “The desire to be seen, heard, and known is universal. We all want to feel significant, worthy of attention, and validated by others. It’s painful to feel ignored, anonymous, or irrelevant.”

Reading and Talking about Sexuality

Reading and Talking about Sexuality – If you are looking for resources on sexuality for kids and teens, here’s a place to start.

Why Biblical Literacy Isn’t Our Biggest Problem

Why Biblical Literacy Isn’t Our Biggest Problem – “The key issue is not primarily one of the head but of the heart. It’s not that we don’t know what the Bible tells us but that we (and I absolutely include myself) know what it tells us but don’t do it.”

Celebrating Independence Day

Celebrating Independence Day – “On July 4, we, who live in the United States of America, celebrated our national holiday—Independence Day. It might sound rousing for a country and its history, but here’s the spiritual reality for human beings: bad things happen when we attempt to live independently.”

Someone Needs Your Encouragement

Someone Needs Your Encouragement – “True encouragement is not about making others feel better about themselves, but preparing them to know, obey, and enjoy more of God.”

How to Tame Your Tongue

How to Tame Your Tongue – “Taming is a process by which a wild beast is subdued into adapting and submitting to human control. Which beast is the hardest to tame? Zebras? Sharks? House cats? According to Scripture, it the human tongue.”

Disciple Making Movements

Disciple Making Movements – “Disciple-making movements have served as a helpful corrective to the traditional missiological model by highlighting the importance prayer and seeking ways to limit barriers to the Gospel in the hardest mission fields.” 

One Surprising Reason for Pain

One Surprising Reason for Pain – “Why do we have a world like this? Why so much pain? Why so much conflict? Why so much suffering? Why so much gas? It is a horrible place. It is a conveyor belt of corpses. Millions of people right now are weeping their eyes out over the sorrows in their lives, as we speak. Why such a world?”

What Does It Mean that Jesus Is Prophet, Priest, and King?

What Does It Mean that Jesus Is Prophet, Priest, and King? – “Theologians down the centuries have often spoken of Jesus’s threefold office. Jesus has one office, that of Messiah or Christ. He is the anointed one, the one mediator between God and man, the Savior. But this office has three aspects to it: those of prophet, priest, and king.”

Only Evangelicals can go to Heaven

Only Evangelicals can go to Heaven – The term “evangelical” has been highjacked by others but the true Gospel is from God and its definition is clear.

His Gracious Words

His Gracious Words – “Can you imagine hearing Jesus read and preach the Scriptures? It would be a sight to behold: the Word incarnate proclaiming the written Word–which proclaims him!” 

Jonah and the Justice of the Cross

Jonah and the Justice of the Cross – “Imagine for a moment if God treated us the way we often wish he’d treat others. Imagine if God treated us the way wetreat others. We’d be in real trouble, wouldn’t we?”

The Difference Between Harsh and Foul Language

The Difference Between Harsh and Foul Language – “Just because Jesus used harsh language doesn’t give you the liberty to use foul language. Bottom line: we must do a heart check when it comes to using strong language. What is our motive behind doing so?”

Do Angels Walk Among Us Today?

Do Angels Walk Among Us Today? – ““The Christian life should be a hundred times more oriented on Christ than on angels.”

How Exercise Serves the Christian Life

How Exercise Serves the Christian Life – “Contrary to any assumption that life in Christ is lived mainly in living rooms and coffee shops, you don’t get the impression early Christians were sitting around all the time.”

5 Ways to Benefit from the Lord’s Supper

5 Ways to Benefit from the Lord’s Supper – “Here are five ways you can enter more fully into the Lord’s Supper.”

Our Declaration of Dependence

Our Declaration of Dependence – Here’s a good prayer for “independence day”.

Lord, Spare Our Land: How Revival Begins in America

Lord, Spare Our Land: How Revival Begins in America – “Isn’t it amazing that God orchestrates his world, including the rise and fall of nations, with such a consideration for his people? The Christian church, even when abused or ignored, is the backbone of any land.”

 

A Parent’s Prayer for an Unbelieving Child

A Parent’s Prayer for an Unbelieving Child – “This prayer is from the volume dedicated to prayers for young adults and asks the Lord to save an unbelieving child.”

 

If There is No Hell

If There is No Hell – Here are ten responses for anyone saying “I don’t believe in hell.”

Ten Questions To Diagnose Your Spiritual Health

Ten Questions To Diagnose Your Spiritual Health – The questions are addressed in a new book but here is the helpful list.

When Jesus Doesn’t Seem Gentle: Admiring the Toughness of Christ

When Jesus Doesn’t Seem Gentle: Admiring the Toughness of Christ – “The tough side of Christ, the words and acts hardest on modern stomachs, is not instead of his tenderness, but in service of his mercy. He doesn’t rescue us to rough us up; he roughs us up to rescue us.”

The Depressing Dead End of ‘Your Truth’

The Depressing Dead End of ‘Your Truth’ – “In her lifetime-achievement-award acceptance speech at the 2018 Golden Globes, Oprah Winfrey said, “What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.”

God, Make Me a Force for Good

God, Make Me a Force for Good – “If you are a follower of Christ, God intends for you to be a force for good in this world. He intends for you not only to rejoice in Jesus’s good work for you, but to be a force yourself for amazing good in your various spheres of life.”

What the Bible Teaches About Sadness and Joy

What the Bible Teaches About Sadness and Joy – “No matter how dark the world around us gets, no matter how interesting our era becomes, true joy is found in looking to Christ. Therein we can laugh well and laugh often.”

Critical Race Theory: Civil Rights Upside Down

Critical Race Theory: Civil Rights Upside Down – Greg Koukl writes about CRT saying it’s “not so much a critique of CRT as it is a clarification of its basic elements, a comparison between it and the ethics of the civil rights movement of the ’60s, and a caution regarding its totalitarian tendencies.”

The Word of God in the Quiet Voice

The Word of God in the Quiet Voice – “We think we need a miracle to confirm God’s presence. We don’t. We need to slow down and listen.”

Can I Follow My New Heart?

Can I Follow My New Heart? – “How might we summarize the complex picture the Bible paints of the born-again experience in this already-not-yet age?”

The Turning Tide of Intellectual Atheism

The Turning Tide of Intellectual Atheism – G.K. Chesterton wrote in The Everlasting Man. “Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a God who knew the way out of the grave.”

The Draw of Worldly Christianity

The Draw of Worldly Christianity – “We all feel pressure to pursue peace with God, whether that means reasoning away His existence or seeking to appease whatever version of Him we think exists. That’s part of the issue with the new prosperity gospel.”

How Is the Least in the Kingdom Greater Than John the Baptist?

How Is the Least in the Kingdom Greater Than John the Baptist? – “So how can John possibly be ranked lower than the least in the kingdom? What was he missing that we’ve been given? One hint is found in the immediate context.”