Visualized: The World’s Population at 8 Billion

Visualized: The World’s Population at 8 Billion – This chart helps visualize the distribution of population. “At some point in late 2022, the eight billionth human being will enter the world, ushering in a new milestone for humanity. In just 48 years, the world population has doubled in size, jumping from four to eight billion.”

Don’t Worry, Be Thankful

Don’t Worry, Be Thankful – “Worry is a choice. We don’t think of it that way, of course. To us, worry is just what happens when you’ve got a lot on your mind, but the scriptures insist that worry is a choice that we’re making.”

Fathering Future Men: Twelve Lessons from Four Decades

Fathering Future Men: Twelve Lessons from Four Decades – “In today’s climate of male-and-female confusion, how can we raise sons into men who escape becoming fragile or soft or lazy or endlessly distracted.”

How Do I See the Glory of Christ?

How Do I See the Glory of Christ? – “As much as it lies within you, renounce your love affair with the glory that comes from people.”

Prayer in the Ruins

Prayer in the Ruins – Psalm 137 is troubled reading for most today. How are we to make sense of violent prayer it includes?

The Good News of Great Joy

The Good News of Great Joy – “These phrases the Bible uses – new birth, life from death, sight to the blind – all describe the reality that everything from now on will be different as we live life in light of this glorious, good news.”

 

3 Reasons Why It’s Actually Good News That Hell is Real

3 Reasons Why It’s Actually Good News That Hell is Real – “Hell is real whether or not we want to admit it is. But frightening as it is, the reality of hell is actually good news.”

Died: Brother Andrew, Who Smuggled Bibles into Communist Countries

Died: Brother Andrew, Who Smuggled Bibles into Communist Countries – “Anne van der Bijl, a Dutch evangelical known to Christians worldwide as Brother Andrew, the man who smuggled Bibles into closed Communist countries, has died at the age of 94.”

What Is the Lord’s Supper?

What Is the Lord’s Supper? – “The Lord’s Supper has never been a meal that goes down easy.”

Four Leading Indicators of Small Groups That Make Disciples

Four Leading Indicators of Small Groups That Make Disciples – Here’s good list of indicators.

The Local Church Is Your Spiritual Gifts Test

The Local Church Is Your Spiritual Gifts Test – “Take all the paper exams you want; but until you finally commit yourself to a body of believers, you will never know how God has gifted you to serve them.”

 

Sovereign Sparrows and Fantastic Fish

Sovereign Sparrows and Fantastic Fish – “In America alone, 13.7 million birds fall to the ground each day. That’s five billion dead birds a year in just one country. It’s a morbid number, but Jesus—the Author of life—declares that not a single bird falls without God’s involvement. What a picture of the detailed intensity of God’s sovereign governance over his creation.”

 

Our Understanding of Earth and Our Assumptions of Heaven

Our Understanding of Earth and Our Assumptions of Heaven – “We are all guilty of importing our understanding of how things work here to how they will work there. We look at the world we know and extrapolate to the one we don’t.”

Finding Courage and Resolve When a Line In the Sand Demands It

Finding Courage and Resolve When a Line In the Sand Demands It – “Sometimes lines happen between good and evil, right and wrong. Oftentimes those lines in the sand reveal who or what we worship.”

What Happens to Us When We Die?

What Happens to Us When We Die? – “Dead people don’t come back and tell us what they’ve experienced. But we can know some things based on the Bible’s explanations. We don’t just disappear after we die. We live on in another location.”

 

Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt

Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt – “French scholar Jean-François Champollion announced his decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs on September 27, 1822.”

Help! I’m Scared to Pray in a Group

Help! I’m Scared to Pray in a Group – How can we overcome these insecurities?”

My Only Comfort

My Only Comfort – “Life is good, but it is not easy.”

Progressive Views on Sexuality Will Ultimately Fail

Progressive Views on Sexuality Will Ultimately Fail – “The traditional view of marriage and sexuality is the standard of the church’s teaching. There’s to be no deviation.”

A Savior Who Knows What It Is to Weep

A Savior Who Knows What It Is to Weep – “God is always intimately involved in the grief of His people.”

Why Do Christians Make Such a Big Deal about Sex?

Why Do Christians Make Such a Big Deal about Sex? – “Whenever people ask me why Christians are so weird about sex, I first point out that we’re weirder than they think.”

Christian, Don’t Grow Cold

Christian, Don’t Grow Cold – “It’s an unmistakable truth: sin makes our hearts grow cold. It doesn’t happen at once, though. The process is gradual as we remove ourselves from fellowship with other believers and our heavenly Father.”

Are You Looking Forward to the Earth’s Redemption?

Are You Looking Forward to the Earth’s Redemption? – “As the entire creation, including animals and plants and nature itself, fell on humanity’s coat-tails, so the entire creation shall rise on our coat-tails, the beneficiary of Christ’s redemptive work and resurrection. As creation wasn’t only about us, so redemption is not only about us.”

Idolatry is Futility

Idolatry is Futility – “None of us is immune from bowing before the idols of our dreams and desires before “the idols of our wandering hearts. None of us can forever resist the allure of our illicit longings, of finding hope in mere riches, of finding meaning in mere accolades. In one way or another we are all prone to idolatry.”

How to Live Fearlessly

How to Live Fearlessly – “When you dread distrusting Christ more than you dread your enemies, he will be a hope-filled sanctuary for you.”

Feast of Trumpets: How Rosh Hashana Prepares Us to Meet God

Feast of Trumpets: How Rosh Hashana Prepares Us to Meet God – “From Noah building the ark to Moses walking the wilderness, God frequently prompts his people to stop and prepare for what’s to come. This is the function of the little-known Feast of Trumpets.”

When Spiritual Routines Get Boring

When Spiritual Routines Get Boring – “How can we help our spiritual practices not to become so routine that we move through them on autopilot?”

 

We Have No Secrets… and What To Do with that Terrifying Reality

We Have No Secrets… and What To Do with that Terrifying Reality – “There are no secrets with God. Confession, for us now as it was then, is not informational in nature. That is, for most of us, a terrifying reality because all of us like to think we have secrets.”

Prioritizing Evangelism

Prioritizing Evangelism – “Many Christians behave like the Jews. They keep Jesus to themselves. They want to keep the gospel within their tribe, so they hide it, willingly or unwillingly, from sections of society they either fear or don’t understand.”

God Wants You to Be a Burden

God Wants You to Be a Burden – “Burden bearing draws us together and grows our love. It’s one of the many ways Jesus grows his church. Find ways to share your burdens and to carry the burdens of others—and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Be Angry and Do Not Sin

Be Angry and Do Not Sin – “The problem is that we are happy to exploit what seems to be a legal loophole. Anger, in its very nature, is self-justifying. My anger is righteous; your anger is not.”

 

When You Can’t Meet Every Need

When You Can’t Meet Every Need – “‘I can’t meet all of their needs, but I can meet this one.'”

Pastor David Platt Warns Only Hell Awaits the Unreached

Pastor David Platt Warns Only Hell Awaits the Unreached – “Innocent People Don’t Exist”

Uprooting Bitterness

Uprooting Bitterness – “Bitterness was taking root, confirming to me that their sin was greater than mine.” 

Is God a Bully? (Some People Think So)

Is God a Bully? (Some People Think So) – “Does the Bible talk about God’s wrath? Yes. But does this mean God is a wrathful being looking to seek and destroy anything that comes in his way? Nope.”

Parents, Just Go to Church

Parents, Just Go to Church – “If you can only choose one discipline, go to church. Make attending corporate worship the top priority for your family.”

There Are no Slippery Slopes in the Bible

There Are no Slippery Slopes in the Bible – “There is a significant difference between seeking to understand God’s word and seeking to undermine God’s word. Undermining God’s word is dangerous. Understanding God’s word is life-giving and powerful.”

 

How Can Reading God’s Word Promote Lasting Happiness?

How Can Reading God’s Word Promote Lasting Happiness? – “Our happiness is proportionate to our investment in studying God’s Word. My conversion to Christ didn’t just make me a better person; it made me a happier person.”

5 Truths the Church Needs to Realize About Suicide

5 Truths the Church Needs to Realize About Suicide – “Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S. and, in 2020, was responsible for the loss of 45,979 Americans.”

Jesus Wept: The Big Hope in the Shortest Verse

Jesus Wept: The Big Hope in the Shortest Verse – “It’s the shortest verse in the entire Bible. Only two, small words. And yet there is a boatload of hope packed inside of them.”

Global Professionals Can Reach the World for Christ

Global Professionals Can Reach the World for Christ – “Developing a career overseas and being an ambassador for Christ aren’t mutually exclusive goals. This is the exciting frontier of marketplace missions.”

Remember: Actively Reflecting on the Goodness of God

Remember: Actively Reflecting on the Goodness of God – “Here Moses is, having remembered how God has remained faithful, trying to remind the Israelites that God is in control of the situation.”

Our Children Need to See Weakness

Our Children Need to See Weakness – “My dependence and limitations have become my greatest strengths because they push me to pray before I answer or act. When I could easily do what my children asked, I didn’t seek God’s wisdom or help.”

We Need a Revival of the Bible–500 Years Ago Today Martin Luther’s German Translation Was Published

We Need a Revival of the Bible–500 Years Ago Today Martin Luther’s German Translation Was Published – “Luther risked his life to make the Scriptures available to the German people in words they would easily understand.”

Beware the Habits of Controversy

Beware the Habits of Controversy – “Writing fifty years ago, Francis Schaeffer made a plea for Christians to watch out for the danger of settling into habits which were formed in times of controversy.”

The Grain of Truth Grows Slowly

The Grain of Truth Grows Slowly – “To become who God is making us takes time and trust.”

Thoughts on Studying Revelation

Thoughts on Studying Revelation – “The book of Revelation is meant to vividly appeal to the reader or hearer’s imagination but one’s imagination is to be constrained by what the text actually says and means.”

Am I Called to Ministry?

Am I Called to Ministry? – Here are five tests to help measure calling to ministry and missions.

Circles of Sovereignty

Circles of Sovereignty – “How could the one who declares himself to be perfect, wise, good, and loving in every way also be in absolute control of the universe and let all of this happen on his watch?”

Trusting in the Absence of Peace

Trusting in the Absence of Peace – “What if trust is not trying so hard to get rid of the anxiety, but running to Jesus in the midst of it?”

Age with Joy

Age with Joy – “As we observe our outer selves wasting away, we should not despair, nor long for the past, but with gratitude recognize the gift of the present the Lord has brought us to, and eagerly anticipate our future with him.”

Seek God’s Face Before You Seek His Hand

Seek God’s Face Before You Seek His Hand – “To seek God‘s face is to seek his character, truth, and presence, whereas to seek his hand, is to seek his provision and circumstantial answers to our prayers, desires, fears, longings, and struggles.”

What Is God’s Highest Calling?

What Is God’s Highest Calling? – “What is God’s highest calling? No one profession or ministry. God’s highest calling for each person is to surrender themselves to Him for whatever He asks. He has a place and purpose for each of us.”

The Gospel That Rewrites Us

The Gospel That Rewrites Us – “For us to know why the gospel matters, we need to know why we need to be redeemed. Jesus can’t be a great Savior unless there is something terrible for us to be saved from, and something great for us to be saved for.”

2022 Results Now Available: The State of Theology

2022 Results Now Available: The State of Theology – The information takes a little practice to navigate but the results are typical of what we see in North Texas.

How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament–Step 11: Systematic Theology

How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament–Step 11: Systematic Theology - “Approaching the Bible’s doctrines is no light matter, for we are seeking to grasp all that God has revealed in Scripture on a given topic. I propose the following approach to the study of systematic theology.” The discussion of a “theological triage” is helpful.

Take Joy in the God of Your Salvation

Take Joy in the God of Your Salvation – “Habakkuk 3 is a musical prayer with one simple message: God is fully trustworthy and unlimited in power and is, therefore, our only hope. It’s an example of how “the righteous shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4), especially when we don’t understand God’s ways.”

Americans’ Theological Beliefs Changed To Suit Post-Pandemic Practice

Lifeway Research: Americans’ Theological Beliefs Changed To Suit Post-Pandemic Practice – “The biennial State of Theology study conducted by Lifeway Research found relative stability in some of the religious and cultural beliefs U.S. adults hold. After months of quarantines and social distancing, however, Americans increasingly believe worshiping apart from a church is as good as attending church services.”

Will You Be Good at Your Thing Today?

Will You Be Good at Your Thing Today? – “Whatever you do today, do it well.”

God’s Unseen Intervention

God’s Unseen Intervention – “Though I can’t prove it, I’m convinced God prevents far more evil than He allows. When His people are discouraged, God says that He can no more forget us and fail to have compassion than a mother could fail her own child.”

Emerging From Our Trials Unscathed

Emerging From Our Trials Unscathed – “Our trials should make us better, not worse. They should strengthen our character, not diminish it. They should grow our virtues, and amplify our Godward desires, and more prominently display the fruit of the Spirit.”

The Gospel of Cancel Culture

The Gospel of Cancel Culture – “Cancel culture seeks to destroy sin, but in the process, it destroys people.”

Why Difficult Conversations Are Getting More Difficult

Why Difficult Conversations Are Getting More Difficult – “In this climate, to have what we may call a difficult conversation – where someone is challenged about their beliefs, choices, or actions – feels as if it is going to be majorly problematic.”

“What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?”

“What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?” – “Dear Jesus, bruised reeds, flickering candles, and broken hearts love it when you come near (Isa. 42:3; Matt. 12:20). You are full empathy, compassion, and healing grace.” 

57 Songs About Heaven

57 Songs About Heaven – “Ironically, we’re most productive and satisfied when we see ourselves as pilgrims here, with heaven our true and permanent home. This perspective also provides ballast and endurance in seasons of suffering or contexts of oppression.”

Failure Need Not Be Final

Failure Need Not Be Final – “How did Peter come to believe this grace-truth that failure isn’t final, that a failed Christian isn’t a finished Christian?”

We Are Not Disposable

We Are Not Disposable – “When the technology that literally connects us to our work, our relationships, our art, even our health, is intended to be disposable after only a few years, how could we not internalize the values of disposability? How could we not become shaped by it?”

Good Theological Questions: What Are Reasons for God’s Existence?

Good Theological Questions: What Are Reasons for God’s Existence? – Here are some concise answers to this big question many ask.

 

Parenting Adult Children

Parenting Adult Children – Parenting is for a lifetime. This phase, as every other, comes with unique challenges.

Missionary Job Description: Feel Awkward

Missionary Job Description: Feel Awkward – “A friend of mine once said that the main job description of a missionary is to feel awkward. You feel awkward in your host country. Then you go home and feel awkward, too.” Pray for your missionary friends.

Help! I Messed Up with My Kids’ Technology

Help! I Messed Up with My Kids’ Technology – God’s mercies are new every morning. Here are some steps you can take.”

The Irresistable Power of Small Group Prayer

The Irresistable Power of Small Group Prayer – “The number one thing responders cited as to why they love their group, by a long shot, was the power of small group prayer.”

Women Who Foreshadow Christ

Women Who Foreshadow Christ – “If we’re willing to see that an inanimate object like the tabernacle foreshadows Jesus’s ministry, surely we can see that women created in God’s image do as well.”

The Great Irony of the Christian Life

The Great Irony of the Christian Life – “If you’re feeling weak today – take heart. Your weakness is an opportunity. Lean hard on Jesus and know that when you are weak, then you are strong.”

How to Squander Your Spiritual Gifts

How to Squander Your Spiritual Gifts – “Some squander the miraculous and personal gifts of God. They sit, as it were, on shelves in the basement, decorations of a life focused elsewhere.”

3 Ways Family Discipleship Changes as Kids Grow

3 Ways Family Discipleship Changes as Kids Grow – “These developmental changes mean parents must make at least three clear shifts in the way we think about family discipleship.”

A Prayer for the Smartphone Hooked Christian

A Prayer for the Smartphone Hooked Christian – “Who will save me from this electronic rectangle in my hands? Instead of using it, it has often used me.”

“Judge Not”

“Judge Not” – “Judge according to the Word of God, yes, but never indulge in self-righteous, hypocritical, hypercritical, prejudiced, merciless judgmentalism.”

Sovereignty, Humility, and Confidence

Sovereignty, Humility, and Confidence – “In a world that appears so out of control, your confidence will never be found in figuring your life out, but in trusting the one who has it all figured out for his glory and your eternal good.”

 

We Grow Up in Christ by Growing Down in Lowliness

We Grow Up in Christ by Growing Down in Lowliness – “Scripture says Christ must become greater, and we must become less. Does our becoming less make Him greater? Of course not. Can our becoming less show Him to be greater? Yes.”

8 Principles for Pastoring in a Political Age

8 Principles for Pastoring in a Political Age – These principles hold true for any believer.

Does Demon Possession Happen in the West?

Does Demon Possession Happen in the West? – “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”

How Remembering Leads to Rejoicing

How Remembering Leads to Rejoicing – “Remember the gravity of your condition and rejoice in the glories of your Savior.”

Yes, the Devil is Real

Yes, the Devil is Real – “Do I believe there’s an actual devil? You bet I do. And here are a few reasons why.”

The Godly Woman’s Charm

The Godly Woman’s Charm – “Holy women hope in God and allow no terror to immobilize them in their duties.”

Everyone Is Guilty, but Anyone Can Be Pardoned

Everyone Is Guilty, but Anyone Can Be Pardoned – “If a man kills another man, and neither of them put their trust in Jesus, how is it just that they both end up in Hell? It makes sense that the murderer is punished. The victim, however, was unjustly killed. Why should he be punished, as well?”

When Jesus Gives You One More Thing To Do

When Jesus Gives You One More Thing To Do – “What if you feel like your life is already full of the stuff you’re supposed to be doing and you get the sense that Jesus is adding one more thing? If you can get a sense of the hopelessness and weight that would come from such a moment, then maybe you can view the story of the rich, young ruler with fresh eyes.”

Why Church is Often Boring

Why Church is Often Boring – “Church is often dull because we think about it like secularists, not according to scripture.”

 

The Need for Confession in a “Copy” and “Edit” Age

The Need for Confession in a “Copy” and “Edit” Age – “Confession is much more than an embarrassing admission of failure, as people have often treated it. Quite the contrary, it is a desperate pursuit of restored joy in the Lord. Without confession, such restoration is impossible.”

Did Jesus Send Us Looking for ‘Persons of Peace’?

Did Jesus Send Us Looking for ‘Persons of Peace’? – “While we appreciate the benefits of social networks for gospel transmission, we believe missionaries should use every opportunity to preach the gospel and teach the Scriptures to all people, making disciples who will do likewise.”

Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Apply a Passage to Others

Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Apply a Passage to Others – Sometimes it is tempting to apply something you read in the Bible to someone who “needs to hear this”. Here are some things to remember before you make applications of scripture to others.

What Does the Bible Say About Transgenderism?

What Does the Bible Say About Transgenderism? – “The Bible teaches that God made us male or female, and no matter our own feelings or confusion, we should act in accordance with the biological reality of God’s good design. Transgenderism falls short of the glory of God and is not the way to walk in obedience to Christ.”

Why I’m No Longer Trying to Be Extraordinary

Why I’m No Longer Trying to Be Extraordinary – “Paul’s words call us back to the beauty of the ordinary. In this passage, he gives us three clear commands.”

Do You Submit to the Bible, or Does the Bible Submit to You?

Do You Submit to the Bible, or Does the Bible Submit to You? – “What is the Bible to you? A collection of helpful stories? A book of ancient wisdom? Do you think it contains God’s word to us?”

Jesus is the Older Brother Who Does His Job

Jesus is the Older Brother Who Does His Job – “As our older brother, Jesus is due the authority and the wealth he is owed. But unlike all other older brothers — and I am one, so I know — he walks in a way worthy of his honor. For our sake!”

The Antidote to Work Anxiety and Addiction

The Antidote to Work Anxiety and Addiction – “If we’re awed by the fact that Almighty God loves us and that he’s working all things toward our best interests, then we really can be free from anxiety.”

The Simplest Way to Grow in Wisdom (or Foolishness)

The Simplest Way to Grow in Wisdom (or Foolishness) – “Wisdom is about reality. It’s about real-life decision-making in real-life situations. And that is, indeed, a powerful thing. So, then, how do you grow in wisdom?”

Jesus Saves Villains: Read Romans to Your Kids

Jesus Saves Villains: Read Romans to Your Kids – “Wait a minute. Save villains? Isn’t the hero supposed to fight against the bad guys? What kind of story is this! It’s the story your kids need. It’s the story we all need. Still intimidated? Here are three truths you can point out to kids as you read the book of Romans together.”

Better to Have a Burden

Better to Have a Burden – “How tempting to imagine how fruitful we might be without such burdens. Wouldn’t we be better parents, leaders, workers, Christians if we could run faster? Wouldn’t we do more good for God’s kingdom?”

All Night, Wrestling

All Night, Wrestling – “Some nights I am Jacob, wrestling with God. On the edge of fear and despair, at the end of himself, alone, desperate, he realizes the shadowy figure he is wrestling with is God Himself. I feel Jacob’s desperation: I won’t let you go unless you bless me!”

1000 Times “Yes!”

1000 Times “Yes!” – “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:1-4)

Lord, Help Me See the Ways to Die Today

Lord, Help Me See the Ways to Die Today – “A few months ago, I began asking the Lord every morning to give me chances that day to die to myself, and for the Spirit to help me recognize those opportunities. He has never failed to answer this prayer. Not once.”

Why Is Faith So Important?

Why Is Faith So Important? – “Why is faith so important? Why does it matter so much in God’s plan of redemption? Here are three reasons.”

Just War and Our Cultural Conflict

Just War and Our Cultural Conflict – “We’re in a battle whether we like it or not, but how we fight matters.”

What Spoils the Lord’s Supper? How Not to Come to the Table

What Spoils the Lord’s Supper? How Not to Come to the Table – “In a word, the Corinthians were despising the members of the church of God (verse 22). And in despising them, they were despising the Lord who bought them. That was the unworthy manner that brought God’s discipline and judgment down on their heads.”

Count it all Joy

Count it all Joy – “It is relatively easy to ‘count it all joy’ when things are going well around us. When God’s will matches our own will for our lives, it is easy to be a Christian and to ‘count it all joy.’ But when those two things don’t add up—when God’s will for our lives and our will for our lives don’t match—that is when things get hard.”

Meal Times Are God Times: Cultivating Fellowship at the Table

Meal Times Are God Times: Cultivating Fellowship at the Table – “When the Spirit of the Lord Jesus is present at our table, a meager meal of the most basic, unadorned food, such as rice, or the most culturally despised food, such as McDonald’s, becomes an opportunity for thankfulness to God.”

 

What is the House Church?

What is the House Church? – “The “house church” (家庭教会, jiating jiaohiu) is a generalized term used to describe China’s unregistered churches which do not submit to the religious oversight of the government-sanctioned church.”

 

Died: Queen Elizabeth II, British Monarch Who Put Her Trust in God

Died: Queen Elizabeth II, British Monarch Who Put Her Trust in God – “In her seven-decade reign, she spoke regularly of the importance of her personal faith.”

9 Things You Should Know About Queen Elizabeth II

9 Things You Should Know About Queen Elizabeth II – “Here are nine things you should know about the world’s most recognized woman.”

 

More Than You Can Handle

More Than You Can Handle – “God often gives more than we can handle, and He moves the most in these seasons of our life. For me, my greatest growth in faith came in a time that was too much to handle.”

Two Counter-Cultural Keys to Staying Married

Two Counter-Cultural Keys to Staying Married – “According to new research from the Institute for Family Studies, conventional wisdom is false. Their analyses indicate that “religious men and women who married in their 20s without cohabiting first… have the lowest odds of divorce in America today.”

Eternal Life Is a Quality before Quantity

Eternal Life Is a Quality before Quantity – “Eternal life is a quality of life before a quantity—it’s knowing you and our heavenly Father in the most intimate relationship imaginable.”

Memento Mori: Death Through the Ages

Memento Mori: Death Through the Ages – “Given that the Christian tradition has been the dominant influence on Western thought for the past 1700 years, the Christian conception of death has been, until recently, the de facto Western conception. And it’s remained remarkably consistent up until the present. What changed significantly was enthusiasm about death.”

Escape from Every Temptation

Escape from Every Temptation – “How does Jesus’s ministry as our high priest help us in the heat of a tempting moment?”

Questions About Faith: 8 Tips for Responding to Children

Questions About Faith: 8 Tips for Responding to Children – “Here are basic guidelines for answering tough questions about faith.” These are practical and will keep you out of the weeds.

The Stars Still Shine In The Daytime

The Stars Still Shine In The Daytime – “All night long we can see the stars shining down on us, but have you ever considered the fact that they also shine down on us all day?”

Lord, Help Me See the Ways to Die Today

Lord, Help Me See the Ways to Die Today – “Lord, help me to see the opportunities to follow you.” 

When You’re Not at Home

When You’re Not at Home – “We shouldn’t find ourselves at home in this world. After all, Jesus didn’t come in order to blend in with a world gone awry by sin. He came to overcome it. Living in light of that, the church is to be different, set apart, distinct — the church is to be holy in a hostile place.”

3 Reasons Your Evangelism Efforts Have Stalled

3 Reasons Your Evangelism Efforts Have Stalled – “Have your evangelism efforts stalled? Do you feel like you should be doing more? Don’t let these obstacles stand in your way.”

3 Reminders When You Grow Weary of Doing Good

3 Reminders When You Grow Weary of Doing Good – “How might we encourage our souls when we are growing weary of doing good?”

Let Christ Shine Through Family Habits

Let Christ Shine Through Family Habits – “God works through habits to change parents, children, and families in conformity with Christ’s love.”

Why Does Paul Tell the Church to Deliver Someone to Satan?

Why Does Paul Tell the Church to Deliver Someone to Satan? – “Tolerating unrepentant sexual immorality ruins the whole church’s purity. Unchecked sin can quickly spread, like cholera or Ebola.”

I Could Always Get My Dad

I Could Always Get My Dad – “I am adopted into God’s family. This means I can always get through. How amazing that the God who spoke the universe into existence always, always hears my prayer.”

Sharing Your Testimony Is Not Enough

Sharing Your Testimony Is Not Enough – “In a day when religion is appreciated for its moral or therapeutic benefits, someone will hear us telling them about Jesus and presume we’re trying to sell them a version of personal, privatized spirituality. One good option among many.”

Someone Knows Your Pain: How Suffering Ties Us to Christ

Someone Knows Your Pain: How Suffering Ties Us to Christ – “There is no suffering we can experience that our Lord cannot relate to. And as we experience a portion of what he did and yield to him in it, we find a precious intimacy with him.”

Oldest Lie in the Book: ‘You Will Be like God’

Oldest Lie in the Book: ‘You Will Be like God’ – “Knowing something because you made it is the kind of knowledge God—and God alone—has of his universe.”

Who Called David’s Census—God or Satan?

Who Called David’s Census—God or Satan? – “Together, these passages make an important theological point: the Lord is ultimately in control of all temptations that come to us—and of those to which we give in.”

Faithful in (sm)All Things

Faithful in (sm)All Things – “But what if our influence isn’t about size but rather our calling and purpose as His disciple?”

The Shortest, Most Complex Question

The Shortest, Most Complex Question – The question is “Why?” Sometimes we get a clear answer and sometimes we do not.

Who Are My Enemies?

Who Are My Enemies? – “Love them and don’t stop loving them. Even if they offend you, even if they dishonor you, even if they anger you, disappoint you, frustrate you, threaten you, or kill you, don’t stop loving them.”

“Nearer My God to Thee”: A Serious Song of Hope for Sufferers

“Nearer My God to Thee”: A Serious Song of Hope for Sufferers – “Many churches look for positive messages in the songs they sing, but they often fail to realize that suffering is a God-given partner for Christians in their walk with Him and in their growth toward holiness.”

Forgiven

Forgiven – “Simon invites Jesus to a meal in his home. Holding Him at arm’s length. Studying the Master. And in the midst of critical scrutiny, he foregoes the most basic act of hospitality. Washing the feet of his guest.”

Instead of Playing Sunday Morning Critic, Try These Eight BE-atitudes

Instead of Playing Sunday Morning Critic, Try These Eight BE-atitudes – I am an expert at noting what could have been better, where we missed it, what went wrong on a Sunday. These are good reminders for us all.

Why Your Life Troubles are Good News

Why Your Life Troubles are Good News – Jesus promised we would have troubles. Be reminded that if that promise is true, so are all the others!

Why would God ever be gracious to us?

Why would God ever be gracious to us? – “Why would God ever be gracious to us? Why would he ever be gracious and kind and loving to a bunch of miserable, rotten sinners? After all, the God of the Bible is quite explicit in his condemnation of us from start to finish.”

Age with Joy

Age with Joy – “As we observe our outer selves wasting away, we should not despair, nor long for the past, but with gratitude recognize the gift of the present the Lord has brought us to, and eagerly anticipate our future with him.”

Driven by Awe: Fighting Sin

Driven by Awe: Fighting Sin – “When Christians think of fighting sin, we usually imagine strict self-discipline and saying ‘no’ to wrong desires. Certainly, self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit and a means of helping us fight our sin. But, what if we had another tool given to us by the Spirit to help us overcome?”

Now What? How Parents Can Pray for Their College-Aged Kids

Now What? How Parents Can Pray for Their College-Aged Kids – “How can we encourage, support, and especially pray for our kids when they’re away at college?”

Did the Pandemic Open Doors? Effects of COVID on Missions

Did the Pandemic Open Doors? Effects of COVID on Missions – “How is God using all the effects of COVID-19 to accomplish his purposes in the world?”

The Dark Side of Equality

The Dark Side of Equality – “When equality is treated not as a medicine or a safety-gadget, but as an ideal, we begin to breed that stunted and envious sort of mind which hates all superiority.” The principles are well-illustrated with the story of Korah’s rebellion against Moses.

Good News for the Overwhelmed

Good News for the Overwhelmed – “I felt overwhelmed again this week. I always feel overwhelmed at the beginning of the Fall.”

Ashamed Sinner, Unashamed Savior

Ashamed Sinner, Unashamed Savior – “When you’re in the midst of guilt and shame—which we should rightly feel in the midst of sin—we have to take all that he has done and his promises to God and see that he’s actually not ashamed of us. It’s not that he excuses sin, but he welcomes sinners.”

How Should We Understand Humanity’s Deepest Desires? Are They God-Given?

How Should We Understand Humanity’s Deepest Desires? Are They God-Given? – “We were made for a person and a place. Jesus is the person. Heaven is the place.”

Will We Use Our Creativity in Heaven?

Will We Use Our Creativity in Heaven? – “God gave people creativity in their unfallen state, which remained but was twisted when we fell. He will surely not give us less creativity in Heaven but more, unmarred by sin, unlimited by mortality.”

Time Is a River and We Are Pebbles

Time Is a River and We Are Pebbles – “But if we trust the source and know there’s a destination, we can enjoy the ride—safe passage to the stillest waters we’ll ever know, and an infinitely better shore.”

The Messy Home of Blessing: Why Children Are Worth the Chaos

The Messy Home of Blessing: Why Children Are Worth the Chaos – “Raising small children, as any parent knows, can be a little like trying to train an unruly herd of squirrels — on a small, motorless boat, during a mild-to-severe hurricane.”

Labor Day, College Football, but Especially the Gospel

Labor Day, College Football, but Especially the Gospel – “We work from a place of rest, not restlessness.”

 

How Guilt and Shame Can Bring Us Closer to God

How Guilt and Shame Can Bring Us Closer to God – “This theme of deflecting, blaming, and hiding has remained with us since Eden.”

 

How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament

How to Understand and Apply the Old Testament – Here’s a good example of doing biblical theology.

Money's Not the Problem

Money's Not the Problem – “Our financial life is always determined more by the desires of your heart than by the size of your income.”

How Do I Live When I’m Dying?

How Do I Live When I’m Dying? – “What advice do you have for how to live when you know you are dying? I have cancer with no cure.”

Did the Pandemic Open Doors? Effects of COVID on Missions

Did the Pandemic Open Doors? Effects of COVID on Missions – “According to Joshua Project, there are still 7,415 unreached people groups, which make up 42.5 percent of the global population — about 3.34 billion people.”

When ‘A Little While’ Feels like Forever

When ‘A Little While’ Feels like Forever – “‘A little while’ feels like forever when you’re in it.”

Advice from a College Student: Go to Church

Advice from a College Student: Go to Church – “Would you ever attend a wedding without the bride or talk (logically) to a head missing its body? Of course not! Then why do we try to get Jesus without the church?”

Forgive the Unforgivable

Forgive the Unforgivable – “Here’s the unvarnished truth: Those things you think you can’t forgive? Jesus wants you to forgive them. He demands it.”

Even after His Death, Jesus Fulfilled the Law

Even after His Death, Jesus Fulfilled the Law – “What if Jesus broke the Law of Moses? Would that impact your faith? Would it change significant points of Christian doctrine? The short answer is a resounding yes.” Even after His death on the cross, we see the law being followed.

Why I Love to Assign the Sermon on the Mount for Counseling Homework

Why I Love to Assign the Sermon on the Mount for Counseling Homework – “Read and meditate on Matthew 5-7 three times this week, asking the Lord to reveal your heart to you (What is the condition of your heart? What are your heart’s motivations?)”

A Jesus Misjudged?

A Jesus Misjudged? – “What is Christ doing in his church? What are the ways that we should interpret the–sometimes dark–providences of God in building, reforming, censuring, or comforting the church? We are not as skilled as we ought to be in judging the work of Jesus in our midst; and that’s always been the case.”

The Parable of Monkeypox

The Parable of Monkeypox – “Monkeypox is not just a disease; it is a parable of today’s moral confusion. For reasons both moral and medical, we need to take a closer look. We need to be candid and honest, and that will require that we consider some rather awkward but morally urgent issues.”

Why the (mis)labeling of pregnancy resource centers on Yelp needs to be corrected

Why the (mis)labeling of pregnancy resource centers on Yelp needs to be corrected – “It is clear that this labeling is one-sided and meant to ensure easy access to abortion while introducing friction for obtaining life-saving information and services.”

Who Will We Be? The Question Before the ‘How’ of Political Engagement

Who Will We Be? The Question Before the ‘How’ of Political Engagement – “How should we engage in politics?”

3 Questions to Consider if You Haven’t Physically Come Back to Church

3 Questions to Consider if You Haven’t Physically Come Back to Church – “Before you continue down the road of online only attendance, perhaps you might consider just three simple questions.”