The truth is, whether we lead with gospel or law, we are going to be offensive. The gospel is more offensive than the law because it hits humans at the point of pride. “Do this and live” stokes pride. “You can’t do it no matter how hard you try” slaps pride down. Too much has... Continue Reading

Friends, we easily get so wrapped up in the wrong things. And I believe that if we were to dig deeply into our own hearts we would discover that we are not protecting the gospel in our politics, but ourselves. Let’s be honest. Our relationships and life experiences shape much of who we are and... Continue Reading

Whether a society or people are religious or not, the most fundamental basis of society and peoples—literally since the dawn of humanity—has been marriage between a man and a woman. That bond is the cornerstone. To suddenly sever that bond is not only a radical rupture, but remarkably arrogant; it assumes that our current generation... Continue Reading

At the top of the news feed, a friend’s post caught his attention and would not let go. It linked to a Children’s House International story about three Polish siblings, two girls and a boy ages 6 to 12, on the verge of being separated into different foster homes in just two weeks. An Angels... Continue Reading

Presbyteries will be voting on whether to amend BCO 58-5 by adding this sentence: “As Christ has instituted the Lord’s Supper in two sacramental actions, the communicants are to eat the bread and drink the cup in separate actions.” Summer is winding down and soon our Presbyterian Church in America Presbyteries will consider a proposed... Continue Reading

I am shocked by how many pastors’ first response is to dismiss a wife’s concerns about her husband’s use of pornography: “Are you sure about this? It just doesn’t sound like the man I know. ” Sexual strugglers are masters of deception. It happened again. I met with a wife of a sexual struggler who... Continue Reading

Christians make up the largest Asian American religious group (42 percent according to the Pew survey) and Pew’s and other recent surveys suggest that about 15-20 percent of all Asian Americans consider themselves born again or evangelical Christians. By some measures, Asian American evangelicals are even more religiously devout than their white evangelical counterparts. Few... Continue Reading

God made us to need the companionship of fellow disciples. If you read the Scriptures and miss that, you have missed a great element in the Word. “It is not good that man should be alone” was spoken of more than marriage. That is a fact of human existence. The four-year-old who says, “I can... Continue Reading

  “The danger of the contemporary worship awakening is that we love loving God more than we love God.” That was very profound. And you might love thinking about God more than you love God. Or arguing for God more than you love God. Would there be any cautions that you would have for the... Continue Reading

Don’t ever, ever, ever give away part of your ministry and assume “they’re good” without regularly encouraging them. Too many times I’ve assumed it’s “all good,” only to have a key leader come and say it’s time to step aside. By necessity, ministry – children’s & family, in particular – requires us to lead in... Continue Reading