If the church is an incubator for spiritual growth and development that means it is incumbent on those who lead to ensure that the church is functioning according to Christ’s design. The light of Christ must shine with clarity of God’s truth and warmth of His love. The atmosphere must be oxygenated with prayer in... Continue Reading

As leaders, we will often face situations that reveal what is in our hearts. When we are pricked, our people will see our hearts, and they need to see us bleed integrity—either true holy character or humble repentance. If there is one thing that the Protestant evangelical world needs right now, it’s men and women... Continue Reading

Because I do care now, and will care even after I’m with the Lord, here are some things I hope and pray are not said at my funeral. I care about those who will be there, about what they will hear. I want the truth to be spoken, the truth about sin, the truth about... Continue Reading

Kata’s writings are pregnant with a sense of God’s sovereign wisdom and care for his own, in both easy and trying circumstances. “I have been like Moses’s bush,” she said, “enveloped in powerful flames, without being consumed.”   Kata Bethlen (1700-1752) started her autobiography with her most painful memory: her forced marriage, at age 17,... Continue Reading

The idea of Jesus’ knocking on the door of our hearts is typically based on Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” This verse is not addressing the status... Continue Reading

On being accused of being an enemy of the truth, [Bart] Ehrman believes his entire career has been one of seeking the truth, while those whose views remain what they were have not been seeking after the truth.   Bart Ehrman wrote a thoughtful piece recently on how and why some people change their minds... Continue Reading

God’s help arrives in many forms. One of the most common is pain. God allows us to experience the hurt, emptiness, and despair that envelop us when our idols betray us (as every idol eventually does). He puts us in positions in which we must lean either on our idols or on Him. If we... Continue Reading

Here is what we can sometimes miss. This invitation to rest in Christ does not belong just to the outset of the Christian journey; it belongs to whole of it as we sojourn in a dry and weary land that is this fallen world.    My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (Psalm... Continue Reading

We should engage our mind and heart in the song during our worship. As we sing, it should be that the theology of the song is what produces joy in our hearts—not the arrangement or the skill of the vocalist who is leading. How often do you miss the theology of the song you’re singing?... Continue Reading

Scholasticism relies on basic assumptions like a blue fish cannot be both blue and not blue at the same time, God created the world and it has order, and truth is objectively real. God did create an orderly world where can recognize that absurdities are, well, absurd. A human cannot be both the moon and... Continue Reading