Don’t hide but walk in the light and confess your sins. Don’t hope in a silver bullet but be prepared to walk the long path of repentance. And, above all, don’t collapse into self-loathing but bring your sins to your wonderful, merciful Savior and receive his words of absolution: “Your sins are forgiven.”   Log... Continue Reading

Kids need their parents to help them become the kind of people who want to do good and avoid evil, not because it’s profitable, but because it’s right. They need years of practicing discernment and developing integrity in order to live faithfully online where indulgence, addiction—and increasingly, radicalization—are common.   There is growing momentum among... Continue Reading

Because God created humans to worship, music is inescapably a form of worship, for better or worse. Ultimately, real people should be creating music because people were created to worship with music. As the psalmist sang, “My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.”   According to... Continue Reading

Drawing from Luke’s Gospel, Currie shows that Christ’s mission of inaugurating his kingdom was carried out by preaching. That same mission continues in the church today. A pastor has been set apart “to extend the rule of God for God’s glory, by proclaiming Christ in his death and resurrection from all of Scripture.”   This... Continue Reading

“I am going to Wittenberg under a far higher protection than the Elector’s. I have no intention of asking Your Electoral Grace for protection. Indeed, I think I shall protect Your Electoral Grace more than you are able to protect me.”   February 28, 1518—Wittenberg The 95 theses have spread across Germany like wildfire. I... Continue Reading

Contemporary worship music has grown into a big business—CD sales, downloads, merchandise, and high-ticket concerts where celebrity worship leaders draw crowds like pop stars.   I recently wrote about decisions regarding what songs we should sing. I originally focused on decisions about lyrics but then was asked about how we respond to questionable sources, what... Continue Reading

Luke 15 paints this picture: A God who notices when one goes missing. A God who searches until He finds. A God who carries the weak. A God who rejoices when the lost come home. He doesn’t quit.   A year ago, a man asked if we could meet regularly so he could grow as... Continue Reading

Any movement primarily driven by online lifestyle gurus, whether secular or religious, cannot give us the human love and discipleship we need to grow and mature in our faith. They can, however, manipulate our emotions and sell us a lot of swag.   Recently, the much disgraced and desperate to regain relevance Mark Driscoll tweeted... Continue Reading

When we pray expository prayers, we line up with what God has revealed in His word. When we pray according to the will of God, we are reminded that we come to God as servants, not masters.   Lord, teach us to pray. This has been the disposition of Jesus’ disciples from the very beginning.... Continue Reading

Even the freest and most successful civilizations in history are vulnerable to decline and revolution. The path to renewal is to resist the allure of ideology, propaganda, and scapegoating, and to instead recommit to truth. That will require courage to say what is true and to live what is true, despite the social cost.  ... Continue Reading