A mosaic is the process of taking shards of material – glass, stone, or most anything else – and assembling them in a recognizable pattern. It takes seemingly unrelated and in many cases useless things and puts them together to reveal something only in the mind and the heart of the artist. That’s starting to... Continue Reading

We as believers must place a great priority upon the centrality of God’s Word among his people. By gathering together for the public reading of Scripture—from the very beginning of the service—it places a priority upon the Word. An honest evaluation for all believers would be to compare the amount of singing to the amount... Continue Reading

My wife and I have never done ‘date night.’ Never. I don’t think I am speaking out of turn (though I await my wife’s comments) to say that neither of us have ever felt the need for it either. We were married five years without children and have had a further five years with them.... Continue Reading

Micah prophesied doom and gloom, so his was not a popular message. But Judah had a debilitating spiritual condition, and it was Micah’s job to diagnose it and supply the cure. Let’s see what we can learn from his methods.   The son of King George V, Prince Albert, or Bertie as family members called... Continue Reading

This elder had been a friend of mine for forty years. We started the church together. We ministered alongside each other for decades. We teamed up to lead the church and staff together. ​But one evening, I had to tell him it was over. He was out. After thirty years, he was no longer a pastor... Continue Reading

“Pleasures never lie” doesn’t mean the things we find pleasurable are never deceitful. Many are (Hebrews 11:25), as we all know by lots of personal experience. Rather, it means that pleasure is the whistle-blower of the heart. Pleasure is our heart’s way of telling us where our treasure really lies (Matthew 6:21).   One of my... Continue Reading

When churches become players in the pendulum swing game, they are prone to overlook other issues, some of which may be far more important than compensating for a perceived weakness. I have heard numerous church leaders and members bemoan the bad fit of the next pastor simply because they did not ask sufficient questions.  ... Continue Reading

The past twelve months have been a heart-rending season, with a handful of dismissals surrounding sexual misconduct and one for the mishandling of cases of sexual misconduct. Now another shoe has dropped: The Houston Chronicle published three articles—“Abuse of Faith,” “Offend, Then Repeat,” and “Preying on Teens”—on more than 700 abuse cases that occurred in Southern Baptist... Continue Reading

When we understand the sermon in the cultural context of the first-century Mediterranean world, we can discern as much continuity as there is difference. This is a good thing. Jesus wasn’t speaking Mars-based gibberish, but revealing God’s kingdom to real people in real cultures.   It has been a great joy for me to devote... Continue Reading

In Jesus Christ comes the glory of God made manifest (John 1:14–18; Heb. 1:3). He is not merely made in God’s image as man, but he is God’s image, being fully God. He calls men to repentance and belief in him, so that the image of God in them may be restored, beyond even the glory... Continue Reading