People are filled with shame for what has been done to them and for what they have done. They’re hiding, hoping that others won’t see them. They might hide in reclusiveness, but are just as likely to hide in perfectionism, success, activism, or even brazenness. But like Adam and Eve, who after the fall tried... Continue Reading

It’s true that our motivation matters. A shepherd with an empty pantry praying for miracle provision so his sheep don’t starve is different than the guy who is praying for abundance so his neighbor can envy his sheep pen. But I’ll admit that far too often self-interest is what motivates my midnight pleas for assistance.... Continue Reading

You’d hear it in every church: “Take out your hymnal and turn to hymn 154…” And then hymnals went the way of the dodo and we began to look instead to words projected on a screen. Here is some of what we lost along the way.   I don’t think we should go back to using... Continue Reading

“A penny wise and a pound foolish” is a cliché used to describe the practice of caring about minute costs while ignoring the more substantial ones. Being obsessed with the “total costs” of a new hire while not being obsessed with getting the “right person” is being “penny wise and pound foolish.”   All hires... Continue Reading

God uses your prayers to fulfill His sovereign plans. He also uses prayer as a means of growing us by grace. So pray! Pray for your staff. Pray with your staff. Have your elders pray regularly for your staff. Make prayer a central part of your staff meetings. Pray that God would be glorified through the ministries led by... Continue Reading

Many pundits have rightly observed the impact of culture on the church, where church is, at best, just another activity. We have also addressed the issue of increasing choices. Many church members and attendees have so many opportunities to do other activities, and they can often afford them like never before.   There has been... Continue Reading

“The American religious terrain, plowed deep by the soulful individualism of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was fertile soil for a high anthropology (which is to say, an optimistic theology of human capacity.) As many New Thought authors worked inside a Christian framework, they explored “salvation” not as an act imposed from above by God, but rather... Continue Reading

Racism is sin. It is a declaration that seems unambiguous enough on the surface and, dare I say, is one with which hardly anyone today – Christian or not – would disagree. Nevertheless, there is a broader context in which the aforementioned attestation should be understood. Which is to say, it does not suffice merely... Continue Reading

If any law of science is established as immutable and unbreakable, it is that human reproduction is not possible without the conjoining of the male seed and the female egg. We may have developed sophisticated methods of artificial insemination and “test- tube” intrauterine implantations, but in some manner the reproduction process requires the contribution of... Continue Reading

Sadly, when artists record popular versions of carols or when publishers add Christmas songs to hymnals and songbooks, too often they excise the core gospel message in exchange for sentimentalism. As the radio plays Christmas music 24 hours a day, it is not unusual for us to hear altered lyrics or simply the first verse... Continue Reading