John succeeded his father as a key advisor to the Muslim ruler, Caliph Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705). After a long life of service in the public realm John left his public position in the early part of the eighth century in order to embrace a monastic lifestyle in a monastery near Jerusalem. John was a... Continue Reading

Around our nation we have witnessed rioting and looting, mass violence, the killing (unintentional and intentional) of dozens of persons of various races, the burning of police stations, and the destruction of millions of dollars of property. In short, we are watching a level of violent revolutionary behavior that I have not witnessed in my... Continue Reading

We shouldn’t be surprised at this simple approach to missions. When we consider missions through the lens of Scripture, we find that these twin roles of giving and going reflect the Lord’s approach, and this approach predates even the creation of the world. This is revealed clearly in the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. In... Continue Reading

People will make railing judgments about the salvation of an individual based on their position regarding how God may or may not use dreams, or if it is possible for someone to have some supernatural experience. It’s important to navigate these hotly debated waters with a great deal of grace, while still holding fast to... Continue Reading

Many evangelicals today consider corporate worship as simply a Christian’s expression of authentic devotion toward God. Yet corporate worship is not merely expressive; corporate worship is formative. This is how corporate worship fits into the Great Commission: the liturgy of a church shapes the liturgy of life.   Every church has as its mission the... Continue Reading

Throughout most of church history, conferences didn’t exist. The closest you ever got to them were various councils to which the majority of people never went. Just a bunch of bishops who apparently had long faces, halos behind their heads and two fingers strapped together that look like they want to do a v-for-victory sign... Continue Reading

You’d have thought the English rugby authorities would be pleased that fans had adopted an anti-slavery anthem as their song, but no. Writing in The Times (19 June), Phillips argued that an obsession with symbols has overtaken a desire to change the world. Toppling statues and banning songs won’t deal with the issue of racial equality. But... Continue Reading

Our union with Christ makes us partakers of His death, first, so that our guilt is gone and second, that our former life in bondage to sin is gone replaced by our new life of fellowship with Him that began at our new birth. We are also resurrected with Christ. That means that we have... Continue Reading

We’ve learned to love the sound of our own voice and to love the feel of our personal feelings and to enjoy the thrill of putting ourselves on display on social media (whether we have anything godly or good to contribute or not). I know I’m being hard on us. But these are times that... Continue Reading

Yes, it will take your whole life to get to heaven, and yes, your life may last longer than most, and yes, the Christian life will be a challenging journey from start to finish. But it’s worth it. Not only will heaven itself vastly outweigh the difficulties you knew in getting there, but the life you... Continue Reading