Sabbaticals were traditionally year-long, funded affairs reserved for scholars and professors. Today, most people consider any break from regular work lasting a month or more a sabbatical (though counting summer vacation is surely unconventional). A sabbatical might include long-term traveling vacations or goal-oriented career breaks. The trend is catching on: people are crafting their own... Continue Reading

In important ways the American churches have never had a Reformation. We have certain had a de-formation or two but we are still waiting for a Reformation. There have been important and useful Reformation movements but none of them has had a fundamental and widespread affect on the theology, piety, and practice of the American... Continue Reading

“I decided to write on Gerstner because I was interested in writing on an evangelical Presbyterian historian and because I felt that Gerstner had become unjustly neglected in the field of Presbyterian history—two key volumes on the history of Pittsburgh Seminary barely mention his name. Too many PCUSA church historians marginalize or neglect evangelical Presbyterianism... Continue Reading

A 1998 graduate of Westminster Seminary in California, Turkish-born Fikret Böcek moved back to his country in 2001 to plant a confessional Reformed church in Izmir – the ancient Smyrna, the persecuted city of Revelation 2:8-11, where bishop Polycarp famously died for his faith. From the start, Böcek aimed to make his church completely visible and open... Continue Reading

When my firm helps executives craft talks that will persuade and forge bonds with listeners, we often have to help them recall or dig up latent stories that come from a deep place of personal conviction. Over the years, we’ve used effective techniques for unearthing these personal stories — which can then be cataloged, added into communications,... Continue Reading

Sessions seemed to be speaking both as a public official and as an insider to Christianity. By invoking Romans 13, Sessions was bringing to bear one of the most significant biblical passages in American history, but one which is a “two-edged sword” of conflicting interpretations—and the interpretation that Sessions chose to stress has a troubling history.... Continue Reading

At the heart of this theme is the idea of God’s messianic kingdom. It is a kingdom that will be ruled by God’s appointed Messiah, who will be not just the Redeemer of His people, but their King. So when John speaks of the radical nearness of this breakthrough, the intrusion of the kingdom of... Continue Reading

I’ve pondered this simple, yet profound thought over the past few weeks because it brings me back to a foundational Christian truth – the hope of redemption. A cursory reading of the Apostle Paul’s writings will show us that Paul constantly meditated on and lived in light of this truth. As sinners who have been... Continue Reading

“Girls are easier to mislead than guys just by lying or just not really caring. If you know what girls want, then you know you should not give that to them until the proper time. If you do that strategically, then you can really have anything you want…whether it’s a relationship, sex, or whatever. You... Continue Reading

As the trip approached, everyone asked where I was going, what I’d be doing, and how many books I’d bring. (An entire library!) But above all, they wanted to know if I was excited. Of course, I was excited! But to be honest, I was anxious, too. My old workaholic values resurfaced haunting me with unwelcome questions.... Continue Reading