Admittedly, my usage of the word “trend” is highly subjective. I have no statistical support to prove these 4 practices are in fact “trends” among churches today. My list is based purely on my limited experience and limited observation. Additionally, in titling this post I intentionally chose the word “uncomfortable.” In my mind, these 4... Continue Reading

Systematic theology constructs a well-thought-out worldview that enables the church rightly “to think God’s thoughts after him” and to set biblical truth over against its worldview competitors. The goal of systematic theology is “to bring every thought captive to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:1–5) for our good, for the life and health of the church, and... Continue Reading

Baskerville challenges a host of dearly held beliefs: that divorce results from philandering men, that women are in grave danger of violence by men at all times, that the most dangerous place for a child is the nuclear family. All this, he shows, is completely, monstrously wrong. Fathers, caricatured as embodiments of the hated patriarchy,... Continue Reading

Ian Johnson’s The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao is a soulful book about the varieties of Chinese religion, including Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity. It was on WORLD’s 2017 Books of the Year short list in the Understanding the World category. The excerpt below, courtesy of Pantheon Books, portrays brave Christians worshipping on Christmas Eve... Continue Reading

We’re too embarrassed, ashamed, or prideful to admit what’s really going on. We shudder to think about anyone finding out, afraid they’ll reject us if they know, so we refuse to tell the truth, put on a mask, and pretend everything is fine. These are the times when we rob ourselves of the comfort and... Continue Reading

Peter Beskendorf, Martin Luther’s barber asked him for help with prayer.  In response, Luther wrote a brief book titled A Simple Way to Pray. It’s a little gem.  And it is exactly what you would expect from the pen of Luther, nothing more and nothing less. For example, in Luther’s pithy way he warns us not... Continue Reading

It would be far more accurate to say that powerful people abuse less powerful people, because we see males abused by males, males abused by females, and females abused by females. While the greater number of complaints fit the standard powerful male/less powerful female model, I do not wish to minimize anyone’s suffering by pretending that it doesn’t... Continue Reading

If we have a right view of the church and its people we aren’t going to fall into the silly trap of leaving every time we are disappointed. If we recognise that the church is full of sinners we won’t enter into a covenant relationship with its people with our eyes closed. In fact, we... Continue Reading

God’s Word teaches that open rebuke is better than hidden love, though. James 5:29states, “Let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” We are told in the first verse of Galatians 6: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any... Continue Reading

what we call “evangelicalism” is made up of a vast number of different churches and organizations from around the world that are mostly disconnected with each other, even though they share a number of basic common features (notably, “biblicism,” “conversionism,” “crucicentrism,” and “activism,” as defined by David Bebbington). And if we start our thinking about... Continue Reading