“The controversy erupted in recent days when it emerged that David Suhor, a member of the local Satanic Temple and a church-state separationist who has been lobbying to end prayers at public meetings, had been invited to give an invocation at the city council’s meeting.”   The city council in Pensacola, Fla., will consider ending... Continue Reading

“Pastor, can we get together this week to talk about something?” How many times have you received similar requests? Think of the time expended scheduling the meeting, going to the meeting and, possibly, following up on the meeting.   “The greatest gift you could give me is more time.” The statement was made half jokingly... Continue Reading

“Continuationism is the belief that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit taught in the Bible—such as prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues, healings, and miracles—have not ceased and are available for the believer today.”   Today I come to the end of the series I’ve titled “Why I Am Not…” The purpose of this series... Continue Reading

“Have I ever talked to an angel without knowing it? Or, Maybe that lady who caught my baby buggy, keeping my child from rolling into the street, was—well, you know.”   When wrestling with Hebrews 13:2 (“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares”), it is easy to wonder, Have I ever... Continue Reading

“Curiosity asks and wonders because it yearns to know. It asks God. It asks His Word. It asks people. It asks the books they write and the words they record. It asks because it knows its knowledge and understanding are never complete. There is always something more to learn.”   Curiosity pointed in any direction... Continue Reading

This type of abuse manifests commonly within Christian homes, where certain theological views are held in high esteem. Homes where “male headship” is celebrated find that abuse can easily be justified. While this view is not a cause of abuse, it can be a good cover.   Not all abuse evidences itself in bruises, and not... Continue Reading

It turns out that Anglo-American Puritans and evangelicals in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries used the phrase “receive Christ into your heart,” or something like it, with some regularity. The great Puritan devotional writer John Flavel, for example, spoke of those who had heard the gospel but who would “receive not Christ into their hearts.”... Continue Reading

“The Puritans (as with Calvinists generally) affirmed the goodness and beauty of creation, believed in natural theology and natural law, recognized their evil as the problem in creation, and saw earthly desire as a foretaste of the ultimate good that Christ will one day fully satisfy.”   The common understanding of the Puritans, in both... Continue Reading

I’ve heard many a parent say, “We’ve exhausted all options, all approaches, all forms of consequences… and nothing worked. I tried being calm; I tried consistent discipline; I tried appealing to their conscience and praying with them and for them. Nothing helped. Nothing changed.” What the parent means is that it did not produce the... Continue Reading

“While it’s true that Christian morality may be a barrier to some people, for others, our moral vision will be a beacon of light. Paradoxically, the very doctrines we expect will make us pariahs in 21st-century North America may also be some of our most attractive teachings.”   Unless Christianity updates its doctrine and adapts... Continue Reading