“We must labor to be intentional in our relationships in view of the presence of sin and priority of holiness. We know that if we allow ourselves to be passive we will avoid everything that makes us uncomfortable. This is deadly for sanctification.”   At the end of a football game often times the defensive... Continue Reading

“The term contextualization can be a sweeping justification of all forms of cultural accommodation, without consideration for the Biblical witness. “Contextualization”, as a term, is one-handed – it encompasses the act of cultural accommodation, but it doesn’t also encompass the need for cultural confrontation.”   A few months ago, I wrote a series of posts on... Continue Reading

“Without understanding the severe nature and depth of our sin problem, our children cannot fully appreciate nor grasp the wonder of the gospel of grace. If we have a child who only sees their sin as the wrong behaviors they do from time to time, they cannot truly understand just how beautiful the gospel is.”... Continue Reading

“Preach as if anyone will listen to your sermon, because they can. If your church is putting your sermons online, and your church has “Baptist,” “Bible,” or some other conservative marker in its moniker, know that people living far away might be listening for something they can protest.”   The lead story (above the fold)... Continue Reading

“How could something like this exist in our country given what seems to be the significant “racial progress” over the last fifty years? The sing-along song displaying unvarnished racial animus was sung by supposedly accomplished college students during the same week that the moving and emotional events memorializing the extraordinary courage of the participants of... Continue Reading

“Why is God so slow in making us holy? Think about it for a second. If God wanted to, he could have made us instantly perfect the moment we believed in Jesus Christ. Or, he could completely deliver us from our clinging sins in the blink of an eye.”   There are certain sins I’ve... Continue Reading

“If we preach the gospel without words through our behavior, what we end up doing is pointing to ourselves instead of Christ. We communicate a salvation by works. Words are necessary to qualify our behavior and point others to Christ.”   Children at my church made a “wordless” gospel bracelet as a project. It consisted... Continue Reading

“Well-intending church members often begin sentences with, “Pastor, we need to . . .” Those sentences are expectations members have on pastors and staff. The temptation for many of these leaders is to say “yes” to most of the requests. But saying “yes” to everything means you will do nothing well.”   Every day, pastors... Continue Reading

“The calling of being a coach, for some, has devolved into a self-centered, and winning-at-all-costs profession. The question must be asked: Is athletics about the coach and winning or is it about the privilege of investing in and building up young men and women, making a positive difference in their lives?”   Winning has commandeered the... Continue Reading

“Christianne Witten, a spokeswoman for the Navy Chaplain Corps, said Modder has been temporarily reassigned to Naval Support Activity Charleston as one of the staff chaplains while Navy Personnel Command officials review the detachment for cause action.”   A Pentecostal chaplain once assigned to elite Navy SEAL units may be kicked out of the Navy... Continue Reading