The irony is that many modern attempts to make worship more attractive to the world often makes worship less distinctly Christian, but the church is most compelling when she is most faithful to her identity. The church is most missional when she is most distinctly the church.   One of the more common arguments in... Continue Reading

Yet those who cannot read can hear the spoken word, which is how God’s Spirit worked through his apostles to convert the heathen. We nowhere read that the apostles went to the lost with images, nor that artistic skill at fashioning images is a gift of the Spirit. Yet time and again we hear of... Continue Reading

Men, who really knows you in your church? Your soul was made for godly masculine intimacy with other Christian men, and with Christ. Take time to pursue it. Heaven and hell really are hanging in the balance.   Two audible dings immediately rang out as my cell phone turned on. “Heard you guys lost a... Continue Reading

Our congregations begin to truly mirror the image of God when we move toward broken people instead of away from them. Only that kind of church will meaningfully confront abortion.   The Post-Roe Paradox: Why Abortion Rates Are Still Rising On January 27, 1973, a single decision legalized abortion in every state. Almost fifty years... Continue Reading

If Christ is in the middle of a marriage, a wife will gladly submit to her husband, and the husband will gladly love his wife. May God give grace to our marriages today, and may all glory go to Him.   Husbands and wives find much in Scripture for how to love and respect one... Continue Reading

The return on good soil will more than make up for any “wasted seed” along the way. As we preach and promote the gospel, there might indeed be hard soil. But we must, like Jesus, be willing to sow optimistically.   The story of the parable of the Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1–20 and parallels)... Continue Reading

In an age of distraction, superficiality, and spiritual confusion, Christians must recover serious, Scripture-shaped, Spirit-dependent prayer. Not theatrical prayer. Not mystical speculation. Not cold formalism. But humble, biblical, Christ-centred communion with the living God.   Among the shorter books of the Bible, the letter of Jude contains some remarkably weighty exhortations. Writing to Christians threatened... Continue Reading

If homosexual desire is a form of “unnatural” desire, then it must be addressed as such. The church must decide whether it will accept or reject it as compatible with ordained office. A verdict must be rendered.   The current discussion surrounding ordination and same-sex attraction has largely been framed in terms of degree. How... Continue Reading

We might say that baptism is the visible sign of the Spirit’s invisible work within us that tangibly shows God’s seal upon us and his promise to save in the gospel.   Paul speaks of the Spirit sealing believers in three texts (2 Cor. 1:21–22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). While interpreters often associate this sealing with... Continue Reading

While our experience of the visible church is fallible—flawed, messy, and subject to error—it remains the apple of God’s eye and the earthly expression of Christ’s bride. We must not abandon the visible church, for it is the very place where Christ has promised to meet us, feed us with His Word, and prepare us... Continue Reading