As the means of grace are faithfully set forth week after week in public worship, and God’s special presence is manifested among his covenant people, God is actively discipling his people. The making of disciples in fulfillment of the Great Commission, therefore, is not just something that happens “out there” on the mission field.  ... Continue Reading

Pastor, here is the danger: You have been uniquely entrusted with a high and holy calling in a local church, and instead of spending and being spent, throwing yourself into the task with all of your might, you are wasting time being jealous of someone else’s charge and gifts. Faithful shepherding means trusting God with... Continue Reading

The universal Christian community will never die, but local ones certainly can and without the active, selfless, giving participation of its members, they certainly will. The highway of Church History has its fair share of ghost towns. So, then, “let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking... Continue Reading

One of the reasons is that Christian parents rightly shield their children from the world because they want to protect their souls. I know that in my own home, my wife and I are very careful about the children we let our kids play with, the books they read, and the movies they watch. If... Continue Reading

Now, the old farmer still rolls up his sleeves each morning, still picks up his tools, still swings the bag of seed over his shoulders, still asks the Master where he needs the seed sown. Harvests have come—and gone. Farming is not for the weak of heart or the soft in spirit.   There once... Continue Reading

This morning I was going to write my resignation. This afternoon I had an overdue deep sleep. Tonight I’m rehearsing the gospel anew and tearing lies out by the roots.   After putting it off for months, I finally got around to writing up my letter of resignation. Well, to be honest, I haven’t got... Continue Reading

One of the greatest needs wives and children have — and all the more in our relentlessly distracting age — is dad’s countercultural attentiveness. Perhaps human attention never has been more valuable. Today the largest corporations in the world no longer compete for oil, but for human attention. And when attention is short and scarce, one... Continue Reading

My concern, of course, is that way too many of us function primarily undercover. We fail to engage often as followers of Christ. However, different than FAMs who function best and keep everyone else safer if they stay undercover, when we do that as Christians, we actually jeopardize those around us.   Federal Air Marshals... Continue Reading

This important question deserves a much longer answer than the one I will briefly present in this article. Here I want to take up one particular aspect of this question, which will undoubtedly be asked at some point in the life of a Reformed church: should we only be singing the psalms? Certain church orders... Continue Reading

Since there is a danger in God’s church for wolves to come with false doctrine, God has established under-shepherds who are responsible to protect the flock. Paul tells the Ephesians elders: “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church... Continue Reading