“The act of encouragement is wonderfully simple and good, but extraordinarily difficult for sinners. So my encouragement to you (and myself!) would be to lean hard on the Spirit and ask for help. Reflect afresh on the gifts God has given you and think how those can be used in new and lively ways among... Continue Reading

“As Christendom collapses in the West, the church again finds itself marginalized, even exiled, in society and culture. An increasing number of church leaders are calling the church to recover the lost vision of the early church and return to the mode of witnessing as a faithful minority in a not-so-friendly world.”   Common sense... Continue Reading

Over three years ago, I wrote an article after Hatmaker announced her “new tribe,” the IF: Gathering, again, asking some discerning questions. This movement aims to disciple women outside of the context of church. The language Hatmaker used in that announcement was full of red flags. But Hatmaker’s doctrine on all these matters made it... Continue Reading

Instead of this stress-reducing “mindlessness” we need the reassuring presence of our Savior, Christ, who takes away our genuine guilt and gives us real spiritual stress relief. We need the mind of Christ. The Prodigal son “came to himself” not by detaching himself from his pig-sty circumstances, but by coming to the realization that he... Continue Reading

First-Houston remained in the PCUSA, but according to an Oct. 13 letter sent to church members, “in the minds of the significant majority of those voting, the vote left us in the worst possible position: nearly two-thirds of our church wanting to leave the PCUSA but being prevented from doing so by an inability to... Continue Reading

“To be sure, doctrinal unity is prior to and provides the grounds for genuine relational unity. But it is never enough for a church to exist with corporate commitment to specific theological truths without a hearty commitment to inter-personal unity.”   Six months ago I was ordained as an elder at Grace Bible Fellowship in Sunnyvale, CA. Prior... Continue Reading

Do not forget you have a family (if you do). Those first months can be exhilarating, challenging, and exceedingly frustrating – sometimes all at once! You can think you should squeeze all the above and much more into them. In the midst of all the pastoral pressure, it can be easy to neglect your own family... Continue Reading

But surely, 50 years on, with the horrific effects of secularism unfolding around us in a manner neither Stott nor Lloyd-Jones could have imagined in 1966, it is time to heed what Lloyd-Jones got so right, and with which Stott, in a real but different way, concurred: we should indeed ‘face our problems on the... Continue Reading

I have been deeply troubled over the past year as I have heard story after story of pastoral repentance. Many well-meaning articles have been written by respected leaders declaring fallen leaders repentant – only weeks after the initial exposure of sin. My concern is grounded in the fact that all too often, identifying an act... Continue Reading

When you’ve had a busy weekend and you make it to church, your kids notice. When you rearrange athletic obligations to get to church, your kids notice. When you get in late from a trip Saturday night and make it to church, your kids notice. When you are willing to slog through traffic after work... Continue Reading