“Inside the church, Habib, the priest, and several other men banged bibles and other holy books against each other, creating puffs of dust. A 54-year-old woman, Almaz Sleiman, sobbed quietly, holding a tissue against her face as she looked around. Prayers were held under the watchful eyes of armed Assyrian Christian militiamen, known as the... Continue Reading

“The church was split over my dad’s discipline. Some members argued it was right, some argued it was wrong, and others ranged between these two. Disunity struck my family, too. Some of us were confused, others angry.”   One Sunday after our church service, the senior pastor extended his hand to greet my dad, one... Continue Reading

One cold, gray winter afternoon the pastor was in his office studying the finer points of the offering of the red heifer when he heard a strange banging noise coming from somewhere inside the building.  He arose from his studies and traced the noise into the sanctuary, where he looked up and was amazed to... Continue Reading

God tells us there will always be wheat and tares. Even among children born to believing parents there will be some who reject all their parents have taught. Some of these will rebel for a while and return. Some will not. As parents we are to commit ourselves to the task of raising our children... Continue Reading

“Church Growth is one of those terms. It’s not universally useful. In fact, it’s a relatively new term, popularized by Donald McGavran in the 1950s and ‘60s. Until then, the church grew without commonly using the term Church Growth, and it will continue to grow whether-or-not we keep using it.”   I’m a huge supporter... Continue Reading

“When we disagree strongly with people who claim the same category that we do, we start to wonder what the identifying term even means. This is why definitions are helpful; they set parameters. In the noise of culture, we must return to the definitions again and again.”   Having worked in church and culture research... Continue Reading

If your devotional, Bible study group, or conference is more focused on who you are than who Jesus is, it’s time to pick up a new book or find another group. We desperately need to know more about Jesus, for in him we find everything we need.   There’s a common trend among many women’s events, popular... Continue Reading

In Protestant Christian worship, music has always been in a subordinate role, supporting and aiding the worshiper in taking to heart and mind the meaning and richness of the poetic lyric. Though Calvin knew and appreciated the incredible power of music to move hearts, he cautioned against getting music and the objective meaning of the... Continue Reading

From atheists and agnostics to absolute apostates, social media is a common grace wherein we can dialogue with a far larger scope of worldviews than we could have imagined just a few short years ago. And in a season like the one we’re in here in the United States (just simmering down from a heated... Continue Reading

American evangelicals today would admit an aspiration to know the Ten Commandments and Jesus’s Beatitudes, even if they’d overlook a commandment here or there, or squirm at a beatitude or two (or three or four). But “the Mystical Body”—that’s different.   Russell Moore’s 2016 Erasmus lecture, “Can the Religious Right be Saved?,” provided a wide-ranging... Continue Reading