This was a man who sang of the horrors of sin, with a longing for a gospel he had heard and, it seemed, he hoped could deliver him. In Jones’ songs, you hear the old Baptist and Pentecostal fear that maybe, horrifically, one has passed over into the stage of Esau who, as the Bible puts it, “could... Continue Reading

Walker was named Mr. Football as the state’s top player by this newspaper in 1998 after finishing his high school career with 5,153 yards and 76 touchdowns. He was a USA TODAY and Parade All-American and a consensus pick as one of the nation’s top two tailbacks. Every school in the country recruited him. He... Continue Reading

The key books on pastoral ministry would be written by men who either have no real experience of anything approaching normal pastoral ministry or have not had such for decades. Students at seminaries would rarely, if ever, name their own pastors as the most influential preachers in their lives. Multi-site video churches would spring up,... Continue Reading

“The WEA Panel (hereafter referred to as ‘Panel’) recommends that when the words for ‘father’ and ‘son’ refer to God the Father and to the Son of God, these words always be translated with the most directly equivalent familial words within the given linguistic and cultural context of the recipients,” the report says. After a... Continue Reading

Here we find a strong affirmation of accountability by agencies and institutions to the church, and one that is grounded theologically in a recognition of the communion of saints—past, present and future. We also see here a keen sense of the church’s sacred stewardship of the gospel. All this should warm the cockles of a... Continue Reading

God’s crucial word on grieving well is 1 Thessalonians 4:13: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” Yours is a grieving with hope. Theirs is a grieving without hope. That is the key difference. There is... Continue Reading

Calvin had far more influence over civil life than we are accustomed to seeing but he was no tyrant in Geneva. He was not even a citizen until late in his life. He was a sixteenth-century man and a Constantinian—but so was most everyone else in the period. The real argument here cannot reasonably be... Continue Reading

This is liberating when we share the gospel with our children, friends and relatives. It’s not our brilliant articulation that saves anyone – it’s the power of the word of God and the Holy Spirit. Of course we want to express God’s truth as clearly as we can, but even if we stumble and share... Continue Reading

The New York Jets released Tim Tebow this morning, putting an end to, well, not much. Tebow had a total of eight passes as a Jet. He completed six of them. He ran for a total of 102 yards. The Jets never really used him.   So what does he do now? Here are four... Continue Reading

Piper notes that homosexuality is not “the worst possible thing imaginable,” but it is a brokenness—and all of us are broken in some way. I know I’m broken, and Piper points out the choice all of us have to make: “I can choose to let that brokenness govern me and turn it into sins. Or... Continue Reading