But study after study has shown that no one is immune from the motivating effects of acknowledgement and thanks. In fact, research … has shown that saying thank you not only results in reciprocal generosity — where the thanked person is more likely to help the thanker — but stimulates prosocial behavior in general. In... Continue Reading

Because I get to meet with God. And He promises to meet with me. Me. Imperfect. Fallen. She who just grumped her kids and her husband out of the house. She who misplaced her righteousness in the muddy driveway on the way to the minivan. Me. Getting it together on a Sunday morning is more... Continue Reading

The Reformed Congregational Fellowship Pastors’ Conference is chiefly one of on-going education for pastors, in this case the doctrines of grace as they are expressed in the Savoy Declaration.  If pastors are to reinforce these truths in their congregations, then they must first be grounded in them, which has always been the goal of the RCF. ... Continue Reading

Last week, I referred to 6 ways to counsel a husband who has harmed his wife with his pornography struggle. What about the wife? Although many are harmed by a husband’s struggle with pornography, no one is harmed more than his wife. How does a pastor care and counsel a wife who has been harmed... Continue Reading

The assumption in this sentence is that there is such a thing as evangelicalism and that it is presently defined theologically. That seems to me to be a huge stretch. Given that evangelicals disagree on everything from God’s foreknowledge to the ordination of women, it is hard to use the word in the singular in... Continue Reading

Let’s be honest, when we discover a Christian who exercises personal discipline (to read Scripture, or pray, or have a quiet time) we tend to be suspicious that we have a legalist on our hands. Maybe they don’t understand grace, we think. But Liddell did not make this mistake. He recognized that discipline and determination... Continue Reading

Regardless if yours is a small family or a big one, we need to ask ourselves: Do we continue to allow culture to shape our vision of the good life? Does the state of our bank account take priority over all things?   It’s not often that a company asks you to “go make babies,”... Continue Reading

In the case of the Christian and the Bible, most Protestants now believe that we, our Bibles open before us and the Spirit operating within us, not the church, must decide. This is not what Luther and Calvin had in mind. As I have written before, what has happened is that we got rid of... Continue Reading

It was through the quiet friendships of men such as Billy Graham that Cash found an alternative to the vanity of shifting celebrity. He found freedom from guilt and the authenticity of the truth in a crucified and resurrected Christ. And he immediately identified with another self-obsessed celebrity of another era: Saul of Tarsus. He... Continue Reading

“Operating on newborns with life-threatening birth defects, spending nights at the bedside of a sick or dying child, and consoling bereaved parents gained Koop acclaim as a pioneering surgeon and empathic healer, and led him to reexamine his Christian faith and the ethical implications of medical procedures, above all abortion and euthanasia,” his NIH biography... Continue Reading