American Christianity has often individualized the faith, often over-emphasizing the personal, the private walk with God. But it’s a mistake to live apart from Christ’s body, for doing so severs you from the life and love and fellowship you need to fight the good fight. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with God’s people is courage. Standing alone is... Continue Reading

Too often the most narcissistic person at the center of a church conflict is not just any old narcissist, he is often a narcissistic pastor. Rather than teaching his congregation that he is nothing but a mere messenger and then doing everything in his power to deflect praise away from self and toward the true... Continue Reading

During that meeting, the session of New Hanover Presbyterian Church expressed its unanimous intent to leave the denomination and graciously indicated its desire to help the Administrative Commission provide for the transition of members wanting to leave the church and pray for those who choose to remain. Because of the session’s unwillingness to stay and... Continue Reading

Should the government normalize homosexual marriage, chaplains would be confronted with a difficult moral choice of choosing to serve their God or serve Caesar. Because of the high percentage of theologically conservative and biblically oriented chaplains within each military branch, the conflict will be real and a cause for great concern.   The Obama administration’s... Continue Reading

No missionary has ever been sufficiently qualified to serve God, and every missionary I have ever met feels horribly unprepared to the task at hand. Your ability and skills are less important on the mission field than your willingness to serve others. You don’t need training, certification or a job title to bring the gospel... Continue Reading

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