When we feel needy and cannot carry our own weight, we feel as though we have lost purpose and meaning. We have been created to work and serve, and when we are less able to do these things, we feel diminished as a person—we feel like a burden.   If you hear yourself say, “I... Continue Reading

In this way, Liddell avoided a pitfall that is so common amongst Christians today. He did not use his own sin and failure as a reason not to strive towards holiness. Liddell recognized that he often fell short of God’s perfect law—and was willing to repent when he did so. But, he did not use... Continue Reading

Americans need to ask themselves a serious question: how does raising the minimum wage encourage business owners to take risks on unskilled labor? In fact, the minimum wage was never seen as a basis for socio-economic mobility. That is, government set wages were intended to be a temporary safety net, not a way of life.... Continue Reading

According to Miraculous Movements by Jerry Trousdale (2012), 45 different “unreached” Muslim-majority people groups, groups that a few years ago had no access to God’s Word, now have more than 3,000 new churches among them. And the typical agent of change is himself olive- or dark-skinned—most likely an Egyptian missionary, perhaps an Ethiopian, or a... Continue Reading

My advice, essentially, is to rip out the introduction (the fruitfulness stuff) and maybe chapter 10 (the “A” to “B” stuff) which sets up chapters 1 to 30 as the key to successful ministry, and read chapters 1 to 30 because most of them are really, really good.    I was recently on a conference... Continue Reading

While Gettman acknowledged that the closing prayer was optional, she asserted that some of those in attendance may have been from other faiths and were not aware that they did not have to participate. She filed a complaint last year with the Army’s equal opportunity office and also discussed the matter with her superiors. However,... Continue Reading

Christians are no more exempt from depression than they are from cancer or strokes; and the idea that these things are necessarily linked to our lack of faith, to our personal sin, to our outlook on life, or, indeed, to anything intrinsic to us, is nonsense and unbiblical. A pastoral theology which has not grappled... Continue Reading

What she needed more than anything — what we need more than anything — is to know Jesus. Our most severe problem would be hopelessness in solving our fundamental problem. Our most severe problem would be that we don’t recognize Jesus as the only rescue from our sins.   Our fundamental problem is that we’re... Continue Reading

I work in a major college town with a large number of 20-somethings. Nearly all of them were raised in very typical evangelical churches. Nearly all of them have left the church with no intention of returning….here are the most common thoughts taken from dozens of conversations. I hope some of them make you angry.... Continue Reading

At the request of First Presbyterian Church-Hattiesburg MS, MNA Disaster Response is mobilizing volunteers who would be willing to come and help meet the needs of the local PCA members and reach out to the greater community through Hope for Hattiesburg, a local outreach ministry of FPC-Hattiesburg. Day teams are welcome.   On Sunday evening,... Continue Reading