If Luther was talking to pastors today, what counsel would he give them about pastoral counseling? “Do it!” We think we are too busy to counsel. We think we are ill-equipped to counsel. We think we should just preach (the pulpit ministry of the Word) and not counsel (the personal ministry of the Word). Luther was... Continue Reading

The flailing Christian bookstore industry reached code red status earlier this year when Family Christian Stores, touted as “the world’s largest retailer of Christian-themed merchandise,” declared it would shutter all of its 240 stores across America and lay off 3,000 employees.   Back in the 1990s, it often seemed that every city and town in... Continue Reading

“We know all that, we respect all that, and we take it seriously – and yet, and yet.  So we are also always ready for the surprising voice, the far-from-obvious leader, the last-person-you-would-ever-think would be the key player.  And yes, we are always ready to recognize God’s nobodies and God’s fools.  For these may be... Continue Reading

On first hearing though, the concept of roles may sound reasonable. We readily accept that people have different roles such as those found in the military. But you quickly run into a logical problem. A person may have the rank of private, but he/she may be promoted up the chain of command. Likewise an officer... Continue Reading

Luther certainly developed a practice in which music took on a more highly charged value, consolidating the drama and struggles of belief within the mind of the believer rather than in the multi-sensory panoply of traditional Catholic practice. It is perhaps no surprise that Bach once related the presence of God and his grace specifically... Continue Reading

“We have trusted in Jesus. But how far can we trust Him? Just in this transitory life? Just in this little speck that we call the earth? If we can trust Him only thus far we are of all men most miserable. We are surrounded by stupendous forces; we are surrounded by the immensity of... Continue Reading

Sasse proposes, “The schools are less to blame than we are, for we [parents] are the ones who have asked them to deliver more than any mass institution is competent to produce.” In part two of the book, he gives five character-building habits for parents to help kids get traction out of perpetual adolescence. “All... Continue Reading

Federal Vision advocates see a tension between that traditional Evangelical view of the Gospel (which Evangelicals have held since the Reformation) and the practice of infant baptism.  They feel that infant baptism must be more than just wishful thinking to be meaningful: It must be an “objective” covenant that actually confers what it symbolizes.  In... Continue Reading

I’m excited about this book because I was able to set forth how the gospel shines so brightly, revealing the glory of Christ in the salvation of his people. The study of hell, while admittedly weighty, does drive you to see the powerful grace of God in the gospel.   Questions about hell continue to... Continue Reading

Self-deception is a real and present danger for believers. Many convince themselves that watching “soft porn” (because that is precisely the secular classification that many of the scenes in television shows today would have received 20 years ago) in the opening episodes on a television show isn’t that bad because “while there is intense violence... Continue Reading