Dr. David Edgington fills the pages of his book with real-life counseling situations and actual interactions with the church’s prominent figures. He provides the testimonies of men and women affected by the sins of reviling and white-knighting. You will not be bored reading the book! I read this 268-page book in four days. I couldn’t... Continue Reading

Burge came to conclude that “the mainline was dying, and rapidly.” If current trends and aging memberships persist, he expects that in 20 or 30 years “the mainline tradition will largely be extinct across many parts of the United States.” This is the most dramatic of the patterns Burge documents.    (ANALYSIS) Lots. And no... Continue Reading

Once a major asset to American life, the independence of nonprofits is being eroded by politics. Their effectiveness is ebbing. There may be a lesson for the church in that story as well. The Nonprofit Crisis offers valuable insight into what we’re losing as polarized politics takes over our culture.   Nonprofits have a long and storied... Continue Reading

The computer was sold to us as a “bicycle for the mind”: something to help us get more done and become more fit in the process, a productivity enhancer that also made us work harder. And perhaps it was for a short sweet spot in the 80s and 90s. But successive waves of digitization have given us... Continue Reading

Sometimes God meets with us in a special way. Occasionally a verse or a phrase or a thought can revolutionize our lives, but I have found that those times tend to be rare. Rather, it’s the slow and steady repetition of reading God’s Word, asking Him to change me, and watching as that happens little... Continue Reading

Transparency with God in all areas of life and struggle, responsive prayer with your Bible reading, and/or dedicating greater time to intercessory prayer.  Of course, so much depends on Him, and so much is still unknown.  He may grow your relationship with Him in ways you have never considered, and maybe might never choose.  Nevertheless,... Continue Reading

Remember the goals you are trying to achieve, and don’t give up no matter how discouraged you may be at any given moment. Keep your focus in the face of obstacles and consider the good that will come from your efforts.   Resolutions for the new year are easy to make but not always so... Continue Reading

Christians have known that food and cloth dedicated to the altar can be sanctified, dedicated toward a good use: “nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving.” Even the Machine’s all-enframing and all-pervasive scope in our lives does not mean it cannot also be “sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.”  ... Continue Reading

Conybeare rightly devotes a substantial section of her biography to this dispute given that it deeply involves what it meant for Augustine to be African. As she observes: “Whatever else was claiming Augustine’s attention through the decades of his bishopric, the resistance of the African church must have been a nagging pain. It threatened his... Continue Reading

Here is my simple encouragement for the new year: read the great books. They require effort (I’ll give some brief advice below) but they are great precisely because they repay that effort. You might read War and Peace and decide never to read it again, but the point is not that every great book will become your favorite. The point is... Continue Reading