Discipleship is like a rock in a rock tumbler. The rock is shined the more it bumps up against all the other rocks and water. Over time, the process turns a rock into a gem. Jim and Sandra were longtime members at Christ Church. They gave generously — of their time, their talents, and their... Continue Reading

America’s focus on entertainment, and fear that heaven may be boring, has prompted depictions of paradise as the ultimate recreation center. Anthony DeStefano’s best-selling “A Travel Guide to Heaven” portrays the celestial realm as “Disney World, Hawaii, Paris, Rome, and New York all rolled into one.” As Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of... Continue Reading

It is not always the direct, frontal assaults that prove to be fatal to entities, but rather the constant repetition, year after year of an agenda, subtle innuendo, hubris, a calling into question of the current status of things, and disingenuousness. As the PCA approaches its 40th General Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky in June of... Continue Reading

This tends to make the whole thing about what God did for us, for me instead of what God is doing to establish is rule in this world. What Tom Wright calls “God becoming King.” So, any gospel that is driven by soteriology is going to miss these things, and this chapter by (Bryan) Chapell... Continue Reading

The Gospel does not teach me that it is a problem for God to enter into the human experience and allow that human experience to shape–from beginning to end–how the Bible behaves. The Gospel teaches me exactly the opposite. I’ve been watching the Adam and evolution debates/discussions on line, in social media, and in print.... Continue Reading

Imagine that this great preacher-poet of St. Paul’s was also the one who wrote illicit, erotic lines as a profligate young man. He begged the unscrupulous, money-hungry publishers of his day to stop printing the filthy verses of his youth, but their coffers were all the fuller with the Dean of St. Paul’s preaching the... Continue Reading

The value of bumper sticker witnesses can be debated, but I know of at least one case where gospel words written on a wall, with no personal speaker present, have changed the course of history. The Tract League of Grand Rapids, Mich., sent me stamps with a variety of Bible verses on them to affix... Continue Reading

I agree with D. A. Carson’s assessment: one positive contribution of the Emergent Church is their desire to present an authentic Christianity that moves beyond a formal religious faith. This desire has lead many Emergent leaders to see the problems with nineteenth and twentieth-century evangelicalism and seek to offer something with more integrity. Ref 21... Continue Reading

However, in the negotiations that took place, the plaintiffs attempted to extract from General Synod’s representatives a statement that would have provided immunity from ecclesiastical discipline for those ARP elders who had raised their hand to sue their church in civil court. Of course, such a concession could not be given. Among those who are... Continue Reading

I would argue that most ministry leaders struggle most with patience. It is downright, earth-grinding, soul-wrenching, blood-letting, tear-inducing, exhausting to minster to a person who seems, despite our every effort, resistant. And we grow impatient. The small, grass-filled space seems barely large enough to hold a three story building. I’m talking about the spot where... Continue Reading