In the case of a local church, resistance comes because the church’s values were not changed before the influencers or leaders introduced or implemented change. If all these things have been addressed or even carefully attended to, it could come down to the basic fact that some will dig into their trenches and make a... Continue Reading

Not every student can be the star student. Not every student can be the guitar hero. Not every student can be the guy with experience in 15 countries who speaks 4 languages. That’s ok. Be yourself. Beware of pride, unhealthy competition, and jealousy. Say with Paul, by the grace of God I am what I... Continue Reading

Why don’t our older women tell twenty-something young brides about the kind of isolation that can come with small children in the house? Why don’t our older men prepare our thirtysomethings for the testosterone drop that often prompts what we call a “midlife crisis”? A friend of mine is about to take his son on... Continue Reading

Christian withdrawal from politics can inadvertently undermine the justice work of the church by not having a voting presence to maintain religious liberties for Christians to do what they are called to do. …if New York’s Christians are not encouraged to get involved in the politics of religious liberty, people are going to die, literally.... Continue Reading

A coalition of liberal Christian leaders — including Jim Wallis, Shane Claiborne, Ron Sider, Joel C. Hunter, and Tony Campolo — took out a full-page ad that asks “What would Jesus cut?” in Monday’s edition of Politico. Now most of the ad is non-offensive. It argues that Christianity tells us that the moral test of... Continue Reading

Now let me be plain. Should marriage be reserved for one man and one woman? Yes. Is saying so publicly an act of hate? No. Will I and hundreds of thousands of others continue to press the point and to defend traditional marriage? Yes, we will. And as God gives us the strength, we will... Continue Reading

God has demonstrated to us in Jesus that he values pain for what it accomplishes. By his stripes we are healed. His suffering enables us who believe to become the children of God, to have complete and total forgiveness of our sins, and to live for eternity with God in the new heavens and the... Continue Reading

It seems that, for some, a concern for evangelism and biblical authority are not such good things when they result in worship that is less than tasteful. In short, is the real problem for some conservative Reformed champions of “traditional worship” that a lot of evangelical worship is, by upper-middle-class standards, a bit tacky? I... Continue Reading

Without a truth-core that centers on the grand facts of divine holiness, love, grace, sin, judgment, hell, Christ, salvation, and heaven, there is no Gospel. And if there is no Gospel, then we are most to be pitied and ignored. No matter if you are David Swing or the contemporary rock star of evangelicalism. While... Continue Reading

The public disintegration of a television and film celebrity like Charlie Sheen is not only tragic and sad, but tragic and sad because it reflects the core sickness of an entertainment-saturated, celebrity-worshipping culture. Sheen is as much or more a news item for his public rantings as he is for his acting. “But then again... Continue Reading