With unprecedented control over life and death, we need an ethical framework to guide us and bring wisdom to these complex issues. That is a great challenge in a secular, pluralistic culture where there are few agreements on moral frameworks and assumptions. But as Christians, we bring some significant paradigms, principles and virtues to the... Continue Reading

The next time you see a zombie novel on a bookstore display, or the next time you pass a box office advertisement for some gory zombie film, stop and pray for those who feel like the living dead. Once a year, in the city where I live now, there’s what’s advertised as a “Zombie Walk.”... Continue Reading

Unapologetic, convicting teachers of the Word, not missional pace-setters are what we’re talking about. “If there is going to be a renaissance of religion, its bearers will not be people who have been falling all over each other to be ‘relevant to modern man’…Strong eruptions of religious faith have always been marked by the appearance... Continue Reading

As the early Church was confronted with the necessity of mercy ministry, it needed to ensure that it maintained integrity, effectiveness, and good management of its funds and resources. This is now the eighth look we have taken at Acts 6:1-6. In past installments, we have noted that this passage additionally teaches us an important... Continue Reading

The Christian worldview is structured, first of all, by the revealed knowledge of God. There is no other starting point for an authentic Christian worldview—and there is no substitute. One of the most important principles of Christian thinking is the recognition that there is no stance of intellectual neutrality. No human being is capable of... Continue Reading

Christians should always remember that the truthfulness and authority of the Bible are not based upon any authority external to the Bible itself. There is no external evidence required to “prove” the Bible’s truthfulness Tel Aviv University archaeologist Israel Finkelstein argues that the kingdom of David and Solomon is a greatly embellished biblical fiction. Jerusalem,... Continue Reading

Hopefully our divine calling from our Creator is enough to keep us motivated and passionate about the task to which we have been called. However, the combination of discouragement, harsh criticism, and watching our people suffer can act as a perfect storm that can deaden the desire of the most passionate and motivated of pastors.... Continue Reading

If you have come to know yourself to be a sinner as Paul did when he was Saul, you know it matters. But what we learn from Paul is that our past doesn’t have to matter. Paul himself is proof of that fact. During our election cycles in the U.S., we see a lot of... Continue Reading

Preaching may be much maligned in our day (e.g., consider the sermon being referred to as “pagan” in Frank Viola and George Barna’s Pagan Christianity). Consider, however, the statements of Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck in Why We Love the Church (p. 174): The sermon was not stolen from the pagans or inherited from the... Continue Reading

“This is a mission,” Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary provost Frank James added. “This isn’t just about demographics. This isn’t just about capturing a rising segment of the evangelical community. It’s about reaching out to everyone.” The Latino population in the U.S. is exploding but leaders say when it comes to college, their students are falling behind.... Continue Reading