What I don’t see is an S-curve of any kind, modified or not. What I do see is a pattern of early rapid growth followed by a longer period of steady growth. A foundational aspect of the PCA’s proposed Strategic Plan, to be voted on at this year’s General Assembly in about a week, is... Continue Reading

“We’re really quite happy that our church doesn’t attract any young people.” It’s a good guess that no one says things like that at your church. We all want young people because to exclude them represent an ecclesial suicide pact. Without young people congregations literally die out. Having said that, however, you may have noticed... Continue Reading

The Emergent Church is cool, isn’t it? No hell, no death, and no resurrection. Just really good coffee and really good dialogue with guys who really aren’t sure they know anything or ever can. Author’s Note: The author highly recommends reading Why We Are Not Emergent by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. Today, I was... Continue Reading

Consistent demonstration of the love of God through building genuine relationships impacts people of any culture, tradition or religious framework—Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. I have spent this week working with a group of young people in Rathfriland*, Northern Ireland. We have been living with a host family and serving with four... Continue Reading

The main emphasis of Mark Dever’s message—”The Doctrine of Christ’s Work Accomplished and Applied” (presented at the NEXT 2010 conference) centered on Christ’s atoning sacrifice for sin. In his message Mark made a critical distinction in how the word ‘atonement’ is sometimes spoken about as compared to a biblical definition. Mark used an illustration from... Continue Reading

Grace. There is a word for you. Is it a word for Jim Joyce? You know the story: the previously anonymous Armando Galarraga was on the verge of pitching a perfect game for the Detroit Tigers. The final play for the final out was close at first base – except that it was not close.... Continue Reading

Others think we must bow to evolution or bow out of [academia]…I don’t think that’s inevitable… For such a time as this we must learn to trust God to change hearts without our having to back away from the Bible. One of the Bible’s great statements about courage comes in chapter 5 of Esther. The... Continue Reading

Friends, we live in a world and in a part of that world that is increasingly hostile to Christianity. We need to understand that as we make this decision to follow Jesus. The recent NEXT conference in Baltimore was outstanding. I had the privilege to sit in the front row for the whole thing and... Continue Reading

“Increasingly pastors see denominations as a tool rather than a goal. If the goal is the evangelization of the world, the denomination is a tool to achieve that.” A decade ago, Southern Baptists fought over the belief that Jesus is the only way to heaven and the inerrancy of the Bible. Today, they’re divided over... Continue Reading

How queer that Politically Correct ‘equality’ — fanatics in the military, who have already recognized the ‘religious rights’ of Wiccans, would single out traditional Bible-believers to be the object of their Zero-Tolerance policies. In the wake of the recent Congressional votes to repeal the ban on homosexuals serving openly in the US Armed Forces, Rabbi... Continue Reading