“So why is impatience such a problem with me, and perhaps with you? I suppose we could analyze it until we grow impatient with not arriving at an exhaustive answer, but let me reduce the problem to two factors.”   How many of you reading this article are by nature patient? Is there anyone who... Continue Reading

“Many of the people who signed the petition likely did so without fully reading it or realizing what they were asking. But most are aware they are accusing the parent of a serious crime and grievous moral offense based on nothing more than assumptions and secondhand media reports.”   A day after celebrating his 17th... Continue Reading

“The Psalms of Lament are a rich resource for learning about our emotions and how God desires for us to express, address, grow, and learn from them. The laments are those psalms in which the psalmist expresses the deep pains and heartaches of life. They are the psalms where the writer cries out to God.”... Continue Reading

In the age of the “easy cause,” I suspect Harambe the gorilla and Cecil the Lion have become examples of the sorts of sentimental issue that many are perfectly willing to get behind because they can be trumpeted at little risk and little cost. However, it is disturbing to think that we live in an... Continue Reading

Perhaps what has been historically normative for over 1500 years in the West—a Christianity enjoying worldly power and influence, broadly conceived—is in fact theologically exceptional. As such, what we are witnessing is not the overthrowing or the jeopardizing of the church but rather a return to “business as usual” as the Bible and the nature... Continue Reading

Every missionary story portrays God’s strength through human weakness. No one is capable of bringing the gospel to all the lost. Reading missionary biographies shows us how God’s glory shines brightest in and through the inadequacies of his servants. Whether it’s through the physical disability of Amy Carmichael, the obstacles William Carey faced in getting... Continue Reading

It is surely only woeful pastors who can gladly act like scribes. Do you “load burdens on men’s backs but do not do a thing to lift them?” At the risk of mixing metaphors, refuse to crack the whip to get sheep to jump to attention! Don’t impose a tradition that enslaves the blood-bought, set-free conscience! Refuse... Continue Reading

Young, Restless, and Reforming evangelicals who find their way to confessional Reformed congregations need to understand that they will likely find a different culture than that with which they are familiar. Those things that once triggered certain familiar emotions may not be present but those emotions are not love and it is not love that... Continue Reading

In our denomination, we emphasize a potential elder’s doctrinal fitness, his knowledge of Scripture and theology. And, rightly so. At the same time, Paul’s exhortation to Titus instructs us to consider the sum of a man’s life. Paul left Titus on the island of Crete for a reason: to set in order what remains by... Continue Reading

Postmodernity erodes institutions and society structures, resisting and repudiating all claims to authority and truth. As a result, individuals turn inward for answers to ultimate questions of meaning, morality, and eternal destiny. Francis Schaeffer correctly pointed out, “Modern man has his feet firmly planted in mid air.” In this stormy cultural climate, we should winsomely... Continue Reading