Be vigilant in knowing who serves in your church and make the protection of your children a priority for your church. This may not lead to astounding church growth, but I guarantee you that creating sound and open security procedures will set at ease parents who visit your church for the first time. Moreover, I... Continue Reading

These are all of the things I might say, but it’s probably useless. This isn’t a discussion, anyway. When you degrade and attack a man for holding a sensible and utterly unremarkable opinion about something as inconsequential as hypothetical draft strategies, you are obviously not interested in having a conversation. You only want to punish the transgressor for his scandalous lack of... Continue Reading

It is not true that the doctrine of God is the only doctrine of importance. It is quite obviously of central importance. However, we cannot reduce Christianity to our doctrine of God. What about our doctrines of Scripture, Christ, man, salvation, Holy Spirit, church, and sacraments? Are they now to be completely ignored in the... Continue Reading

The debate around the Hobby Lobby case, birth control methods, and insurance coverage illuminates not only how deeply divided Christians are on these matters but also how ill-defined the central questions are. Questions of conscience are matters for all believers to respect in each other even amidst disagreement. If Christians cannot engage with each other... Continue Reading

If we really look at this issue of child trafficking in America, it’s another lens through which to understand how broken our foster care system is. Many of these girls, especially, have been put into multiple placements, and many of these girls in those different placements have been abused. So one survivor leader whom we... Continue Reading

According to John, our greatest need is to be saved from perishing. But what doesperish mean? The best way to answer is to consider biblical statements that illuminate this teaching. For instance, there is Jesus’ reference in this same chapter to the “serpent in the wilderness,” which Moses lifted up (John 3:14). Jesus was referring to... Continue Reading

last issue presents a distinctive challenge to conservatives like me, who believe such work requirements are essential. If we want women like Debra Harrell to take jobs instead of welfare, we have to also find a way to defend their liberty as parents, instead of expecting them to hover like helicopters and then literally arresting... Continue Reading

Confession and forgiveness are not terminal destinations; they are pivot points of new commencement.  They are not ends but beginnings of new obedience, exercised by the grace of God that teaches and trains “us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age”   “If we... Continue Reading

“Don’t talk about the glories of heaven before you talk about the person who is now there. Instead, establish rapport with the grieving community by articulating what made the deceased person unique. A funeral congregation is often one whose ear you have to earn—and you earn those ears in your descriptions of the deceased. If... Continue Reading

I have long held, with my tongue only partly in my cheek, that the primary job of a pastor’s wife is to keep the pastor alive.  Most churches have at least some people who will organize events, or lead Bible studies, or play the piano. We’ve got members who greet, members who teach, and members... Continue Reading