If there will ever be a day when we are post-racial then the church in the U.S. will have to become known as a Christ-exalting, biblically faithful, racially and ethnically inclusive body.  Not because of a social agenda, but because of the gospel.   History is alive.  And in the United States that history is... Continue Reading

But we don’t hear too often of anyone aspiring to anonymity.  Yet that’s the direction in which the Apostle Paul pushes us when he says in 1 Thessalonians “to aspire to live quietly” (4:11).  Literally, what he says is that we are to make it our ambition to be unambitious.   What are your aspirations... Continue Reading

When the church declines to speak the truth about marriage, it invites competing and false views to rob marriage’s purpose. Were the church to “get out of the marriage business” as some are tempted to demand, two mistakes will follow. First, the church will allow a false understanding of marriage to dominate the public square.... Continue Reading

Sequential exposition of biblical books is one of the best ways to ensure a balanced diet for the people. Preaching through an entire Gospel will help you address the historia salutis (the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus), unfold important theological themes (eternal life, kingdom of God, new birth, eschatology), and teach on nitty-gritty... Continue Reading

Revisionist covenant-breakers defend themselves by calling such a stance “legalism” or by saying they, on their own or with their small cabal of compatriots, have acquired a better handle on the Holy Spirit’s leading (which, in matters of sexuality, is in direct contradiction with the revelation of Scripture). They are being “prophetic” because they are... Continue Reading

For the Christian who is a prospective student, this may mean more work and hard choices. It may mean sitting down with lists of universities on one sheet and churches on another and working out where there is an appropriate correspondence. It may mean beginning with a long list of universities and doing the research... Continue Reading

Apart from this sacred flame, Spurgeon knew that his gospel proclamation would be delivered in a rote, mechanical fashion, lacking zeal. Such a delivery would betray the message he preached. Only by the Spirit’s aid could he stand in the pulpit “adoring the majestic and consciously present God, every faculty aroused and joyously excited to... Continue Reading

As I’ve suggested, when “unequally yoked” people marry, the problem isn’t intellectual or philosophical, it’s ontological. The couple’s ensuing battles (particularly over matters of faith) will stem from conflicting natures. And sadly, counseling can’t change someone’s nature. All of the counseling in the world cannot make an apple an orange, or an unbeliever a believer.... Continue Reading

The greatest danger for seminary students is that they assume the lectures they hear in class are the model for the sermons they are to deliver from the pulpit.  They are not. Preaching is a theological act. The preacher finds his counterpart not in the lecture theatre or the classroom or, most ghastly of all,... Continue Reading

The modern world, with the recent invasion of pagan thinking, has lost this sense of a pre-determined created existence. Our culture now rejoices in liberation from heterosexual normativity, thus dismissing the importance of reproduction. In our vision of the future, we are constructing a paradigm based entirely on this-worldly speculations of our human identity.  ... Continue Reading