Take guilt to God: Mention devotions to most Christians and the guilt meter goes straight to red: guilt over failure to do them, guilt over lack of profit in them, guilt over rushing through them. As there’s nothing so motivating as starting with a clean sheet, let’s take all our guilt to God and find the... Continue Reading

This may all seem a little burdensome when you feel like you ought to be able to say whatever you feel however you feel whenever you feel it. But your pastor bears similar burdens. Keep in mind that he likely has multiple people with “helpful suggestions” speaking to him every week. Measure your thoughts out... Continue Reading

When I use the language of effectiveness, I am not speaking of guaranteed or immediate results: it is God who gives the increase (1Cor 3.7). Effectiveness, in this sphere, is a matter of the faithful communication of God’s saving truth to those who have not known it either entirely or accurately. Of course, our hope... Continue Reading

We must take a hard look at the hard sayings of Scripture, trusting that the Spirit who composed them will use them to do that which is the Spirit’s essential ministry: bringing us to and confirming us in Christ. When we try to maneuver our way around the hard sayings within Scripture, we miss the... Continue Reading

Must the goal of Christian action turn, perhaps, from a focus on “saving the culture” to a focus on saving the church? Infiltrated by cultural attitudes, the church often fails to understand and express the Christian cosmology presupposed in the Gospel. Specifically, those active in a biblically faithful Church need to call into being a... Continue Reading

Calvin leaves no room for a middle ground. Either we ardently pursue the example of Christ or else we strongly renounce Him by our conduct and lifestyle. How different this standard is from the attitude of so many of today’s Christians, who are quite casual or halfhearted in their pursuit of Christlikeness. But from Calvin’s... Continue Reading

I am not calling for an end to mercy ministries. I am calling for them to be made better. I am calling for them to be more reciprocal, less one sided and thought of more as a stepping stone on the road to serious Christian discipleship within the local church. My contention is that generous... Continue Reading

This year’s Catalyst conference is one such example of their crusade to spread liberal ideology, not theology. Why else would Catalyst invite Mayor Booker, whose speaker bio doesn’t even include the word Jesus, Christian, or God? Oh, but according to his political biography, as Democratic National Committee (DNC) co-chair he did advocate for no-restriction abortions and... Continue Reading

The nature of the gospel demands that we treat all of God’s people equally and fairly. It also demands that we ourselves think that others will do the same. The Gospel’s equity is plain to see and all of God’s people benefit from this Christian grace. James challenges us to lay aside our prejudices and... Continue Reading

Of course there are other, not necessarily “Christian,” reasons why evangelicals (like other Americans) support Israel. Shared ethical and moral foundations; the feeling of kinship between two settler democracies with a sense of their own exceptionalism; the impulse to partner against enemies of the democratic West and especially, these days, against radical Islam; the urge... Continue Reading