The Church, in all her glory, is vastly more lawyers, administrative assistants, doctors, construction workers, and mechanical engineers than she is vocational pastors and paid missionaries. So we do well to think carefully and Christianly about our everyday work. Here are five simple encouragements for the vast majority of Christians who labor vocationally outside the... Continue Reading

There is good news here though, I think. The good news is that this is one more indicator that the sexual revolution is, ultimately, boring. Marriage and family can be discarded, but, in time, their proposed replacements become the new norm, and it’s time for the revolutionaries to rebel again. That can only go on for so... Continue Reading

Therefore, it is a shallow approach to the Bible to mock the prohibition concerning the eating of shellfish (Leviticus 11:9-12) as if it still applied today, without understanding this temporary command within the sweep of redemptive history and the explicit teaching of Jesus who has come to liberate us from such ceremonial and cultic behaviour... Continue Reading

“The Bible Belt is collapsing,” he declared. “The world of nominal, cultural Christianity that took the American dream and added Jesus to it in order to say, ‘you can have everything you ever wanted and Heaven too,’ is soon to be gone. Good riddance.”   Southern Baptist theologian Russell Moore challenged his fellow Christians to... Continue Reading

So, it seems that the real issue here is not so much protecting the church from being co-opted by politics, though we certainly need to be watchful on that score.  Rather, it is the deeper question of what can the Gospel accomplish in our lives as individuals, in our families, and, yes, even in the... Continue Reading

At that point it became abundantly clear that the preacher must connect emotion to cognition in order to get action. There is no motion without emotion. It’s as true in the underdog’s locker room at halftime as it is in your pews on Sunday.   I used to never bother with sermon illustrations because I... Continue Reading

If the church were indeed a business, then a pastor would be wise to view his occupation much as any businessperson sees their career. The goal would be to improve skills, land the role of greatest influence, gain the most responsibility, and be rewarded by the best compensation package, all while residing in the most... Continue Reading

I’m well aware of the fact that our tolerance of “day-age,” “analogical,” and “framework” views is seen by some as a very good thing. It shows that we are not stick-in-the-mud fundamentalists. And for this reason we can still be people who are respected by intellectuals and scientific people. We can even join with them... Continue Reading

I noted last week that an extra ‘q’ had been added to the now familiar LGBTQ initials.  I had gained that gem of knowledge by browsing the freshman packet of Georgetown University (Georgetown is, as the late Richard John Neuhaus enjoyed pointing out, a Jesuit institution).  Well, a keen eyed reader of Ref21 has spotted that Millersville University,... Continue Reading

No doubt, these “customer service” type items do not embody the core commitments of gospel ministry. But as an expression of kindness, love, and hospitality, they are not insignificant. During one of the long periods while my bookkeeper was put on hold, she turned to me and whispered, “This is why we switched banks.” Smart... Continue Reading