Could You Stick the Landing?
This is a guest post by Matt Owen, my friend and associate pastor of Community Baptist Church in Trenton, MI. Only a few days have passed since the Olympic torch was extinguished at the conclusion...
View ArticleA Few Thoughts about Abortion, Adoption, and the Election
Despite Bill Clinton’s famous statement that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare,” today only one of those three adjectives is actually descriptive of abortion in America. Abortion remains legal...
View ArticleToxic Charity at Christmas
Christmas is a time of giving. Many people and organizations embrace this spirit of giving by organizing programs that provide gifts to low-income families. They often encourage families with more...
View ArticleEquip and Encourage
Dave Doran defines “worldliness” biblically and discusses the “in, but not of, the world” command. In a follow-up video, he talks about distinguishing between worldly and non-worldly issues in culture.
View ArticleIf You Enjoyed the Halftime Show You Should Repent
There, I’ve said it. OK, maybe (and I mean MAYBE) a case could be made that a mature believer could justify watching portions of the show as a means of cultural analysis and critique, but if a...
View ArticleEquip and Encourage
Dave Doran talks about his recent sermon series on contentment, specifically addressing why it is an important subject for the church to think through in our culture. Topics covered in the talk: 0:24...
View ArticleOn Preaching Hell…and Holiness
Last week a respondent to one of my earlier posts chastised me for addressing matters of sin and sanctification because in doing so, I was ignoring the elephantine issues of “poverty, homelessness,...
View ArticleThe Rites of the Gathered Church as Ordinary Means of Grace
In Reformed life, one commonly hears reference made to the “ordinary means of grace,” a category that typically includes the reading of Scripture, prayer, the “ordered” ministry of the Word, and other...
View ArticleCultivating Fear by the Cross
Often reason and experience are pitted against each other in discussions of Christianity. Some Christians accuse others of merely intellectual Christianity, while others retort back about an overly...
View ArticleSome Advice from Paul for Young Seminarians: A Letter
Dear [seminarian], I thought I’d write to pass along a bit of advice about your studies from St. Paul. I suspect now may be as good of a time as any, since you’ll likely receive this right after your...
View ArticleLiving In Light of Death: Ecclesiastes 9:7–10
Can you imagine the shock when an usher escorts you out of a church service to be told that your mother had just died? Because my mother was forty-four years old at that time and had become a Christian...
View ArticleWanting to Be Noticed
We live in a hyper-sexualized and semi-pornographic culture. The problem dominates popular advertising, pervades our entertainment choices, and even weasels its way into our churches. The concept of...
View ArticleOn College and Faith
A pair of articles on the question of whether to send one’s child to a secular or to a Christian college here and here and discussed further here has recently captured my attention. My eldest son is a...
View ArticleWill Anyone Speak Against Worldliness?
There is an elephant in the room of Evangelicalism that very few want to talk about. If we bring it up, we face ridicule and labels. “Legalist!” some shout, having little understanding of what legalism...
View ArticleShould Believers Be Different from Unbelievers?
As often happens with discussions of worldliness among Christians, Pearson’s post yesterday sparked a bit of disagreement (much of which confirmed the first paragraph of the post). As Pearson noted...
View ArticleWorldliness and the Problem of Disordered Love
Recent discussions about the nature of worldliness reminded me of a statement that dates from the late fourth century. In his book On Christian Teaching, Augustine (354–430) discusses what it means to...
View ArticleJesus’ Ethics: Four Observations
One of the lectures I give each year in my Gospels class is titled “Who’s Invited and What Should They Do?” In the first part (“Who’s Invited?”), I talk about who it was Jesus invited (invites) to...
View ArticlePriorities During the Holiday Season
For some reason it seems to have started earlier than usual this year. Naïvely perhaps, I’ve always thought “Black Friday” referred to the day after Thanksgiving (i.e., Friday). The reality is that...
View Article“Peace, Peace” When There Is No Peace
One of the more troubling mis-translations in the history of English Bible translation (at least in terms of its popular acceptance and impact) is the King James rendering of Luke 2:14 as “Glory to God...
View ArticleWhat to Do After Graduation? Why Not Go Back to Your Home Church
Many college and seminary students are either preparing for another semester of school to start or have already begun working on classes. For some, this will be their final semester before graduation....
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