My hardest lesson as a social worker? God wants me to be close to the brokenhearted as much as he wants me to save them. Twenty-four years old, conscious of my lack of preparedness and certain I would choke on my words, I stood on a dusty country road with a heroin addict whom I …
The infamous pyramid was never an accurate description of how people act, let alone a guide to discipleship. You may have been told once or twice: “People can’t hear the gospel if they’re hungry.” I’ve read it dozens of times in statements from pastors in the United States. But where, exactly, does the idea come …
How the president on the other side of the Moral Majority ended up invited to its unofficial headquarters. Former President Jimmy Carter has accepted an invitation to deliver the commencement address at Liberty University on Saturday. Many will view this announcement as surprising, some even as disappointing for one reason or another. I view it …
Scholar John Goldingay wants readers to rediscover the original feel of the Old Testament in his new translation. Many people struggle with Bible reading and engagement in general, but this is particularly true with the first part of the Bible. We know that those who do read tend to spend more time in the New …
The same Spirit that descended on the disciples at Pentecost empowers our devotion to God. My grandmother was part of a Holiness Pentecostal church. That meant—among many wonderful things—that they believed in entire sanctification. It was thought that in this life Christians could reach a level of personal holiness in which they could stop sinning. …
How to disciple in an era of male floundering. The mid-1990s were a pretty great time to be a Christian man. The televangelist scandals of the ’80s were in the past. Today’s megachurch scandals and #MeToo hashtags were far in the future. Instead, Christian men were making headlines for getting together en masse to pursue …
Why Peterson’s message of morals, manners and masculinity resonates with evangelicals. Evangelical Christian men will, sooner or later, be told to check out Jordan Peterson, a 55-year-old University of Toronto psychology professor. His book 12 Rules for Life has sold 700,000 copies since January in North America alone. New York Times columnist David Brooks called …
The 45-year-old pastor and SBC presidential candidate wants to unite and rejuvenate the denomination by prioritizing evangelism. J. D. Greear falls somewhere between two of his heroes, Martin Luther and Nicolas Cage. The North Carolina pastor strives for the famous reformer’s gospel convictions and allegiance to Scripture, as expected for a missions-minded Southern Baptist. It’s …
Augustine, T. F. Torrance, John Owen, and more. Selected by Kelly M. Kapic, professor of theological studies at Covenant College and the author of The God Who Gives: How the Trinity Shapes the Christian Story (Zondervan). On The Trinity (De Trinitate) Augustine This book is not for the faint of heart, but it is hard …
These three congregations don’t have a men’s ministry. Why men—and their families—still love them. I’ve studied high-performance organizations for nearly three decades, most recently examining churches that have grown by appealing to men. Here’s one of the most surprising commonalities among the man-friendly churches I’ve researched: None of them has a formal “men’s ministry.” Instead, …