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. …
Six tangible ways congregations can shift their gatherings from me to us. I grew up during America’s Moral Majority years, when putting an ichthus on your business card would up your professional game. In an era when group belonging seemed a foregone conclusion, evangelism emphasized a personal relationship with Christ, and corporate worship grew to …
How I found eternal life on death row. I grew up in the 1960s in one of the many daisy-chain suburbs surrounding Los Angeles. Seven of us, two adults and five children, struggled for living space in a tiny two-bedroom rental house. My father worked on an assembly line during the day; my mother worked …
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 …
It may sound weird, but knowing we have an enemy is encouraging. The gospel is full of odd comforts. Discovering I’m afflicted with depravity brings the relief of the doctor’s diagnosis: “There is something wrong with me. It’s not all in my head.” More importantly, it provides the good news that in Christ there’s a …
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 …