May is almost upon us, and to get the month started right, here are some wallpapers calendars that will dress up your computer, tablet or cell phone. This month’s wallpaper comes from Chris Merritt, who runs a digital design studio known as Pixelight Creative, tucked away in the warm suburbs of Dallas, Texas. Chris does…
Christianity is a bloody faith. It is a bloody faith because it is the faith of sinful people and the Bible tells us that sin requires blood. For sin to be forgiven, for sinful people to be made right with God, there must be a payment of blood. That payment was made by Jesus Christ…
A Deeply Needy People – “Have you ever considered why there are so many diverse spiritual gifts in the body of Christ? … As I’ve reflected on this diversity of gifts, it comes to my mind how significant they are to the promise of Christ to build His church. His ongoing work extends through the…
One of the significant difficulties many husbands and wives encounter is the place of sexual desire and pleasure in marriage. I want to speak to this today by answering a representative question, one of many I’ve received. “You speak of sex like it is a pure and holy thing. Yet when my husband wants to…
The Socially Acceptable Sin – This is a well-written and thought-provoking article: “In practice, there are some sins that are socially acceptable, even in the Church. There’s one sin in particular that has pervaded our society and churches so silently we hardly give it a second thought, and that is the constant hunt for more…
Everything Is Rigged – This is a long and interesting article from Rolling Stone: “The idea that prices in a $379 trillion market could be dependent on a desk of about 20 guys in New Jersey should tell you a lot about the absurdity of our financial infrastructure. The whole thing, in fact, has a…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by Frontline Ministries. This is an amazing ministry that produces the Dispatches from the Front DVD series–a series I love. Here is what the ministry is all about: Frontline’s key objective is to advance the Gospel, forming vibrant, Word-centered, disciple-making churches, especially in those regions of the world…
8 Things We’ve Learned About Music – “The truth is we’re learning new things about music all the time. Here are eight studies published in just the past few months.” When You Disconnect – “One of the primary principles of the work we teach at the Energy Project is that the greater the performance demand,…
I love reading books, but I also love reading reviews of books. Reviews allow me to discover books I haven’t heard of, they teach me to think wisely, they allow me to better prioritize the books I am considering reading, and they sometimes provide a helpful second opinion on books I have already read. For…
Please order my book and film Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History.
Wandering from the Truth – “It’s very rare that anyone ever decides to abandon the truth. What happens much more often is that people wander. It happens gradually. It happens when you do not have any particular goal. You lose your moorings and you drift.” Here are four warning signs that you may be wandering…
Stuff Christians Say obviously struck a nerve; it has racked up tens of thousands of views on YouTube and hundreds of thousands on GodTube. Two guys hop between various locations while offering a long list of “stuff Christians say,” those words and phrases distinct to Christianity. “God thing,” “secular music,” “my testimony,” “traveling mercies”–they are…
When Your Husband’s Heart Is Hard – Joy McClain: “I was a wife willing to stay and keep my vow, no matter what. I desired a good thing—a godly marriage. Yet I failed when that desire became a demand I placed on my husband who chased the elusive mistress of alcohol. He was locked in…
No one could possibly claim that the Beatitudes (see Matthew 5:1-12) are overlooked or underappreciated. They have been the subject of countless books and sermon series. But this is not to say that the Beatitudes have been widely understood and properly taught. As often as not they have suffered from moralization, reduced to the level…
The Power of His Rising – The Power of His Rising is episode 6 of the amazing Dispatches from the Front series of DVDs. Westminster Books has it on sale for just $5 (or the whole series for $40). Seriously, buy it, watch it with your family, church or small group, and discuss it. Discussing…
I am rather a skeptic when it comes to many of the claims of global warming and environmentalism. However, this skepticism about the prognostications of doom and gloom does not indicate that I am unconcerned about the planet we live on. It is quite the opposite, really. I want my skepticism to allow me to…
The Explosion in West, Texas and Fatherhood – Here is a fantastic article from Grant Castleberry: “Losing a father is unspeakably horrific for all children. The son has lost the one person primarily responsible to train him to be a man, and to help him through that process. The daughter has lost her provider, protector,…
My Favorite Picture – I really enjoyed this article: “Last week I was overwhelmed – again. It was deja vu from two years ago. All those hallways and galleries and glass cases and tiny spotlights. It doesn’t take long for me to get lost in the varied and sometimes loose interpretations of art at The…