With another Sunday, we have another batch of letters to the editor. I received plenty of comments on my article about preaching the gospel to Mormons. Several of them were from practicing Mormons who, not surprisingly, strongly disagreed with what I said. Here are some of the other responses I received. Comments on When the…
Don’t Theologize or Spiritualize Ministry Mediocrity This is an important challenge to churches that love good preaching. “Why is it that so many churches that profess a commitment to the primacy of expository preaching, settle for mediocrity in so many other facets of the church’s ministry?” The Most Dangerous Place On Earth And speaking of…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by Finalweb who was also the blog’s sponsor for the week. Finalweb creates excellent websites for Christian ministries and churches, while seamlessly integrating advanced features like livestreaming and mobile apps. Their unique system allows your church to create its own site without the need for any programming knowledge…
Late last year I announced the 2016 Reading Challenge, a fun way to increase and diversify your reading through another year. I took the challenge and set this year’s goal at 104 books. However, because so much of my reading has to go toward reviewing books that are recently published and of interest to Christians…
A Matter of Inches You will eventually breathe a sigh of relief. “My wife and I got into the car and drove across town to the hospital, fearing the worst and yet trying to hope for the best. We offered short, pathetic prayers as we went.” Uncool Coins There’s probably a sermon illustration in this…
Today we continue this series on the character of the Christian. We are exploring how the various character qualifications of elders are actually God’s calling on all Christians. While elders are meant to exemplify these traits, all Christians are to display them. I want us to consider whether we are displaying these traits and to…
Our Prayer Instincts Are Backwards “Approaching the Queenstown airport in mid-winter—with mountain ranges on both sides and a huge lake straight ahead—we were caught in a giant wind tunnel. The plane was shuddering and sporadically dropping 50 feet at a time. The cabin filled with shrieking and praying. Many people were crying out to a…
Do you remember Benjamin Watson’s Facebook post from November 14, 2015? The news had just gone out that a St. Louis County grand jury had decided not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Watson, a professional football player, took to Facebook with a post that would soon…
Announcing the all-new PrayerMate v5 One of my favorite everyday apps has gotten an update. I was part of the beta test and have already enjoyed this new version. Do Something Small For God I think we all need these reminders from time to time. “We can feel like if we don’t do something great…
We live in a visual culture. Today, people increasingly rely upon visuals to help them understand new and difficult concepts. The rise and popularity of the Internet infographic has given us a new way to convey data, concepts, and ideas. But the visual portrayal of truth is not a novel idea. God himself used visuals…
Sex Abuse in the Church Catherine Parks writes about the ugly reality of sexual abuse in the church. “In recent months, I have thought frequently about abuse allegations in the church. I have read story after story about abuse victims who went to church leaders and either were not believed or were blamed in part…
This week’s sponsored post was prepared by Finalweb. There’s no denying that the world has gone “mobile.” In the last few years, life has changed dramatically thanks to the little rectangles most of us rely on and rarely separate from. For the church, technology sometimes almost feels a little out of place. For those of…
We live just down the road from a large Mormon congregation—or a large church building, at any rate. Not surprisingly, we receive regular visits from the missionaries dispatched to woo and win our neighborhood. Though the individuals vary each time, the pattern is consistent: Two clean-cut Caucasian young men with American accents, friendly and engaging,…
Scruffy Hospitality This is good: “Scruffy hospitality means you’re not waiting for everything in your house to be in order before you host and serve friends in your home. Scruffy hospitality means you hunger more for good conversation and serving a simple meal of what you have, not what you don’t have.” The Most Important…
This week’s letters to the editor were almost all in response to my article Going All-in With Ebooks. I suppose this is not too surprising since Christians in general, and perhaps especially Christians who read a site like this one, tend to be committed readers. Every committed reader has an opinion, and often a very…
Freedom in Grief, Not Freedom From Grief This is an important distinction for those who are grieving (and those who are grieving alongside them). When Abortion Suddenly Stopped Making Sense “We thought, back then, that few abortions would ever be done. It’s a grim experience, going through an abortion, and we assumed a woman would…
Last week’s Free Stuff Fridays, sponsored by The Master’s College, was popular enough that we are going to do it again this week! There will be 5 winners this week, and each of them will receive two great items: a complete course called The Land of the Bible for you to complete at home along…
In his book The Forgotten Fear, Albert Martin lists eight “specific directives for maintaining and increasing the fear of God in our hearts.” What follows are his eight directives along with summaries of each point in his own words (lightly tweaked). Consider following these strategies for your own growth in Christlikeness. 1) Be certain that…
The Lady Bible Hunters Here’s a great tale: “Scottish twins Agnes and Margaret Smith were the last people you’d expect to discover one of the earliest known copies of the gospels, but in a dusty closet in an Egyptian monastery in 1859–without a university education or formal language training between them–the God-fearing twins uncovered the…
I told you last week about a new series that looks at the character of the Christian. What I mean to do is explore how the character qualifications of elders are actually God’s calling on all Christians. While elders are meant to exemplify these traits, all Christians are to display them. I want us to…