The Haunting Beauty of Scotland

Jul 29, 2018

1 min read

I recently returned from a trip to Scotland. I was there first to conduct my research for my worldwide EPIC project and then to enjoy some vacation with my family. We traveled far and wide and saw from Edinburgh to the Isle of Skye. We were blown away by the haunting beauty of Scotland, made all the more stunning by the constantly dreary skies. I snapped a few photos along the way and thought I’d share some of them today. I hope you enjoy them! (Some are having trouble seeing the photos on mobile devices. If that’s the case for you, click here.)

[envira-gallery id=”56512″]

The Beauty (and History) of Scotland

My EPIC church history journey continues to take me around the world. Most recently I traveled through Scotland to research its history and admire its beauty. Here’s a brief overview of some of what I found and experienced. My thanks goes to Zondervan for sponsoring the video to draw your attention to the definitive third…

Aug 7, 2018

Vlog

4 min read
A La Carte (July 30)

It seems to be getting harder to do, but I did track down some Kindle deals for those interested. (Yesterday on the blog: The Haunting Beauty of Scotland) Why the Book of Acts Matters for Your Life It’s one of my favorite books! “The Book of Acts gives us an example of radical generosity to…

Jul 30, 2018

A La Carte

4 min read
We Love New Zealand (10 Reflections)

Aileen and I have just wrapped up a lovely little vacation on New Zealand’s South Island. Having just reached our twenty-fifth anniversary and with both our girls now in college, we took the opportunity to let Air Canada travel miles take us as far as they could. We enjoyed ourselves a lot and at the…

Aug 27, 2023

Articles

6 min read

A La Carte (September 17)

A La Carte: Who’s afraid of Romans 1? / You can only be what you can see / Are you a pastor who hurts people? / A holy life is the seed of evangelism / Thinking biblically in all areas of life / and more.

Sep 17

A La Carte

3 min read
Shadow, Stream, and Scattered Beam Apologetics

This week the blog is sponsored by Zondervan Reflective. This is an excerpt from Thaddeus Williams’ latest book on living out a radically God-centered systematic theology entitled Revering God: How to Marvel at Your Maker (Zondervan Reflective, 2024), featuring stories of Christian thinkers like Michael Horton, Fred Sanders, Joni Eareckson-Tada, John Perkins, Vishal Mangalwadi, and…

Sep 16

Sponsored

4 min read
Did the Angels Laugh?

You’ve got to hand it to the chief priests and Pharisees: They did their best. They did their level best to keep Jesus in his tomb. After successfully overseeing his execution, they remembered that he had not only predicted his death but also spoken of some kind of resurrection. Wanting to make sure his disciples…

Sep 16

Articles

4 min read
A La Carte (September 16)

A La Carte: Why Christians won’t stop singing / Exercising an idle mind / The scars of hope / David’s sin in ordering a census / Is this actually accomplishing anything? / Kindle deals / and more.

Sep 16

A La Carte

3 min read
It Comes with a Personal Tutor

The promised Spirit has come, and one of the great helps this Helper performs is a kind of tutoring. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth says it well: “Unlike any other book that has ever been written, the Bible is alive; and it comes with a personal tutor—the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.”

Sep 15

Articles

2 min read
Weekend A La Carte (September 14)

A La Carte: The Battle and the Blessing (a new song!) / Curved in upon ourselves / Pondering the passage of time / The allure and danger of WitchTok / Be a Christian in every situation / and more.

Sep 14

A La Carte

4 min read

What Not To Say at the Beginning of a Worship Service

A few weeks ago Jared Wilson wrote an article titled “3 Things to Be Careful About Saying at the Start of Your Service.” In his article he offered some common service-starting cliches that are “worth weighing in terms of their helpfulness to the congregation’s worship.” They were, “How’s everybody doing this morning?”; “I can’t hear…

Sep 16, 2019

Articles

7 min read
Past Them, Through Them, Over Them, Around Them

It is inevitable that we face times of difficulty and impossible that we escape them altogether. To be born is to suffer and to live is to endure all manner of trouble and trial. Just as none of us escapes death, none of us escapes all hardships. And when we face such hardships, we invariably…

Sep 9

Articles

4 min read
Impossible, Unrealistic, Sinful, Lazy

God calls us to live lives marked by holiness. God could have arranged the world in such a way that when we put our faith in Christ, he immediately “zaps” us with the full measure of holy character. He could have arranged it this way, but in his wisdom he didn’t.

Sep 8

Articles

2 min read
Your Kids Need You To Help Them Build Their Identity

It has always been important that children establish their identity. From the time kids are young, they are being formed in a host of ways and gradually coming to terms with who they are and who they will become. Historically, identity arose from outside—from the people they came from, the place they were born, and…

Sep 13

Book Reviews

6 min read
The Pastoral Prayer: Examples and Inspirations

Of all the elements that once made up traditional Protestant worship, there is probably none that has fallen on harder times than prayer. It is not unusual to visit a church today and find that prayer is perfunctory, rare, or absent altogether. If that is true of prayer in general, it is particularly true of…

Sep 11

Articles

5 min read

Explore More

Explore More

Collections & Series

Top Topics

Top Scripture References

Recent Dates