It is Christmas morning as I write these words, and this year we are away down south in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We are here to spend the holidays with my parents and siblings. All-told I guess there will be twenty-four of us gathered around the tree and the table a bit later on—that’s my parents, my…
Tis the season for year-end round-ups, and it is a good time for such business matters because readership always plunges dramatically during the holiday season. I took some time to look back at my statistics from the year that was, and here are the articles that got the greatest number of readers in 2013: 10.…
The Violence of Christmas – “Do yourself a favor before Christmas. Read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth. Then read Genesis 1-3. Then read Revelation 12. Then throw in Romans 16:20 for good measure. That’s the whole Christmas story. It’s not simply the poetic and sweet story of a child’s birth, welcomed by stars and…
What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” This was one of Paul’s parting commands to Timothy. Paul had nearly come to the end of his life and wrote Timothy to tell him that he had to think beyond…
Toronto Ice Storm – My family headed south for Christmas Saturday morning; this hit our city Saturday evening. I’m glad we fled when we did! 5 Things Christian Should Stop Saying – Jason Johnson: “We mean well, don’t we? But sometimes our attempts to say something spiritual actually come out unbiblical, or at a minimum,…
Last week I began a new series of articles on the seven ecumenical councils of the early church. These councils commenced with the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and concluded with the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. Between these two events were five more, each of which attempted to understand and establish a…
Aren’t There Enough Christian Books Already? – We’ve probably all asked the question at one time or another. Barnabas Piper answers well. “So, are there enough Christian books out there? Yes – of the boring, repetitive, prescriptive variety. Yes – of the all flash, no substance type. Yes – of the boring type. But that’s…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by a new sponsor around these parts: ProChurch. They are giving away 3 prizes this week, and each prize will be a Premier Package for their film, Light in the Darkness, a documentary film featuring real people and stories from the country of India. Shot on location in…
Top-Ten Theology Stories – Collin Hansen says, “before we turn to 2014, it can be encouraging or at least instructive to take stock of the last 12 months. Perspective is a rare gift in our social media age.” To do that, he offers up this top ten theology stories from the past year. I Offended…
Well isn’t this the most self-serving thing you’ll read all day? But I’d like you to hear me out. It was just over two years ago that Zondervan published my book The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion. This was a book that came out of my own explorations on the nature…
Re: Mark Driscoll – I really appreciated Jared Wilson’s article on Mark Driscoll. He says it well and with great care and kindness. You Have Been Warned – Al Mohler responds to the controversy surrounding the show Duck Dynasty. When Nothing Created Everything – Joe Carter has written what our culture has been missing for…
USING THE WWW FOR WINTER WEATHER WARNING Christmas greetings from your friends at Church Plant Media! Before our various holiday celebrations, we wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Due to all the recent snowfall across North America, Tim has asked us to help you put together an inclement weather…
I had an idea! What if I rebrand this site Reformed People and make it the gossip rag, the tabloid, of the Reformed world? This much is true: I would never run out of people to discuss and evaluate. Just last week I received emails or phone calls concerning at least five open and active…
Ligonier has added three new volumes to R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series, all of which are free: How Can I Develop a Christian Conscience?, What Is the Church?, and What Is the Lord’s Supper?. Also consider A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A. Carson. And if you missed yesterday’s long list of deals, be sure…
I have had to face and overcome a few great fears in life. There was the time I had to meet my [future] father-in-law to ask his permission to marry Aileen. There was the time I first stood in front of a church and attempted to preach a sermon. There was the time I first…
Don’t Pull a LOST – Jamie Brown writes about our worship services and compares them to the show LOST. He doesn’t mean it as a compliment. The Right to Do Anything – Mounce looks at 1 Corinthians 6:12 and shows how important it is to get the translation correct. Westminster Books – Westminster Books has…
We all have some familiarity with that deep, gnawing, pit-of-the-stomach anxiety, that stubborn worry that refuses to abate. The cause and effect may be a little different for each one of us, but we all have a time and a place and set of circumstances that causes us to be anxious. In his book Running…
The Danger of a How-To – I really appreciated this article and it’s big point: “In the end, evangelicals are evangelicals not because we follow four principles, five keys, or six secrets. In the end, evangelicals are evangelicals because we build our lives on the gospel alone. Let us then go and preach and minister…
Today I am beginning a new series of articles on the seven ecumenical councils of the early church. These councils commenced with the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and concluded with the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. Between these two events were five more, each of which attempted to understand and establish a…
The Legalism Boogeyman – This is true! “The legalism card often gets overplayed. More and more I’ve interacted with Christians humbly and faithfully working out their salvation with fear and trembling, only to have the legalism card slapped on them. As such, they’re being fallaciously warned about legalism bogeymen. There are many I’ve heard of…