I think each one of us has probably had a kind of disquieting experience in which we’ve suddenly realized that a lot of Christian publishing is bunk. While we are undoubtedly blessed with far more truthful and edifying books than ever before, we are also cursed with far more untruthful and unedifying books.
Canada has gained a lot of attention in recent years due to its commitment to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), its preferred idiom for euthanasia. Some honor Canada as groundbreaking in its commitment to bringing dignity to death while others abhor it as taking advantage of the weak, the elderly, and the vulnerable. Already euthanasia…
Christians have long compared prayer to a thermometer that measures spiritual heat. When we grow complacent in our relationship with the Lord, that thermometer almost invariably registers cool, for in such times we pray seldom and we pray without fervor.
It often surprises me how inadvertently selfish we human beings can be and how obliviously self-centered our behavior can become. I see this in many ways, but one has stood out to me over the past little stretch of time.
No Christian tradition is perfect, which means that every Christian tradition has its own strengths and weaknesses. Every tradition has areas in which it presses hard to understand and live according to biblical truth, but then also areas in which it inevitably fails to completely match Scripture’s teaching and emphases. Since every tradition is the…
When we think of worship, our thoughts almost always gravitate to singing—the two have become inseparable and almost synonymous in our minds and in our church services. Yet singing is actually just one component of worship. We worship when we sing, but we also worship when we read Scripture, when we listen to a sermon,…
Christians can often have a strange relationship with the body. Certain Christian traditions have treated the body as if it is no more than a shell for the soul, a material self that is of little importance when compared to the immaterial self. Other Christian traditions have treated the body as if it is of…
One of the most important responsibilities of every Christian is the responsibility of praying for the salvation of the lost. It is an important responsibility, but also a difficult one, and especially so when we have labored in prayer for years or decades without seeing that person come to faith.
I can’t say why it is that we place extra emphasis on anniversaries that are multiples of five. Why does five years seem more significant than six or 20 than 21? It’s a strange custom, yet one we all acknowledge and accept. And on that note, today marks the fifth anniversary of the day my…
Over the course of our Christian lives, we hear hundreds or even thousands of sermons. Perhaps through the sheer repetition, we are prone to forget what makes preaching so special, so unique. At the heart of preaching is the wonder…
One of the most difficult circumstances any family will face is when some love the Lord and others reject him. Sometimes it is Christian parents whose child knowingly rejects and turns away from the faith their parents had taught and modeled. Sometimes it is a Christian spouse who watches their husband or wife reject Christ…
To pray “Thy will be done” means more than “Thy will be endured.” It is more than a promise that we will grit our teeth and bear whatever his providence dictates. It will involve endurance, to be sure, but it must involve more than that. It must also involve submission and commission.
A well-known pastor was once asked whether he was offended that a new church near his had taken on the same name. “Are you offended that they are also calling themselves Grace Church?” “No,” he replied. Then said something like, “I’m not bothered that they are calling themselves ‘Grace.’ I’m bothered that they are calling…
Aileen and I like to watch boring shows right before we turn in for the night. An exciting game or an intense movie might get us too engaged and keep us from being able to fall asleep. But a boring show nicely slows the pace and prepares us to rest.
There are blessings that come with living in a part of the world that sees four distinct seasons. There are trials, too, like when the days are scorching or the nights are bitterly cold. But if I were to leave this part of the world, I know I would miss the seasonality of Southern Ontario…
Have you ever thought about what the Bible would be like if you had been in charge of writing or editing it? Whatever you would do, I am quite certain you would end up with something that would bear far more resemblance to a systematic theology text than the Bible we hold in our hands…
Many cold and lifeless churches testify to the fact that the mere presence of the Bible is no guarantee of spiritual life and vigor. Many churches have a Bible tucked neatly into every pew, but teach a message radically at odds with the words of that very Book.
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Most of us want to read more than we do. Many factors can interfere, whether the busyness of life, the allure of our devices, or the limitations of our budget. But I find that as often as not, we stop reading becauseF our habits have grown stale.
To be human is to be finite—to be limited in our knowledge of past, present, and future. We exist within strict boundaries of time and space, so that we cannot see beyond our present location or beyond our present moment. This is a feature of our humanity and not a bug…