At times each of us is faced with destructive desires—the kind of desires that, were we to act on them, would necessarily harm ourselves or others, and necessarily distance ourselves from the God we love. In Douglas Kaine McKelvey’s quirky book Every Moment Holy, I found a prayer that expresses the sorrow of such desire…
After 180,000 miles of travel, 24 countries, at least 80 museums, and many rounds of writing, revising and designing, my new book and documentary series are pretty much ready to go! Epic: An Around-the-World Journey through Christian History explores the history of what God is accomplishing in this world–whether through princes or peasants, triumph or…
I don’t mean to be a nag. I really don’t. On the other hand, I really do love the idea of you achieving your reading goals in 2020. Or, if you don’t have a formalized reading goal, I at least love the idea of helping you to read something, and maybe even to read a…
A little while ago I offered a few practical pointers on marriage and these were drawn from a day I spent leading an event for young married couples. I had been asked to be the voice of experience that, after teaching Scripture truths, would offer some practical pointers. That first batch of tips focused on…
It is surprisingly difficult to turn a good intention into a life-long discipline. That isn’t to say it can’t be done. But it will be hard, there will be setbacks, and it will take both backbone and resilience. Now is probably a good time to remind you of that. If you are like many Christian…
If you could speak to 70 nearly-married or newly-married couples and give them some practical pointers on marriage, what would you say? That was the question I faced as I prepared for a recent event across town. My first assignment was to speak on the Christian family and then to describe some of the challenges…
Last week I had the opportunity to speak at the annual (bi-annual as of 2021) G3 Conference in Atlanta. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the event and, as always, my favorite part was meeting so many of you. On the opening day of the conference I participated in a Q&A session that included John MacArthur,…
Strictly speaking, to alliterate is to provide a list of words that begin with the same letter or sound, as in “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” In a broader sense, to alliterate is to form an outline using similarly-sounding words or phrases. It is a device that, in theory, helps readers to…
We are a week into the new year. We are already a week into the new year. While not all of us took the time to set ambitious goals and resolutions as we passed from December into January, I think most of us at least saw it as a kind of fresh start. A new…
In our pain we know God is not absent, but in our pain we also wonder whether God is present. Or perhaps more correctly we wonder how God is present. In times of great grief or dark uncertainty we cling to the reality that God is a loving Father who has welcomed us into his…
In general, there are two approaches to daily Bible-reading: reading for intimacy or reading for familiarity. Intimacy with the Bible comes through slow, meditative reading that focuses on small portions—deep study of key books, chapters, and verses. Familiarity with the Bible comes through faster reading of much larger portions—the entire sweep of the biblical narrative.…
I am very much enjoying Piercing Heaven, a wonderful collection of Puritan prayers. Here is one that seems especially suitable for a Sunday morning, before you listen to that sermon. Lord, I am now entering into your presence, to hear you speak from heaven to me, to receive your rain and spiritual dew, which never…
Good morning, and merry Christmas! It occurred to me as I lay in bed this morning that my family has turned a corner when it comes to Christmas. We’ve transitioned from the kids begging to be allowed to get up ridiculously early, to the kids wanting to be able to stay in bed as long…
I am really enjoying Piercing Heaven, a wonderful collection of Puritan prayers. Here is one that seems especially suitable for a Sunday evening. Holy and eternal Lord, I confess those many weaknesses and imperfections which I have been guilty of today. I call on you for the pardon and forgiveness of my sins. I have…
Not many of us get to die the way we wished. But my dad did. A man of the earth, he had a great passion for plants, a love for flowers and trees and all manner of flora. He saw the beauty in each of them, the unique promise every one held to make this…
A recent book titled Piercing Heaven shares favorite prayers from the Puritans. Many of them are amazing prayers. As an example, here is Joseph Alleine praying for the salvation of the lost. O Lord, how insufficient I am for this work. With what will I pierce the scales of Leviathan—or make my heart, hard as…
For the past couple of weeks my RSS feeder has been humming with list after list of the best books of 2019 (or, if not the best, the favorite books of 2019). It seems that just about every avid reader I follow is eager to share his or her picks for the year that was.…
Yesterday morning my father sent a quick email to ask if he could call me later that evening—he wanted to hear about my experiences in Africa, I’m sure. Yesterday afternoon my sister made a tearful phone call to say that she had found him unconscious and unresponsive. There was nothing she or the paramedics could…
On Saturday I returned home from a lengthy overseas trip and thought I’d share a few notes about what I saw and experienced along the way. While the original and primary purpose of the visit was to get to northern Zambia to speak at a conference for pastors and church leaders, it turned into an…
I do not often run guest articles on this site. But every now and again I do make an exception—usually for my friend Paul Carter. In this case, he is going to suggest a great way to turn a retired Bible into a precious family heirloom. What follows is from Paul… If you are a…