Not a Hindrance But a Prerequisite
Many Christians feel they are too unholy or too sinful to participate in the Lord’s Supper. They come to the table downcast, convinced that their sin makes them unworthy. They may refuse to participate at all.
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It Doesn’t Matter What You Remember
I have a memory like a … what do you call it? That thing in the kitchen you use to sift the stuff you want from the stuff you don’t. A sieve! That’s it. I have a memory like a sieve. I joke about it at times, and about how I have to outsource remembering…
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Petty Annoyances and Minor Insults
I wonder if you are like me in that, as you look back on your life, you realize that most of the circumstances that have troubled you, most of the annoyances and disgruntlements, were produced by circumstances that were hardly worth noticing.
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A Front Door and a Family Meal
Baptism is a kind of front door to the local church, the God-ordained means through which a person identifies with Jesus Christ and formally comes to belong to Christ’s body, the church. Baptism is the church’s sign that this person is one of us, a brother or sister in the Lord, who has now been…
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To Those Who Married Poorly
Some marriages are the stuff of fairytales. Some are not. Some husbands marry wives who respect them and some wives marry husbands who love them as Christ loves his church. Some do not. The sad fact is that some people marry well and some people marry poorly.
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It Pictures Something and It Accomplishes Something
Each of the ordinances has a distinct purpose and a distinct role in the life of the Christian. Baptism is an initiatory rite, a means by which a person publicly identifies with Christ Jesus—an occasion of joy and blessing not only for the person being baptized but for the entire church.
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If You’re at CROSS Conference (Or Wish You Were)
If you are one of the young adults attending CROSS, or if you are in that demographic but were unable to attend, I want to make the 12-episode documentary available to you for free. It was filmed in 12 countries and allows you to experience worship in each of them.
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A Year-End Roundup of Roundups
‘Tis the time of year to consider the year that was. For bloggers, this usually involves a roundup of the most popular articles and favorite books. To that end, here is a roundup of my various roundups!
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New and Notable Christians Books for December
Even late in the year, we continue to see some excellent new books come our way. And, one way or another, most of them make their way to boxes on my front doorstep. I sort through all those books and try to distill them down to some of the most notable. Here are the ones…
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My Only Plea at New Year’s
As we come to the end of one year and the dawning of the next, I often find myself pondering the year that was and the year that will be. I often find myself thanking the Lord for all his mercies and pleading them for another year. To that end, I have often appreciated this…
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10 General Market Books I Enjoyed in 2025
While the bulk of what I read every year is published by Christians and for Christians, I do also enjoy reading books for the general market. On that note, here are 10 of the general market books I read and especially enjoyed in 2025.
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The Collected Best Books of 2025
I probably don’t need to tell you how much I love books in general, and Christian books in particular. One of my favorite times to be a reader is in mid-December when people begin to share their picks for the top books of the year. I collect all of the lists written by sites or…
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A Pastoral Prayer
Our Father in Heaven, we are gathered here this morning like children gathered before the feet of their father. We want to begin this new day with you. We want to begin this new week with you. Before we do anything, before we go anywhere, before we engage in work, school, or even play, we…
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The Best Complete Commentary Set for any Christian
Those who are serious about collecting commentaries will almost invariably say that it is better to think in terms of individual volumes than complete series. And I agree: it is generally better to focus on acquiring the top three or four commentaries on each book of the Bible than to focus on collecting complete series.…
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You Are in the Circumstances in Which You Can Best Serve
There are times when we all find ourselves lamenting our circumstances. These may be times in which we grieve life’s losses or suffer life’s indignities, or these may be times in which we grapple with the frustrations that come with life in this world—when our skills are underutilized, or our contributions are underappreciated.
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A Moving Picture of the Gospel
As we gather on Sundays, we preach the Bible, read the Bible, pray the Bible, and sing the Bible. But that is not all, for we also “see” the Bible. Here’s how Mark Dever expresses it: “The ordinances are the dramatic presentations of the gospel. They are the moving pictures that represent the spiritual realities…
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My Top Ten Books from 2025 (+ a Bonus)
As another year draws to a close, I wanted to take some time to consider the books I read in 2025 and to assemble a list of my top picks. Apart from the first book, which I consider the best I read this year, the rest are in no particular order. In each case I’ve…
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A Trip to Southern Africa
I don’t often write trip reports after I travel, except, of course, in the form of books and documentary projects like Epic and From the Rising of the Sun. Yet, I thought I would make a rare exception after returning from my recent journey to Southern Africa (and, strangely, Northern California). While I am accustomed…
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The Rise of AI Book Slop
We often hear these days of “AI slop,” a term that’s used to refer to the massive amounts of poor-quality AI-created material that is churned out and unceremoniously dumped onto the internet. This was once primarily artistless artwork and authorless articles, but has now advanced to much bigger and more substantial forms of content.
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Pitch Perfect and Tone Deaf
God commands us to sing. Yet while some of God’s people are gifted singers, the plain fact is that others are not. In any congregation, it’s likely that some have near-perfect pitch while others are functionally tone-deaf. Those who struggle to sing may be self-conscious, tempted to stay quiet or to do no more than…