The Shack has sold twenty million copies and along the way generated at least twenty million conversations. Many of these have been attempts to discern the fact behind the fiction, to interpret what Paul Young means to teach through his story. Some have read the novel as a fresh expression of Christian orthodoxy while others…
A few weeks ago I set out on a new series of articles through which I intend to scan the history of the church—from its earliest days all the way to the present time—to examine some of Christianity’s most notorious false teachers. Along the way we will visit such figures as Arius, Pelagius, Fosdick, and…
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview John Piper. I promptly solicited questions from you, the readers of this site, and Pastor John was kind enough to answer them. Because the focus of this year’s Desiring God National Conference is sanctification, I asked him questions related to that subject. In this interview…
One of the things Aileen got me for Christmas was Baseball: The Tenth Inning, Ken Burns’ update to his classic documentary series on the game (it covers the last 2 decades). Though it’s necessarily selective in the issues it discusses (it focuses a ton of attention on Boston and New York, for example, but none…
The name Ryan Ferguson may be familiar to some of the readers of this site. Ryan has appeared at a couple of conferences where he has recited long passages of Scripture. I first saw him at WorshipGod ’06 where he dramatically recited all of Hebrews 9 and 10 (though he had memorized the entire book).…
And at 6:45 the conference got underway, right on time (though my brain and my computer are still one time zone ahead). After playing some instrumental numbers, including a very nice Irish reel, Keith Getty and his band led the crowd in “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” Immediately I noticed how different a…
I typically try to avoid posting book reviews two days in a row (especially after posting both reviews at Discerning Reader), but I wanted to be sure I drew sufficient attention to Richard Phillips’ new book Jesus the Evangelist. I have written about the book once before (link) while reflecting on what I learned from…
After leading us in “Come Christians Join To Sing” and “The Glories of Calvary,” Bob Kauflin asked everyone to divide into groups of four or five to pray together. One person was to thank God for safe travel and for the opportunity to worship and fellowship together; one was to pray for our minds, one…
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1). Jesus, our Lord and our God, was…
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John…
Someone posted some fascinating comment here earlier today. It contained all sorts of information about the 2004 National Pastors Convention which took place in two locations earlier this year. The convention is “designed to offer church pastors, their spouses and staffs the opportunity to find personal renewal and refreshment along with professional enrichment. The EC…