Do Not Admit a Charge Against an Elder, Except…

It’s a rare week now when we do not learn of some new charge against a pastor. The world has gotten smaller than ever and information moves at a greater pace than at any other point in history. In such a world, news travels fast and furious. Especially bad news. And we do love our bad news, don’t we? In such a world, heroes rise and fall in hours or even moments. And we do love to raise up and …

The Makings of a Miserable Millennial

If the millennial generation has experienced such ease and privilege, why are so many adrift and purposeless? In this video I ponder the making of a miserable millennial. As always, it’s available on YouTube and Facebook or, if you prefer to read about it, there’s a transcript as well. Enjoy! Transcription We hear a lot about the millennials today, don’t we? Millennials are that generation born somewhere between the early eighties and around the year two thousand, which means they’re …

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Sexual Revolution, Same Old Revolution

We cannot understand human history apart from its conflicts, its revolts, its revolutions. This is true of world history, political history, social history, religious history, and undoubtedly any other kind of history. For good or for ill—and humanity’s long past has many examples of both—, we humans are revolutionaries, always primed for a conflict. But we are confused and inconsistent revolutionaries who sometimes revolt away from a great injustice and sometimes toward one. Today we are watching people all around …

Marijuana and the US elections: Is it Really Legal?

One of the reasons Christians don’t use marijuana is because doing so is against the law, in the United States at least. But what about when the law changes and suddenly, overnight, it’s (supposedly) legal? For some of you, that’s your reality. For others, it will likely be your reality in the not too distant future. You probably noticed that word supposedly in the previous paragraph. Because, although medicinal and recreational use of marijuana is still prohibited by federal law …

3 Awful Features of Roman Sexual Morality

Whatever else you know about the Bible, I’m sure you know this: It lays out a sexual ethic that displays God’s intent in creating sexuality and that challenges humanity to live in ways consistent with it. Yet today we are experiencing a sexual revolution that has seen society deliberately throwing off the Christian sexual ethic. Things that were once forbidden are now celebrated. Things that were once considered unthinkable are now deemed natural and good. Christians are increasingly seen as …

Sexual Morality in a Christless World

The times are changing. Sexual morality is undergoing nothing less than a revolution as traditional morality gives way to something radically different. The former morality, based on the Christian scriptures, is being shoved aside by a new one that not only departs from the Bible, but outright rejects it. Meanwhile, Christians who abide by those traditional sexual morals are increasingly seen as outcasts, backward people dangerously hung up on ancient, oppressive principles. It is all very disconcerting. Into the fray …

Are You Going to Hurt Me?

Autumn has descended at last. The heat of summer has slowly, stubbornly given way to the cool of autumn. The long summer days have surrendered to evenings that come too early, nights that linger lazily before yielding to dawn. Most days I find myself outside long before the sun has shown its face, running through darkened streets—my morning ritual. My mind works better when my body has been pushed. Three vignettes, three glimpses through my early-morning eyes. As dawn breaks …

Condone, Condemn, or Mourn?

Reading Jerry Bridges is invariably good for my soul. He had such a way of reaching deep into the Bible to draw out helpful, heartfelt application. In his book on humility (release posthumously) he offers application that seems particularly appropriate to a time of political turmoil and disunity, and to a time of deep national depravity. Bridges has just explained that mourning over sin is a display of humility because “We cannot be proud and mourn over sin at the same time. We …

When a Million Gather on The Mall Next Month

On July 16, hundreds of thousands of young people will descend on The Mall for Together 2016. The event’s web site promises, “Together 2016 is the day our generation will meet on the National Mall to come together around Jesus in unified prayer, worship, and a call for catalytic change. We’re coming together with as many people as possible who believe Jesus changes everything.” The event features a long list of speakers: Christine Cain, Francis Chan, Ronnie Floyd, Ann Voskamp, …

Rescuing the Gospel

Next year will mark 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of that cathedral in Wittenberg. Little did he know that in that simple act he was altering the course of history. The principled stand he took that day would pit him against the Roman Catholic Church, its pope, and its hierarchy. He would soon come to understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ actually needed to be rescued from the Church. This is the …