Announcing New Study Guides

I am thrilled to announce the release of study guides and presentation slides for my new booklets Set an Example and The Character of the Christian. These guides are ideal for individual study or for groups of teens or young adults. Both sets include a study guide and presentation slides. The study guide is designed for individuals or small groups to practice what they learn from the booklets. For each chapter in the book there is a Bible study, homework, …

Hymn Stories – Christ The Lord Is Risen Today

The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Today Christians around the world are remembering the resurrection of our Savior. If you are celebrating Easter in an English-speaking church (which is likely if you’re reading this blog), there is a good probability that you have sung or will sing the hymn “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.” For about 300 years now, this hymn and its variants have been sung in English churches to commemorate and celebrate that Sunday morning …

Become a Patron

Paul Washer: The Gospel’s Power and Message

I have never been the kind to enjoy an afternoon at the art gallery. It’s not that I don’t like art–I really do–but more that I don’t understand it very well. Of course the fact that I am red-green color blind probably doesn’t help my cause too much, but it seems that what excites artists, what stands out to them, does very little for me. One of those funny little memories of my childhood involves a day visiting the Art …

We Call It Unction

This seemed like a pertinent quote for a Sunday morning. As we head to church and listen to the preaching of the Word, I’m sure it will be profitable to think just a moment about the unction of the Holy Spirit. This quote comes from Charles Spurgeon’s An All-Round Ministry. One thing more, and it is this. Let us, dear brethren, try to get saturated with the gospel. I always find that I can preach best when I can manage …

A La Carte (12/28)

The Year Gone By – I think I’m going to do this before the year is through. “Christmas night after all the day’s festivities were over, I took a few minutes to write down a list of things I could remember from this past year.  Most were obvious blessings.  Some were trials that God turned to blessings.  Some were big things, some small.  Some were joyous, some were hard.” Church on Christmas Morning – I enjoyed this article. Though written …

30 Minute Reviews

Here is another roundup of 30 Minute Reviews. These are noteworthy books that I did not have time or opportunity to read from beginning to end. Instead, I tried to spend at least 30 minutes with each—enough to get a sense of what the book is all about. Athanasius – Simonetta Carr is building a fantastic series of biographical books for children and Athanasius now joins John Calvin, Augustine of Hippo and John Owen. Future volumes are expected to include Lady Jane …

The Divine in Preaching

I’ve always found the word unction to be a bit of a strange one. I see it as a part of the Christian lexicon since, in my experience, we are pretty much the only ones who use it. We typically use it in prayer, asking that God would give unction to a man who is about to preach. I’ve never known it in another context. In Power Through Prayer, E.M. Bounds talks about this word, giving its context and explaining …

A La Carte (6/29)

Where Are the Presses? – A little insider’s perspective from a major publisher: “When people visit InterVarsity Press, they often ask where the printing presses are. I show them our copiers—the closest thing we’ve got. Our books are printed all over the country and sometimes around the world—all on printing presses owned by others. Even the biggest publishers do not own printing presses. Why?” Small is the Kingdom Big – Ed Stetzer: “Too many church leaders are like the teenage …

The Best Improvements

Part of the joy of blogging is in interacting with other people through the comments. When I write an article, and especially an article on a difficult topic, I am always aware that I have not said it all. There are always ways in which what I have said can be improved. This was the case yesterday with the article “I Am Unalarmed.” I’d like to draw your attention to a few of the (many) comments that I found very …

Living Gospel-Centered

A short time ago a reader of this blog wrote me with rather an interesting question. Here’s what he asked: I was hoping for some guidance on something. I am looking for books about being ‘Gospel-Centered.’ I know that is a buzzword nowadays and it is really intriguing to me. I am a long-time Christian, but am new to this Gospel-Centered idea. Don’t get me wrong, I love Jesus and Scripture and the Gospel, but I’ve never really heard or …