One Thursday afternoon I went for a walk with my pastor. He asked me what my sermon was about for later that night. Four minutes into trying to explain what my sermon was about, my pastor interrupted me and said: “SAY IT IN A SENTENCE!”   When I was 21, I started preaching once a... Continue Reading

As the theological controversy heated up in the Netherlands, across Europe, and in the British Isles, the polarization between the Arminians and Calvinists threatened to break out into open warfare. Prince Maurice (Maurits; 1567–1625) and the de facto Prime Minister of the United Provinces, Jan van Oldenbarnevelt (1547–1619), were estranged. The latter supported the Arminians and Maurice... Continue Reading

Nathan and David could have comfortably chatted about hypothetical scenarios all day long. In fact the king likely found it to be a bit of a riveting conversation about the evil guy who steals a poor guys prized sheep. Nobody gets too upset when we make general comments. It’s when you say, “you are that... Continue Reading

But shouldn’t we be concerned about our church’s reputation in the local community? Jesus himself wants us to shine like a city on a hill whose light can’t be hidden (Matt 5:14–16). He wants the world to know we’re his disciples by the way we love one another (John 13:34). So how does a commitment... Continue Reading

In a statement on Friday, the board said officials never got approval to remove language from the student standards of conduct that prohibited same-sex relationships. The board also said they were standing firm in their convictions and will never “capitulate to outside pressures, be they legal, political, or social.”   Azusa Pacific University’s Board of... Continue Reading

Medicine used to be about caring for a person; now it is about curing a disease. According to this new philosophy, when someone is faced with a medical problem, everything that can be done ought to be done, no matter what – they are treated as an object to be fixed, rather than a person... Continue Reading

Our town (and county) is just as crooked, twisted, depraved, and in need of the gospel as any other community in the world. Don’t get me wrong, Bellville is an incredible community on the far outskirts of the greater Houston area. But the people in Bellville are in need of the liberating gospel like never... Continue Reading

We will explore this quasi-religion, Wokeness, as a status system that functions predominantly to distinguish white elites from the white masses (whom we will call hoi polloi). It does this by offering a rich signalling vocabulary for traits and possessions such as education, intelligence, openness, leisure, wealth, and cosmopolitanism, all of which educated elites value.   “Yea, on... Continue Reading

A focus on reading and teaching Scripture to children does not—and must not—mean that we fail to do our best to educate them theologically as well. And, yes, by theologically, I do mean through the use of the discipline of systematic theology—beginning in its simplest forms (historic catechisms and creeds) and growing more and more substantial and complex.  ... Continue Reading

Pastoral burnout could be defined as the moment or season when a pastor loses the motivation, hope, energy, joy, and focus required to fulfill his work, and these losses center upon the work itself. These aspects of burnout don’t operate in isolation. They connect and overlap. From time to time, we might lose motivation or hope in ministry.... Continue Reading