I accepted a 20-hour position in Children’s Ministry in our church.  I wanted to help little people grow up to love Jesus.  Twenty-five years later, I’m the one who has grown up.  The church has largely been the instrument of God for my sanctification.  There is always room for growth and improvement, but I am... Continue Reading

Calvin believed that both politics and providence were operative; indeed, he suggested that the Kingdom of God was already present, albeit not completely realized: “For spiritual government, indeed, is already initiating in us upon earth certain beginnings of the Heavenly Kingdom, and in this mortal and fleeting life affords a certain forecast of an immortal and... Continue Reading

“If Paul and the other disciples needed prayer, how much more so do those who lead, shepherd, and oversee us in the church! And they need our prayers, not just when there is controversy in the church. Not just when they are ill.”   The warning in the book of James to teachers is sobering,... Continue Reading

While there were no deaths on the William Carey campus, the injured included a member of the women’s soccer team who lost three fingers when a door slammed on them, Overton said. A separate group of students was returning to campus as the storm struck, and it picked their car off the ground.   An... Continue Reading

“The preaching that begins with God, Lloyd-Jones affirmed, is worthy of divine approbation. This is precisely where he chose to focus his expositions. The Doctor looked for the grandeur of God in every text and sought to magnify Him above all else.”   The spiritual power transmitted by Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ preaching grew out of his... Continue Reading

According to the BBC, cathedral Provost Kelvin Holdsworth defended the incongruity of Quranic readings that negate Jesus’ divinity in the cathedral as necessary efforts to build relationships between Christians and Muslims in Glasgow. Holdsworth rationalized the incident by claiming, “Such readings have happened a number of times in the past in this and in other churches and have led to deepening friendships locally,” rationalizing the goal of “dialogues” that increase awareness with respect to religious commonalities and differences.

As I mentioned above, I am referring here to the sorts of sins that are common to God’s people. Sins such as sexual abuse, adultery, financial improprieties, and other clearly disqualifying sins must be dealt with as matters of church discipline and perhaps civil justice. If you know of scandalous sins or illegal behavior on the part of your pastor then you ought to make the elders of your church aware.

Perhaps the absence of friends is the training that pastors receive. Perhaps it is the weight of pastoral ministry. Maybe it is due to the years of hurt that has been inflicted by “friends.” Or perhaps the real reason is pastors have not made friendships a priority. (There is a fourth possibility that says pastors really do have good friends, the survey is wrong and this post is wasting your time.) In a day and age when anyone can have thousands of followers on their myriad of social networks, it is time to build friendships.

This message is both exciting and challenging for Christians in cities today. In Western countries, many of the older churches relying on inherited faith are dying. Gone is that great “canopy” of nominal Christians who weren’t personally devout but who thought religion was good and important and who weren’t difficult to draw into Christian churches.... Continue Reading

“Yes, we want to have warm, inviting, well-kept environments, done excellently for the glory of God. But we do it with the understanding that our resources weren’t given to us to create a cruise liner for Christians; they were given to build a rescue station for the broken.”   In Long Beach, California, you can... Continue Reading