“In 2011, a young adult disclosed to me, her pastor, that my own father had sexually abused her as a young child. Three days later, my mother and I were sitting in a police station reporting my childhood hero. How was this possible?”   It’s a cold February day and I’m standing on stage eyeing... Continue Reading

“Elective abortions are not part of ‘basic healthcare,’” Galus said. “They have no business being forced into the medical coverage provided by churches that do not wish to support terminating lives due to very real, sincere, and well-known faith convictions. We hope the court will require California to follow the Constitution and respect these churches’... Continue Reading

“They are unwilling to accept responsibility. It’s the fault of culture. All the new churches in town are to blame. If someone wants to come to our church, they know where we are. People just don’t want to come to church anymore. Excuses and more excuses.”   The conversation surprised me. I was recently meeting... Continue Reading

Asked about the finding that only 19 per cent wanted to know more after speaking to a Christian compared with 59 per cent who said they did not, Mr Fittall said: “How many of us have walked along Victoria Street or somewhere in London and heard somebody standing there shouting things out?   The Church... Continue Reading

I said it in that post, and I’ll say it here again: the people perpetuating these bad stats aren’t bad people—they’re truly trying to help pastors and do what is right. Sometimes, we just need to be more careful about how we do research and how we present data. Facts are our friends, but if... Continue Reading

“Please, please, please, the next time someone comes to you with a “story” about someone, don’t be so foolish as to believe it without asking for the other side. Instead, say, “I know you would not want me to be a Proverbs 18:13 fool, so would you mind if I asked this person for his/her... Continue Reading

“We find ourselves in a remarkably similar cultural moment, constrained as we are to the cultural sidelines. The evangelical mind exists, and even thrives, today. But the question before us in 2015 is this: Will we embrace our marginalization? Or will we, like the neo-evangelicals, dream fresh dreams, hatch fresh plans, and seek something altogether... Continue Reading

Stuart also addressed claims made by the presbytery in an Oct. 28 letter — that if the congregational meeting went ahead as planned, it could result in “the possibility of ecclesiastical charges” being filed against the pastors and session and that they could be “found to have renounced the jurisdiction of the Church.”   A... Continue Reading

This is the echo chamber of public-opinion polling: People are asked about their perceptions of others’ beliefs, but those perceptions are likely shaped by what they’ve read and heard about poll results, at least in part. Polls aim to show how people think about the world, but the tool is inherently distorted, attempting to simultaneously... Continue Reading

The Reformed approach to assurance is to start with the objective, Christ’s work for us, which is credited to us and received by us through faith alone (sola fide). We observe the fruits of God’s grace and give thanks to him for them. We rest in Christ and his promises (gospel) but we recognize that he... Continue Reading