Recommended Articles

Worship Isn’t A Pep Rally

Something happens when we enter the presence of God. There’s an undoing, an exposure of our hearts that reveals every weakness and flaw. What else could possibly result from a perfect God’s encounter with imperfect beings like us?

Building Bridges to Your Jewish Neighbor at Hanukkah

“Are you ready for Hanukkah?” a well-meaning Christian cheerfully asks my rabbi friend in anticipation of an end-of-December shared moment of hectic empathy. Caught up in the busy American version of the season, this Christian has innocently conceived of Hanukkah as the “Christmas for Jews.”  How can Christians avoid inappropriate questions and instead build bridges with their Jewish neighbors during this time of year?

Five Steps to Reading and Understanding the Bible

Every Christian is urged to “read your Bible.” Most of us own several of them. I carry eight versions in my pocket all the time – on my phone! But getting the most out of the Scripture is no easy task…

Five Ways to Help Your Kids Grow in the Faith

Not only is a thriving church community vital for our kids’ spiritual growth, Scripture tells us of the importance a parent’s sincere faith has on their children: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5)…every family can naturally and consistently guide their children as their faith matures…

3 Ways to Ask Someone How They Are Doing and Actually Mean It

We long to be known. We ache to be seen. We thirst for someone to simply reach out, grab our hand and care enough to say, “I see you.” The question is, will we risk being that person for those around us?

The Most Important Ear in Worship

When we gather to worship at our local churches, behind all our prayers and all our songs, behind all our exhortations and all our encouragements, is this stunning truth: God hears.

Has that simple, astonishing truth recently escaped you? Do you realize that, though God is all-powerful and present everywhere, he is not required to hear you? Would your engagement in corporate worship differ if you were more aware of that truth than the volume of the instruments?

Worn and New

Have you ever noticed that everything in your life wears out?

The jacket you loved so much at the mall is now beaten up, with stains and smudges and frayed ends. The brand new car you drove off the lot doesn’t shine like it used to, and now is just a normal old ride with scratches and squeaks like everyone else.

The “Together” of Evangelism

One of the greatest impediments to our growth and godliness as Christians is our individualistic approach as Westerners.

All Christians are made differently, but we’re also made to work together. As an individual believer you may be a foot or a finger or a follicle, but you are part of a body, the church, and it is as part of that body that you’re most yourself—and most useful—as you contribute to and depend on the rest of your church.

Is the Church Ready to Think Again?

Will the church today ground itself in the inerrant Word, and think and write and engage confidently with non-Christian thought? Or will it allow secularism to descend like a shadow over all the West? This question we cannot yet answer…

How Culture Disciples Us

We hold a misconception about discipleship: that it’s a merely Christian idea, only taking place at weekend worship services, on weeknights in groups and in the mornings or evenings when we “spend time with the Lord.” On the contrary, discipleship is taking place all around us and in us every day…

The Resurrection is the Tie-Breaker

Paul puts it all on the line. Without Easter—the resurrection of Jesus—there is no Christianity. Thus, Paul reveals an explicit way to—at least in principle—falsify Christianity…