What Is a Church?
Sometime ago, after giving a devotion to a Christian club at a local school, some of the adult sponsors talked with each about the meeting while cleaning up the classroom. During the discussion, one person mentioned how some of the students who attended may have never heard the gospel. Some of the young people were not a part of a local church, and they had no Christian influence in their life. This discussion prompted one sponsor to...
Relentless Ministry and Relying on Jesus: A Devotional Reflection on Mark 6:30–44
Over the past year and a half, the coronavirus pandemic brought myriads of challenges, heartaches, and headaches to everyone. For pastors and church leaders in particular, ministering in the midst of the pandemic proved frustrating. Luddite pastors like myself spent countless hours figuring out the technological means by which we might minister to our congregations (running a camera, building church websites, creating a social media...
Mothering in Church: Do Not Grow Weary in Doing Good
Many seasons of life present us with difficult situations. Caring for elderly parents, battling chronic illness, entering or ending a career—such circumstances all present unique challenges, and they can make church attendance and fellowship with the body of Christ difficult to achieve. Mothering young children is another season that can present a challenge as we strive toward spiritual growth and community with a local body of...
Recommended Books (Autumn 2021)
If you have not yet noticed, we are all very limited. Our wisdom flickers and fails constantly. Of course, the ultimate source of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, but we can also garner wisdom from observing the created order. It is especially helpful to consider the thinking of others who have devoted time to study subjects with which we are unfamiliar. Even authors who write on topics with which we are expertly familiar offer new and...
The History and Purpose of Hospice Care
Psalm 90 encourages “us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.”[1] While we may not know when we will die, we do know that we will die one day if the Lord does not return first. Here, in this liminal space, at the end of life, hospice care might step in to help. Few people think about their wishes regarding end-of-life treatment, much less communicate it. Yet our Christian faith is central to our...
Getting Introspective about “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill”
For the past couple of months, like thousands of others, I have been engrossed in Christianity Today’s podcast “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,” hosted by Mike Cosper. The podcast, which is still ongoing, covers the origin, rise, and demise of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, along with the fall from grace of its founding pastor, Mark Driscoll. So far, I have found myself laughing (often uncomfortably) at some of the...
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