Articles
Faith Foundation Guide for Parents
Work began on the bell tower, the final structure of a cathedral complex in Tuscany, in 1173. This eight-story tower would stand two hundred feet tall and be made of marble. But by the time the third story was complete, a problem was apparent: the tower was leaning....
Promise of Heaven
Finding Peace in Life’s Storms
In the mid-1970s Steven Spielberg produced a movie called Jaws, the fictional story of a monster shark that made a meal out of the swimmers off the New England coastline. One iconic scene involves a crusty boat captain, the police chief, and a scientist. They set off...
Jesus Exalted King and the Meaning of the Ascension
What Does the Ascension Tell Us About Jesus? Jesus is exalted as the true King of the world, worthy of ultimate allegiance. He intercedes for us before the Father and is present with us by the Spirit. EVERYONE WANTS TO ASCEND. Think about the metaphors we often...
Surrendering My Way to God
In the book of Judges, we see the outworking of those who kept choosing what they felt was right. There, you see wars, conflicts, death, and endless cycles of sin, repentance, then sin again. These words are haunting: “In those days Israel had no king; all the people...
Crushing Chaos Begins with God’s Order
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Genesis 1:2 (NIV) The main emphasis [of creation] is not on a process from nothing to something, from nonexistence to existence, but on...
Poisoned Profit and Christian Integrity
Generosity is a virtue. It is widely held that Christians with resources have a moral obligation to give away some portion of their bounty, but our moral obligation also extends to how we make our money. We should be concerned with the giving we can do with our money...
The Roundabout Way of God’s Leadership Formation
When God Leads Us the Roundabout Way In an American dream paradigm, the graph of formation and leadership follows a line up and to the right, where our maturity and sphere of influence only keep increasing. I have seen a lot of young leaders stumble because of this...
God Who Knows You: Embraced by Divine Affection
What It Means That God Knows Yo In the middle of the Bible, near the end of Psalms, we find the answers to our questions about God’s love for us. Truthfully, the entirety of God’s Word is a declaration of undeserved love. I’ve wrestled with my poor understanding of...
Unambitious Ambition: What Jesus Teaches Us About True Greatness
Answering this question can get us a ways toward where we want to go. But it’s not nearly so straightforward as it might seem. For as we should have come to expect, the Son of God is not easily cornered. Understanding Jesus’ Unambitious Ambition Let’s start with his...
Teaching with The Chosen: How Drama Shapes Disciples
Why Teaching with The Chosen is Powerful The Chosen is a television drama series that portrays the life of Jesus through a multiseason, episodic format. Created, directed, and cowritten by Dallas Jenkins, the show presents the story of Jesus in a unique way by deeply...
Choosing Courage: Freedom Begins with Honesty
When Fear Chokes the Soul The pressure of reality was closing in from all sides. It was as if the air was being sucked out of the room. As I sat there on the edge of my hotel bed, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of confusion, and the only part of my body left...
Sermon Exegesis: Cooling the Air with Insight
Why Sermon Exegesis Matters Deeply Here’s another thing I’ve heard Tom Long say: “Come sum- mer time, everyone wants to feel the cool of an air condi- tioner, but no one wants to hear the HVAC rumbling right beside their ear.” I think of this advice nearly every time...
Following Jesus in a World Obsessed with Followers
Why We Crave to Be Seen by God We are hardwired to desire affirmation, and that’s not a bad quality in and of itself. In fact, we see this impulse from the earliest stages of our lives. I think of my nephews when they were little. Whether they were attempting a...
The Role of Liturgical Catechesis in Christian Formation
What Is Liturgical Catechesis? Worship is at the heart of Christian existence. The church can be involved in many noble deeds in the world, but “worship is what distinguishes the church as the church.”3 The worshiping church is where we learn who God is, who we are,...
Understanding the Trinity Doctrine
The Origins of the Trinity Doctrine From the beginnings of the Christian movement, the earliest followers of Jesus held a profound paradox in creative tension. On the one hand, the nascent Christian movement, emerging out of Judaism, continued to be ardently...
Essential Christianity: Building Faith That Lasts
One of my secret joys is building LEGO sets with my kids. It doesn’t matter what we’re building, I just enjoy the whole process—the instructions, the endless hunt for those tiny last pieces, the thrill of the finished work. My daughter and I once spent days assembling...
3 Megachurch Pastors Discuss Charlie Kirk’s Martyrdom & Church Revival
COURAGE by Craig Ireland Too many Christians, including pastors, are judging Charlie Kirk's ministry by offence, not truth. They're distancing themselves because his campus talks unsettle people, as if controversy negates Gospel impact and value. This is backwards....
Unanswered Prayer and Trust in God
For me (Jason) prayer was always about words. In my circles, intercessor was viewed as a spiritual office, like pastor and teacher. Prayer became a specialized skill, a badge for the super spiritual: we were “prayer warriors.” We saw the brokenness in our world, so we...
Overcoming Distraction: Finding Focus in God
The Cost of Not Overcoming Distraction In Judges 13 we’re introduced to a hunky man of God named Samson, with luscious hair and the strength to tear a lion to pieces. Pretty much what any Christian girl is looking for, right? Well, you may be surprised to learn that...
