I’ve never really had a moment in my life—39 years—when I wasn’t going to church. My parents got...
Issues in the Church
Learning to See the Beauty of a Gospel-Centered Church
I love the gospel and the church, and I can’t wait to teach them every Sunday. But it wasn’t...
Four Ways to Respond When a Ministry Leader Is Removed from Ministry
It happened yet again. A popular ministry leader fell into sin. Over the years, I’ve sadly seen...
The Church: A Community and a Family
The Church in Acts The early Church, as described in the Book of Acts had a beautiful sense of community and family. They sold possessions for the sake of the poor and sold houses to the point that “there was not a needy person among them”. There was devotion to the...
“You Will Be My Witnesses”: Five Truths About Witnessing From the Book of Acts
When I was in College and a young believer, one of the first Christian books I read was Bill Bright’s Witnessing without Fear. It was a helpful introduction to evangelism and the call of disciples to be witnesses for Jesus. Just beginning to understand what it meant...
A Marathon Mentality for Ministry
I was always better at sprinting than running long distance--back in the days when I actually ran...in high school. My wife, by way of contrast, was and is a marathon runner. One of the things that I've noticed as I have watched her run over the years is that she...
The Four DNA Elements You Must Understand About Your Church
Every local church is one of a kind. Each one is unique. There are an estimated 350,000 churches in the United States. They are all distinct and unlike any other. You can find churches with similarities based on common beliefs or methods, but no church is exactly...
Killing Envy
There are certain sins that we tend to tolerate in our own hearts and lives, as well as in the church. They are what Jerry Bridges has called "respectable sins"--gossip, slander, envy, covetousness, pride, etc. We like to single out what we deem to be other, more...
The Need for Rest and Solitude
Recently I wrote about my experience with a failed adoption. In that post, I talked about how that situation revealed to me several areas that the Lord needed to work in my life. One of those areas is my ability to rest and relax. As a type-A personality, I’m...