4 Painful Results of Insecure Leadership
When leaders lead in an insecure posture they don’t lead effectively.
Insecurity creates a lack of clarity. Insecurity fights against clarity because an insecure leader is afraid to declare a direction. People may not like it, after all. Or the leader could be wrong. So the insecurity creates confusion and paralysis. Insecurity must not be confused with humility. Insecurity, like pride, is a focus on... Continue Reading
A Brief Response to Professor Gehrz
A rejoinder to Chris Gehrz’s comments regarding “Our Cultural Waterloo”
What makes the LGBTQ issue interesting and more significant is that it is also a matter of fundamental identity. That makes the political debates surrounding the issue of profound importance, as anyone knows who has observed how the matter has played out in the public square in general and higher education in particular. Over... Continue Reading
Parenting Is Like Jazz
God’s method of parenting doesn’t lend itself to tightly scripted formulas, “If you do x and y, then z will result.” It is more like playing jazz than working off a score.
Watch God with his children and you’ll quickly learn you can have the same issue as another of his kids, and yet he’ll approach you both differently. Or think back over your life and you’ll realize he varies his approach with you over time depending on how you’ve grown. In other words, God’s method of parenting doesn’t lend... Continue Reading
Machen On Admitting People to Church Membership
It should, I think, be made much harder than it now is to enter the Church: the confession of faith that is required should be a credible confession; and if it becomes evident upon examination that a candidate has no notion of what he is doing, he should be advised to enter upon a course... Continue Reading
The Church in Europe
What are some of the strengths and some of the weaknesses of the church in Europe?
“When you fly over Europe, you can see a lot of beautiful historic church buildings. Once you are on the ground and you visit some of the churches, you find out that some of those church buildings have been turned into museums; they are no longer places where Christ crucified and risen is proclaimed.” ... Continue Reading
The Gospel is Like an Old Hymn
The classic hymns, like the gospel they help us exult in, are much bigger than they appear
“I think many of the old hymns, the ones that have endured–and plenty of the newer hymns too, actually–tap into a deeper reality than a lot of the more explicitly emotive stuff. In a strange way, the old gospel hymns affect us more emotionally by not dealing primarily with how we feel.” The gospel... Continue Reading
The False Freedom of Anonymous Confession
The idea of telling someone you know is terrifying, but, honestly, that is where freedom is found
“If you don’t have anyone you trust, start building those relationships. Start handing over some pieces. Start letting yourself be known. This is intimacy, and yes, it is raw, and real, and terrifying- but it’s also healing and beautiful. Freedom is found in intimacy, and intimacy can’t be anonymous.” In 2012, an app was... Continue Reading
The FAQs: What You Should Know About the Military’s Transgender Policy
On Wednesday President Trump tweeted that the current policy will be changing
“On Thursday officials at the Pentagon clarified that the tweets are not considered an order from the commander in chief. According to the Associated Press, transgender troops will be allowed to remain in uniform until Defense Secretary Mattis receives an authoritative directive to remove them.” What is the military’s current policy on transgenderism? In... Continue Reading
Runner From To a Runner To
My conversion was a dramatic encounter that I resisted over several years with great effort
I was dead in my transgressions, but God made me alive together with Christ; my salvation was a completely passive endeavor: “…God…made us alive….” It suddenly made perfect sense to me that the word grace was mentioned in direct connection to my being made alive in Christ: I was dead and had to be made... Continue Reading
An Open Letter to Those Apathetic about Their Sanctification
God reminds us not to fall asleep or lose sight of what it’s all about
“The tiniest things we do, the most careless words we say, the smallest act of kindness towards another person—all these things actually count. We live in God’s world. From God’s perspective, there’s nothing we do that’s outside his concern or gaze.” How can I light a fire and get you engaged and active in... Continue Reading