10 Things You Should Know about the Trinity
If the Bible reveals that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then we ought to believe that God made this known because he wants us to know it.
The doctrine of the Trinity is the vast, deep background behind all our theology, and when we explicitly talk about it we make a comprehensive claim about who God is if the gospel is true. But often the background stays in the background, and enables us to say particular things about Jesus, discipleship, the cross,... Continue Reading
Who Are Egypt’s Coptic Christians And What Do They Believe?
Attacks on two Coptic Christian churches left dozens dead on Palm Sunday.
Coptic Christians trace their founding to the apostle St. Mark. Tradition holds that Mark brought Christianity to Egypt and founded the Coptic church during the first century. It is one of the oldest Christian churches in the Middle East and was the first founded in Africa. Bombs exploded at two Coptic churches in the northern Egyptian... Continue Reading
Why Ministry’s Discouraging
John Stott: “Discouragement is an occupational hazard of the Christian ministry.”
Ministry is hard because of our own insecurities and idols. We often base our identity on our role. We measure success by how well ministry is doing. We take things personally, and can succumb to the pressure to make ourselves great rather than to make God great. We can also sometimes believe that everyone else... Continue Reading
It Took “Hidden Figures”
It hit me recently that it took "Hidden Figures" to make me realize that I did not have to be ashamed of being proud of my working scientist mom.
I want to reiterate that the problem is not that wives and mothers stay at home. If this is God’s providence for you, wonderful. But the problem is the blanket assumption that all women must stay at home and to do otherwise is disobedience to God. You may think this is the extreme, but this... Continue Reading
Preaching In A Secular Age
With the advance of secular pluralism, expository preaching must become the church’s strategy for survival
“For preachers, Berger’s observations are tremendously important. We, above all others, need to realize the culture no longer shares our worldview and the very language we use may mean something entirely different in the ears of our listeners. The meaning of words like morality, personhood, marriage, or virtually any other moral term has radically shifted.”... Continue Reading
Why an Award-Winning Writer Turned Her Attention to Evangelicals
FitzGerald has read most of the scholarship on evangelicals and synthesized it into a masterful narrative
“She begins the story, appropriately, with the 18th-century revivals of the First Great Awakening, the birthplace of American evangelicalism. She demonstrates that from the beginning the movement was primarily religious and theological, with political overtones, and quite diverse.” I first encountered Frances FitzGerald in the 1970s when I read her Pulitzer Prize-winning book on the Vietnam... Continue Reading
What Were You Made To Live For
The Creator designed us to chase meaning and purpose
“God carefully constructed his world and then placed it in the hands of people. You and I are designed to be resident managers, caring for the wide variety of amazing things God has purposefully crafted to be reflectors of his glory.” Why do little kids daydream about being a pilot or a princess? Why... Continue Reading
Not Every Square Inch But 25% of the Columns
One place neo-Calvinists seem to have forgotten is Kuyper’s Netherlands
“For centuries, the Dutch knew just who they were: mostly blond- or red-haired, blue-eyed, white, straight-talking, Calvinist capitalists who believed in God, family, hard work, and doing the right thing. Looking around, a Dutchman saw himself in his neighbors, and that was reassuring.” Here is a good overview of what taking every square inch... Continue Reading
The Name Is Yahweh
The most arcane practice of English Bible translations is the use of “The Lord” for God’s name
If you were to hear me preach from the Old Testament, you would hear me say “Yahweh” in the places where my NASB or ESV says “The Lord.” I’m often asked after services by visitors what Bible translation I use which uses Yahweh. I tell them I’m using theirs, and have them open to the... Continue Reading
Bible Conferences: Puritans and their Conferences
The church has historically sought to bring about encouragement and strength through informal times of gathering with the wider church catholic
One local pastor described these conferences as “very necessary for the increase of knowledge to all ministers.” The archdeacon of Essex, John Walker, said that there was in these events “an increase in learning, and edifying of the people to have grown thereby.” “Post-Christian” is just one of the many titles being used these... Continue Reading