The People of God Refuel in the Desert
I have only been to one desert in my life. I was traveling with a band to Reno, NV. We stopped along the road for a pit stop (and when I say “pit stop,” I mean a place on the side of the road to go to the bathroom). This was a desolate place. I can’t...
Corey Scott
Moving Mountains in Myanmar: A Guide to Prayer and Action for Myanmar
“Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows…” Myanmar is a small country crammed between the behemoths of India and China, gently nestled near the powder kegs of Laos and Cambodia. Even so, the struggles outside the borders of Myanmar tend to drown out the travesty happening within the country’s borders. On February...
Jake Sutherlin
What Does the Bible Teach about Female Pastors? Saddleback’s Anticlimactic News
Saddleback Church, the notable megachurch led by mega-bestselling author Rick Warren, recently made news by ordaining its first three women pastors. The shift from male-only pastors stands out against the church’s larger Southern Baptist Convention affiliation. The move is being hailed as bold and historic. But just how significant and newsworthy is the move? In...
Bobby Harrington
Eternal Security or Faithful Faith?
Central to the teachings of Jesus is that God forgives our sins. In conversion, among the greatest joys is the realization that through the gospel, all of our sins are forgiven. It is a time of great happiness. Yet what…
Bobby Harrington
Worship Leader Q&A: What Happens When Worship Leaders Doubt?
*Editor’s Note: Sometimes we who lead worship have bad days, persistent questions, and even times of doubt. How should worship leaders handle these frustrations which range from moments of depletion to seasons of doubt? Recently I got to host a conversation with four worship leaders about how to lead people in worship who are skeptical...
We’re about to Make a Big Mistake – Reflections on Rebecca McLaughlin’s “The Secular Creed”
In describing the big mistake our culture is making, I’m going to point you to 2 resources. One is meant to make you say, “Eh.” (This first resource is not going to be super engaging—but hang on, because it makes an important point.) The other is meant to make you say, depending on where you’re...
Daniel McCoy
When Life Doesn’t Go How You Expect
There have been plenty of times in my life when life didn’t go as I had expected. When I was ten years old, I wrote a letter to a missionary in India, expressing my desire to become a missionary myself. He had recently preached at our church and lit a fire in my little spirit....
Naomi Jones
Q&A – How Does Christianity Relate to Other Cultures?
*Editor’s Note: It’s easy to think of your own cultural as superior to others. When you become a citizen of God’s kingdom, how should you interact with other cultures? I recently sat down with four church leaders who are doing this well and asked them questions which get at the heart of how churches can...
Worship Leader Q&A: What Steps Invite the Skeptic Back?
*Editor’s Note: Not everyone who comes to church is convinced that the worship songs are true. Songs about God’s goodness and faithfulness strike some people as a mismatch to their experience. Recently I got to host a conversation with four worship leaders about how to lead people in worship who are skeptical about God or...
Are White Evangelicals Responsible for Corrupting the Faith and Fracturing a Nation? A Review of “Jesus and John Wayne”
One of the most popular and trending books in Christian circles right now is the book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez of Calvin University. In an interview with Warren Smith of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, Du Mez describes her...
Guy Layfield
Trust and Follow Jesus: Conversations to Fuel Discipleship
This short guide brings you back to the basics in a cut-to-the-chase style. Author Bobby Harrington presents short and succinct points with Scripture references to answer bottom-line questions about following Jesus. Designed with discipleship groups in mind, this book will…
Bobby Harrington
Q&A – 3 Questions We’ve Started Asking at Baptism
*Editor’s Note: Sometimes a church’s expectations for a new believer are fuzzy. Is regular church attendance a good goal, or should we be aiming higher? How should we communicate Jesus’ sober call to deny ourselves and follow him alongside his promise of grace and forgiveness for all who call upon his name? I recently had...
Ben Sobels
How to Read a Progressive like the Bible
*Editor’s Note: For Part 1 (“How to Read the Bible like a Progressive”), click here. In 2014, the late Rachel Held Evans wrote an autobiographical account called Faith Unraveled. It was her story of plunging from robust evangelicalism into cynical unbelief until she settled for a proud progressivism. Although progressivism is often not the ending...
Daniel McCoy
How to Read Hard Bible Passages
The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth was composed—or more accurately, compiled—by Thomas Jefferson in 1820. What eventually became known colloquially as the Jefferson Bible was constructed by cutting and pasting only the sections of the New Testament that Jefferson liked and agreed with. Some days that solution sounds a whole lot simpler than...
Kurt Buhr
Q&A – What Habits Can Break Barriers to Building a Multiethnic Church?
*Editor’s Note: It’s easy to think in generalities when it comes to pursuing multiethnic churches. But what are some habits each of us can practice which will lead to multiethnic churches? I recently sat down with four church leaders who are doing this well and asked them questions which get at the heart of how...
6 Principles for Doubting Well
Seems like I’ve been talking about doubt a lot lately. Whether it’s being asked to respond to the latest exvangelical publicly denouncing their faith on TikTok or friends asking me to intervene with a loved one who is asking difficult questions about God, doubt–and our response to it–has been on my mind a lot. It...
Chad Ragsdale