Altar calls have had a controversial place in the history of the American church. Some churches may do them practically every week, while other churches do not believe that altar calls are biblical. Even those who would resist doing a stereotypical altar calls, or "hand raise" ("...every head bowed, every eye closed..."), still believe in calling…
Forget Your Birthday; Are You Alive?
Conversion [to Jesus Christ] may be a crisis; it may be a process. Even a crisis like birth is really a process...It would be stupid to argue whether birth or growth is the more important element in our experience. We are born to grow. And so it is in the Christian life. Some can remember…
If Augustine Watched TV Today
Why is it that one likes being moved to grief at the sight of sad or tragic events on stage, when one would be unwilling to suffer the same things onself?...But how real is the mercy evoked by fictional dramas? The listener is not moved to offer help, but merely invited to feel sorrow --St.…
What Sin Is
In vice there lurks a counterfeit beauty: pride, for instance--even pride apes sublimity, whereas you are the only God, most high above all things. As for ambition, what does it crave but honors and glory, while you are worthy of honor beyond all others, and eternally glorious? The ferocity of powerful men aims to inspire…
Who are You, God?
What are you, then my God? What are you, I ask, but the Lord God? For who else is lord except the Lord?, or who is god if not our God? You are most high, excellent, most powerful, omnipotent, supremely merciful and supremely just, most hidden yet intimately present, infinitely beautiful and infinitely strong, steadfast…
We Have Bills to Pay
[Atticus says], ‘As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from,…
When “Safety First” Wasn’t a Drag on Christians
We are unlike the Christians of the New Testament. Our approach to life is conventional and static; theirs was not. The thought of 'safety first' was not a drag on their enterprise as it is on ours. By being exuberant, unconventional, and uninhibited in living by the gospel, they turned their world upside down...Why are…
Does God Understand Our Suffering?
Imagine all humanity had a committee meeting to establish what God would have to go through to truly understand human suffering. The poor would say he should be homeless, frequently hungry, and constantly moving from place to place. Bereaved people would say he should lose a parent and perhaps a close friend as well. Holocaust…
Book Review Blitz: Reason for God, Proof, and More!
Reason for God by Tim Keller Great apologetics book. I use it all the time for my preaching in thinking of how to engage skeptical and postmodern people. Current on the trends in philosophy and sociology. Very good on the gospel. This is definitely a BUY. Proof by Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones Refocuses the infamous…
The Externally Focused Church–A (Short) Review
God’s people live for God’s mission. Scripture tells us that the church community as a whole is commissioned by God for mission: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of…
Raising Lazarus 