Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998) was a Britist missionary for many years to India. He wrote many books focusing on the church and her mission. The Open Secret introduces some key issues surrounding the concept of mission. Because church plants must be mission focused in order to survive, the book has direct implications for shaping the discussion around church…
Courage does not consist in drawing lines. It consists in holding them. Especially in today's church climate, the need for courage is the order of the day. Yet courage is so often misunderstood. On the one hand, those of a "confessionalist" background who adopt detailed, multi-page statements of faith (like the Westminster Standards) deride those…
I love the book Deep Work by Cal Newport. It's probably been the most influential book on me in the last four years. You can find the series I did on the book here: one, two, three, four, five. But the book does raise a number of remaining questions that have to be worked through to develop…
Do you want your church to growth numerically? Most pastors and the people in their pews would answer, "yes!" Most genuine Christians want to see more people reached with the gospel. If more people get saved, then they need a place to go! If they come to your church, it will grow numerically. Consequently, the…
As a pastor, I desire to help for all of our church families to be passionate about teaching Jesus to their kids. Seminary professor Don Whitney has written a helpful little book called Family Worship to help guide parents as they teach their children about the Lord. There is no substitute for parents faithfully teaching their children about God…
What if there was a way to identify bad preaching? Having grown up in church, I have probably listened to over 1,000 sermons in my lifetime. In all my time listening to (and now delivering) sermons, I have heard three types of bad preaching. You can read the rest of the article at Rookie Preacher.
From God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology: Salvation and the Sacraments The Holy Spirit brings to fruition the “new creation” in Christ. Horton uses speech-act theory in relationship to God's work in the world, “The Father speaks, the Son is spoken, and the Spirit brings about in history the effect and perfection of this speech” (137).…
Baptism is the entry way into the church of Jesus Christ. It is the identifying marker that God has made good on His promises and has brought new life to someone. It is also a public statement to the world that new Christians are now "all-in" with Jesus. They left everything, picked up their crosses, and…
I never wanted to do youth ministry. I never had any experience doing youth ministry. Yet, I now find myself three years in with leading my church's youth ministry. While I was in seminary, much discussion centered on the need to "rethink" youth ministry. I got the sense that there was a lot of angst surrounding youth ministry.…
Two weeks ago I preached on fatherhood from Ephesians 6:4. Unfortunately, due to a congregational medical emergency, I wasn't able to conclude my message. Here is my conclusion: Some of you in here may be thinking, "What can I do? My children are all grown up and out of the house! I've blown it with my…
Raising Lazarus 