christianity

The Holy Spirit woos us through the beauty and imaginative stories depicted in these works of art. Ultimately this quest can only be satisfied with Jesus and the gospel. These stirrings in art and media provide a means of escape that is, according to J. R. R. Tolkien, heroic.16 They remind us of our homeland and invite us to embark on an epic

“Please turn with me in your Bibles to Romans 6:15–23,” what comes next? Does the preacher simply stand in an awkward silence while parishioners thumb through their Bibles to find the text? Does the preacher immediately commence reading with the hope that people will catch up when they find the passage? The best answer is neither. After announcing

To my amazement, within a couple of weeks, one big thing changed—me! The anger and bitterness melted away. His insults and words lost their power (though I still disliked it); the sting was gone! I started praying regularly for Jimmy as part of my “bless him” part of the equation, and I began to see Jimmy through new eyes. I saw an extremely

Progression also slows when a sermon contains too many divisions. If one main point has five subpoints and the next has seven, no one will remember the subpoints, and the sermon itself will get lost.

God’s redemptive revelation in the Holy Scriptures is necessary to saving faith and peace with God. Faith in a risen Saviour is necessary if the vague stirrings toward immortality are to bring us to restful and satisfying communion with God. To me this is a plausible explanation of all that is best out of Christ.

As modern-day disciples, we also have a responsibility to share Jesus with others. As dads and husbands, that starts with our families. But it doesn’t stop there. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) challenges us to minister around the world. For some that means becoming a missionary. For others, it means sharing with our neighbors or

Would you be godly? Then practice the Spiritual Disciplines in light of eternity. I read of a man who would pray: “Oh, God, stamp eternity on my eyeballs!” Imagine how differently we would spend our time and make choices in life if we saw everything from the perspective of eternity. So much that seems critical would suddenly become trivial. And

Still, when I confess a sin aloud, it feels more real. When I hear my own voice admitting that I’ve done something wrong, I’m surprised by how concrete the sin feels.