You don’t have to look far to find articles about how and why the pastor’s job is uniquely difficult. Having been a pastor for a number of years now (in both paid, full-time and unpaid, part-time capacities) I can attest there are ways in which it is unlike any other vocation. It really does come…
I have often shared examples of our Sunday morning services at Grace Fellowship Church. Yet are one of those rare churches that also has an evening service, so I thought you might be interested in seeing an example of how we structure them. First, the answer to the question I know you’re asking: Do people…
Though we boast of great things and take confidence in our knowledge, we are actually finite little creatures bound by a million limitations. In fact, our knowledge is so limited we don’t even really know ourselves. We often lack clarity about the motivations behind even our best or worst actions. We can do great things…
Eighteen hours ago, brothers and sisters in New Zealand gathered to worship God. City by city and church by church they joined their voices together to praise him in song, to call out to him in prayer, and to hear from him through the Word. So, too, did believers in the easternmost reaches of Russia.…
I recently read Rachel Hollis’s runaway bestseller Girl, Wash Your Face, and in my review pointed out a number of concerns with the author’s understanding of what it means to live a good life. Her conviction is that the good life is a happy life, and every woman is responsible for pursuing happiness. What stands…
There are occasions in life in which we would all like to know the future. We come to times of sorrow and wonder when our tears will be dried, times of pain and wonder when we will be healed, times of uncertainty and wonder when we will gain confidence. In such moments we may wish…
Every few weeks I like to share an example of one of our worship services from Grace Fellowship Church. I hope it serves as simply one model of how we can worship the Lord in a distinctly biblical way. This service’s cast of characters included Steve as our service leader, Josh as our lead worshipper,…
In an article I shared a couple of days ago, we began to take a look at the ninth commandment (“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor”) and its relevance in a world in which so much of our communication takes place through social media. Specifically, we considered some of the duties required…
You must be familiar with the ninth commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” On a surface level it’s simple enough: Don’t tell lies about other people. But Christians have traditionally understood it to entail far more than this. With the rise of modern communications technologies, and especially social media, I am…
Of all that is unique about the Christian faith, this aspect stands apart: Its leaders are not called to their positions because of rare skill, raw talent, or overwhelming desire. They are not qualified by the charismatic personality, the ability to draw a crowd, or skilled rhetoric. Rather, Christian leaders are called and qualified by…
As I continue my year of so much travel, and as 2018 begins to draw to a close, I find myself pondering themes. What are some of the themes I have seen or experienced as I’ve traveled 16 countries across 5 continents? What are some of the common elements I can identify? I’ll have much…
One of the solemn-but-joyful events in the life of a church is the ordination of a pastor (or elder, if you prefer). This is a rare event compared to many others, so is a time of special celebration. We have recently been able to enjoy it in our own church and in one of our…
Newton’s third law tells us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Though this law pertains to physics, it seems equally true in the realm of ideas. Recently, a renewed emphasis on the value of the Billy Graham/Mike Pence Rule as a means of protecting sexual fidelity has provoked an equal…
I am sure you remember all the heaven tourism books that cluttered the shelves of Christian bookstores a few years ago. This was a fad that was never going to last long, which is why authors and publishers were so quick to frantically churn out their own tales of unlikely visits to heaven. There was…
For the past year I’ve been sharing occasional examples of orders of worship from Grace Fellowship Church, and have been doing so under the heading of How We Worshipped. Along the way I have received quite a few questions and requests for clarification. Today I’ve compiled a small list of answers to some of the…
I am under the impression that the earliest Christians didn’t expend a lot of effort debating the cessation or continuation of the miraculous spiritual gifts. Their discussions did not revolve around wrongly denying the existence of active gifts or wrongly affirming the continuation of ceased gifts. After all, they clearly and undeniably saw the gifts…
We like to whitewash our historical heroes. As we look to the great men and women of faith who lived and died before us, we face the temptation to rejoice in their strengths and to ignore their weaknesses. The same is true of our contemporary heroes. Though it is right and good to have human…
The Bible tells us what we all soon learn by hard experience: “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child” (Proverbs 22:15). Though children are young and naive and innocent in so many ways, they are also desperately foolish. Such folly is not displayed merely in silliness or immaturity or poor decision-making, but…
When I was a teen, I went digging around the attic one day and found my dad’s old camera. Just finding it there sparked an interest in photography and I decided to learn how to use it. I quickly discovered, though, that photography is not easy. At least, in that era it sure wasn’t. I…
A few years ago a video went viral among Christians, and I wonder if you remember it. It showed a preacher laying a verbal beat-down on Joel Osteen for his unwillingness to publicly declare that Jesus is the only way to the Father. This preacher went on to call Christians to be unashamed of the…