So how many people go to your church?” That’s a question just about every pastor faces at just about every conference he attends. It usually doesn’t take long for a conversation to progress to that point. For the pastor this can be a moment of great pride or great humility, great freedom or great shame.…
In early 2006 I became the owner of Discerning Reader. Some may remember that before I owned the domain name, it was a bookstore and one that shut down and disappeared under strange and sudden circumstances. A few months after the store closed, the domain went up for auction and I purchased it. In April…
A couple of days ago my Bible reading took me to Acts 9, the story of the conversion of Saul. You know how it goes I’m sure. Paul, a vicious enemy of the early church, is on his way to from Jerusalem to Damascus so he can begin a whole new wave of persecution against…
There were some good responses to my Martyn Lloyd-Jones quote about whether Christians in vocational ministry are somehow more religious than those who aren’t. One commenter on the post raised a question that seemed worth pursuing further. He stated, and then asked, We get it—God doesn’t want everyone to be a pastor or a missionary…
It would not be my preference to begin this way, but I guess I need to say it up front: R.C. Sproul Jr. and I have some significant theological differences, and not only that, but we have differences in areas in which we are both rather vocal. Though we disagree on these things, he and…
As I’ve been reading blogs and news articles lately, I’ve seen quite a few articles on the subject of breastfeeding. That’s kind of a strange observation, I know, but I’ve seen it as a recent theme in the media. I guess society is still negotiating whether or not it is appropriate to nurse a baby…
Back in 2005 I wrote about the seeming arbitrariness (but not the unimportance) of celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25. But even if that date wasn’t the actual calendar day of Jesus’ birth, it’s still interesting to understand why we have come to commemorate it then. A few years ago Elisha Coffman posted…
Reports of the blogosphere’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Another year has come and (just about) gone and the blogosphere continues to be an integral means of communication, and this despite many predictions that blogs will soon go the way of the dinosaur (or the newspaper, as the case may be). 2011 was a great…
Farhad Manjoo recently wrote a provocative article for Slate in which he argued that we shouldn’t support our local independent bookstores. According to Manjoo, “buying books on Amazon is better for authors, better for the economy, and better for you.” Those are fighting words! You may have heard of Amazon’s recent promotion. If you walked…
Here is something to consider: Do you think it would change your life if you were to read 3,650 chapters of the Bible over the course of the next year? Let me explain why I’m asking the question. It was a little over a year ago that I discovered Professor Horner’s Bible-Reading System. His system…
Last week I posted a short guide to the public reading of Scripture, and I sought to show how we emphasize Scripture reading at Grace Fellowship Church. I was a little bit taken aback at some of the reaction, especially after one popular blogger linked the article to her Twitter followers; this generated a lot…
The Bible is the very Word of the living God, breathed out by God and given to us to train us in all that is necessary for life and godliness. As God’s people we are deeply reliant on Scripture, trusting that the Bible is the only infallible and inerrant means through which God speaks to…
I have always loved language, and the English language in particular. In fact, part of the reason I love to read is not to learn new things, but to learn how other people use words. When I read an author like Malcolm Gladwell, a very gifted writer, I learn more about language than about the…
I went to bed at 10:05 last night, and wouldn’t you know it, my site went down at 10:10 (or so I learned in the morning). I’ve had to dedicate some time this morning to trying to resurrect it. At this point it seems a little bit stable–stable enough to try to post this. However,…
Apple’s iOS continues to mature as a platform. It has now spawned hundreds of thousands of apps, many of which are very useful to Christians. Along with my friend Travis Carden, I’ve gathered a pretty good list of some of the best of the best. Unless otherwise noted, all of these apps are free.
It has been fascinating to witness the rise of Halloween in recent years. What was at one time a day for kids to spend a couple of hours going door-to-door to collect candy and coins has morphed into a true holiday where kids and adults alike celebrate. Recent trips to costume stores show that the…
Saturday afternoon I cruising along the highway when I very suddenly hit a wall of traffic. It didn’t slow gradually, but pretty much just hit a wall and stopped dead. For the next 20 or 30 minutes I crawled along at the kind of pace where it would be faster to just get out and…
There has been a lot of talk in the blogosphere about James MacDonald inviting T.D. Jakes to round 2 of The Elephant Room, to be held on January 25, 2012. Controversy has centered around the widespread belief that Jakes does not hold to an orthodox understanding of the Trinity. Rather, some claim, he is a…
Last week I spoke to Bob Kellemen about the difficult subject of spiritual abuse. We worked toward a definition of the term and looked also at what shouldn’t rightly be classified as abuse. I had more questions and Bob was kind enough to answer them (and, in my opinion, to answer well). Here’s the rest…
I’m writing today from West Boylston, Massachusetts (I’ve never managed to spell Massachusetts without using spell checker), at the site of the Psalm 119 Conference. Yesterday I spoke on desiring discernment and a few minutes ago on how to be discerning without being a complete jerk (a.k.a. speaking truth in love). It’s been great to…