This week the blog is sponsored by Crossway, who would like to introduce you to the ESV Scripture Journal. Reading and studying Scripture are pursuits that require the attention of both heart and mind. To love the Lord with all our strength, we must actively engage with Scripture—asking questions, learning contexts, making connections, and reflecting…
This week the blog is sponsored by The Good Book Company. This post was written by Juan Sanchez. There’s never been a more dangerous time for the church. It’s swimming against the moral tide of culture, and is, frankly, struggling to keep its head above water. From the outside, it faces growing oppression from tyrannical…
Today’s post is written by D. A. Carson and is sponsored by Zondervan Academic. Fifty or sixty years ago, most Christians in the Western world who chose to be involved in evangelism were trying to win people to Christ who already enjoyed some knowledge of the Bible, people who, culturally speaking, were not too dissimilar…
This week the blog is sponsored by Midwestern Seminary. The post is written by Jared C. Wilson. I rolled on to Midwestern Seminary campus three winters ago unsure of a whole lot about the school and my place in it. The future looked promising and the opportunities looked exciting, but I don’t know if I…
This sponsored post was prepared by Director Thomas Purifoy Jr. on behalf of Is Genesis History?. When Is Genesis History? opened in theaters last year, we had no idea it would be the top-grossing Christian documentary for 2017. We were even more surprised when our distributor said it was bringing it for an Anniversary Event.…
This week the blog has been sponsored by The Master’s University. We should be reminded that as we read the Bible this year, we don’t just want to read it through, we want to read it well. When we come to a text where we wonder, “How is this useful?” don’t just skim over it.…
This week the blog has been sponsored by Bible Immersion. This post has been written by Jordan Standridge the Director, Foundry Bible Immersion Program. If you could spend Ten weeks of your life focusing only on God and His word would you do it? Ten weeks to change your life and to deepen your love…
This sponsored post was provided by Lifeway and written by Keith Getty. Do you avoid joining in with congregational worship in church because you think you can’t sing? Perhaps you can recall an awkward conversation as a child when you were asked to mouth the words, rather than sing them; or when it was suggested…
This sponsored post was provided by Books at a Glance. While not everyone has a written set of New Year’s goals or resolutions, most people take the opportunity of a New Year to identify one or two things you’d like to improve, change, or do more of in the next 12 months, and studies have…
The doctors warned my wife that I might never recover. Food and fluid were pumped into me intravenously, my death was awaited with baited breath, and my life was prayed for by many of God’s people. One day, early in this ordeal, I tried to pray, but could not think of any words to pray!…
This sponsored post was provided by Clarifying The Bible. You don’t want to waste your life. You want to joyfully follow Jesus and help others do the same. And, you know that meaningful time in the Scriptures, a growing familiarity with the Bible, and a confidence in handling God’s Word are absolutely essential to that…
The debate about biological origins continues to be hotly contested within the Christian church. Prominent organizations such as Biologos (USA) and Faraday Institute (UK) insist that Christians must yield to an unassailable scientific consensus in favor of contemporary evolutionary theory and modify traditional biblical ideas about the creation of life accordingly. Such organizations promote a…
We don’t tend to think of the 16th century as a time when people had to sort out female identity issues. But Roman Catholicism had very strong ideas about women and what they should be doing. For example, lactating nuns and celibate wives were both considered holy. That’s a problem! And because Roman Catholic tradition…
In recognition of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and Martin Luther’s writing of his 95 Theses, Zondervan has discounted 95 of their key eBooks on the Reformation, Reformed theology, and more. See the deals here. Many of the books in this sale are worthy reads; some of them have been reviewed on this blog.…
It seems like every publisher, organisation and church has been waving the reformation flag in some way as we celebrate 500 years of the protestant revolution. No doubt there are many church members who have been helped to discover an aspect of our evangelical heritage that was invisible to them. But I wonder if there…
As Christian parents, it is important we teach our kids the truth about who they are, who God is, and about their place in the mission of God. One important piece of this role is to teach and talk to our kids about what it means to be human and to see the humanity of…
It’s October, but if you work at a church, it’s already time to talk about Christmas. That says a lot about what holidays mean for those in ministry. Whether you’re a pastor or volunteer, if you’re not careful, you might spend more time cutting out paper snowflakes for the foyer than preparing your heart to…
It is my belief that the Reformation is worth honoring, remembering, and even celebrating. If our society can celebrate “World Tripe Day” (October 24), we as Protestants can set aside time on October 31, 2017 and remember the 500th anniversary of the event that “lit the powder keg of the Reformation”.
What is doctrine? Put simply, it is the way the central themes of God’s revelation in Scripture are summarized and taught. This teaching builds on their development through the Old Testament. It sees them as having culminated in Christ’s incarnation, words, and work. His teaching (Matt. 7:28; Mark. 1:22; John 7:16) was then expanded and…
This sponsored post was prepared by Zondervan Academic and includes material written by Frank James, Douglas Moo, and Peter H. Davids for Zondervan Academic Online Courses. One of the decisive doctrines to emerge from the Protestant Reformation—and central to Luther’s theology—was the doctrine of justification by faith alone (sola fide). How did Luther come to…