He’s not like us. We subtly beg for compliments, we subversively seek affirmation, we passive-aggressively look for allies – but not Jesus. Jesus knows what He’s about. And He knows that what He offers is the only thing that truly satisfies.

It’s against that backdrop that we...

The parables Jesus tells in the four Gospels are peculiar kinds of stories that too many readers read very wrongly. It's important, then, to clear up some common misconceptions about these important stories. I want to share with you what the parables are, but first, it is helpful to establish what...

The Ministry of Advocacy

Ray Ortlund writes about advocacy as a form of mercy. We ought to look for those around us who are powerless or suffering, and see how we can advocate for them. 

Stop The Neglect: Vital Truths Churches Must Understand About Unmarried Christians

In this encouraging post,...

I took one of those clickbait online quizzes the other day. I was preparing to preach to my church on spiritually-healthy self-awareness from Psalm 51:3 and perhaps, I thought, by taking the “Are You Emotionally Healthy?” online quiz I might gather a good joke or two. The quiz had me...

"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you."-- John 15:9

As the Father loves the Son, in the same manner Jesus loves his people. What is that divine method? He loved him without beginning, and thus Jesus loves his members. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." You can trace the...

Are you considering starting a blog but don’t know where to begin? Or have you set up a blog but rarely use it? If so, I’d love to help.

I know there are tons of blogs already, and you may wonder if the world wide web needs another one. Sometimes it seems nearly every church, every...

Some preachers take off strong. They get to cruising altitude and pilot the sermon without turbulence. Then they land smoothly at the same airport from which they took off. It was a good flight. Homiletical policies and procedures were followed. And the congregation enjoyed the ride so much that it...

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he mediates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2)

A couple of years ago, I watched the movie Eat, Pray, Love. The movie is about a lady trying to find herself. In the process, she travels to India. While it’s a bit...

We don’t often think of trials as our servants. But surprisingly, they drive us from our insufficiency to God’s all-sufficency. Like a spiritual uber driver, they chauffeur us to God’s blessings.

One biblical example is in Psalm 16. It begins with an undercurrent of...

Men are made for community. They are made to walk their path in this world alongside their family and with a band of brothers. God’s first “not good” in the created order was because of man’s solitude: “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Gen 2:18). This...

When someone like Rachel Held Evans responds to something Tim Keller tweets, especially when she responds negatively, social media heats up a few degrees.

Last December, Tim Keller tweeted: “Evangelicals have generally believed in the authority of the whole Bible, in contrast to mainline...

I had a dear friend solicit my thoughts, once, on how to preach on depression. He knew I suffered from depression and he trusted me to help him develop his sermon. He wanted to know how I would approach it.

I quoted him a few verses that have always been near to my mind when I have fought hardest...

Most Christians would say they know a legalist. You never think it’s you, but chances are it might be. The legalistic spirit exists in all of us from birth; that is the idea that righteousness can be obtained by works and apart from God’s grace. Basically, it’s human nature to...

Sometimes a sermon can be a polarizing thing. Once I was preaching to a crowd of New Yorkers about how Christians should respond to the problem of poverty. I will never forget two e-mails I received the following week, both in reference to the same sermon.

The writer of the first e-mail, among other...

In Genesis 34, there is a young man named Shechem who rapes Jacob's daughter, Dinah. It is a terrible story. Strangely, Shechem falls in love with Dinah, the girl he most certainly did not love, while he was taking advantage of her.

In love as he is, Shechem goes to Jacob to seek Dinah's hand...

“Whom he appointed the heir of all things.” Hebrews 1: 2

The best things in our culture image who God is. Those things are not merely human inventions; they are God’s gifts to humanity so that, when God explains himself to us, we have categories by which we can...

We want to celebrate! In the last couple of years, Midwestern Seminary has given away nearly 15,000 For The Church T-shirts, as well as hundreds of assorted FTC mugs, thermoses, and other gear. We've been thrilled to see how far these items have carried this message that is so important to us and,...

My new book Supernatural Power for Everyday People: Experiencing God's Extraordinary Spirit in Your Ordinary Life released just a few weeks ago. Here are some quotable highlights:

1. When we relegate our intentionality with God to a minute fraction of our time, it’s no wonder we feel distant...

Faith in the Drought

What do we do when we are experiencing a drought? Sara Beth Fentress helps us remember who God is and what He has promised in the midst of dry seasons. 

Don’t Sleep on “Grace to You”

J.A. Medders writes on this three-word phrase and shares why we should...

Growing up, I experienced many churches who gave little regard to the authority of the Bible. Many of the pastors I knew would use Scripture as a springboard to say whatever they wanted. I will never forget one Sunday sitting in service when the Scripture reader was supposed to read just a few...

"Thou shalt be called, Sought out."-- Isaiah 62:12

The surpassing grace of God is seen very clearly in that we were not only sought, but sought out. Men seek for a thing which is lost upon the floor of the house, but in such a case there is only seeking, not seeking out. The loss is more perplexing...

To some Christians, church discipline seems to contradict the whole shape of the Bible’s story. Isn’t the gospel all about Jesus welcoming tax collectors and sinners? Aren’t we turning back the clock and putting believers back under the law if we start excluding people from the...

My mind is tired right now, and it’s only 7 in the morning! Thoughts race, (actually, bounce back and forth) as I try to read the Word. My husband and I laugh about the different ways our brains work, but I really do struggle to slow it down and focus on what I’m reading.

Ironically...

I have always known I am a control freak. I like things my way according to my time table done in my preferred manner. But, then again, who isn’t? Most of us have inflated senses of our own abilities and who we are and so honestly believe we know what is best for most situations. We know how...

I have been involved in leading churches for four decades, with an emphasis on church planting in the last few years. I’ve also visited and addressed hundreds of churches around the world and have had the privilege of meeting thousands of Christian leaders. Through this time, I’ve...