I spent a good part of my life hiding, ashamed of sins I had committed in thought, word, and deed—desperate for people to accept the false identities I fought hard to maintain. Right up to the day of my conversion, one of the most often reviewed fears in my heart was that people would find...

Last month, while out at the movies, my wife and I happened to see trailers for two new movies produced by and for the Christian market -- "faith-based films" they call them these days. Both trailers distilled their respective stories down to about 3 minutes of earnest dialogue snippets,...

How Protected Is Your Teen From Finding Pornography Online?

Julie Masson provides an incredibly practical quiz for how to ensure your teen does not gain access to pornography. She explains the statistics and then encourages parents to be involved with smartphone usage. 

Living To Die

"Just as...

"Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening."-- Ezekiel 33:22

In the way of judgment this may be the case, and, if so, be it mine to consider the reason of such a visitation, and bear the rod and him that hath appointed it. I am not the only one who is chastened in the night season; let me...

As Luke told the story about the opening moments and early hours that Jesus hung on the cross (Luke 23:32-43), he especially highlighted something about Christ’s character—his love. This trait of Jesus is especially noteworthy when observing that all around the cross, sin was rampant.

One...

Regardless of age, ethnicity, religion, or socioeconomic status, women around the world and throughout time have faced (and still do) incessant attacks on their souls through lies propagated by the Enemy about beauty and value.

From the deception of Eve by the serpent in Genesis 3, to the isolation...

When we think of Christmas, I would venture that the first thing popping into your mind isn’t missions. We think of family and honey-baked hams and Michael Buble - anything but missions. Perhaps, though, you’re more theologically bent, and you run towards the...

Recently, I had a conversation with a pastor from out-of-state at a conference. He told me he was from a small town in the Southwest. “How small?” I asked, as I am always curious about small towns.  

“Oh, very small,” he assured me. “Only...

In recent weeks, over 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, have been imprisoned. Among them is Pastor Wang Yi, one of China’s foremost Protestant pastors and Christian leaders. Foreseeing this possibility, Pastor Yi drafted a letter, “My Declaration of Faithful...

Preaching is a daunting task, especially for those of us who fill the pulpit when the regular preaching pastor is away. My aim in this article is to help lay elders, youth leaders, pulpit suppliers, seminarians, and anyone else who preaches occasionally understand how to play your role effectively....

Growing up I often heard my grandmother (among others) say that she had to discipline me because she was “training you in the way you should go, so that you won’t depart from it when you get older.” Well, a few decades, lots of drugs and alcohol, an arrest, and sundry other acts...

Charles Spurgeon preached at least 14 sermons about the New Year in his 38 years at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Though many themes arise in his comments, belief is as pervasive as any.

“Oh, to believe from January to December!”

Spurgeon prayed and called for belief in every New...

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”-- Jude...

It happened again last Sunday. It shouldn’t have happened. I know better. I worked through it and I thought I had a grip on it.

But it happened- the attendance at church was lower than usual. That in and of itself wasn’t what shouldn’t have happened. It was my response to low...

More Than Piety: Everyday Work And The Holy Spirit

"The consummation theme gives us a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit’s work in God’s cosmic plan as God brings forth the completion of his reconciliation and restoration project." - TediAnne Hasapopoulos

Skip Resolutions in...

"Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof."-- Ecclesiastes 7:8

Look at David's Lord and Master; see his beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at his Father's right hand, expecting until his enemies be...

Here are the top ten most-read entries at FTC this year, in descending order.

1. 5 Distinctives of Biblical Leadership by Mike Ayers

"If we will recommit ourselves to the standard of God’s Word as opposed to taking our beliefs from the culture, we may catch a glimpse of the brilliant...

Living a just and holy life requires one to be capable of an objective and impartial evaluation of things. - St. Augustine (354–430)

There is a giant problem in East Africa: snails. Lissachatina fulica, giant African land snails, originated in Kenya and have traversed as far as Asia and...

Recently I found myself corresponding with future seminary students about the differences between the Master of Divinity and the shorter Master of Theological Studies degrees. The dialogue, in sum, explored whether the Master of Divinity degree was worth the extra time and expense. I argued,...

I attended the University of Georgia for my undergraduate studies. When I entered the university, I hadn't declared a major, but eventually, I decided on Biology. Why? I don’t know. I’ve never worked in my degree field and the classes I had to take were much more...

Some of my fondest childhood memories were at my grandparents' house. Every day after school I would walk just a few blocks to their house. I would open the door to the smell of bagel bites (my favorite snack), and the sound of my grandmother playing the piano and singing a gospel hymn –...

Consider the formula: Giving up rights = Gospel advancement. Rights are those preferences and freedoms we enjoy as Christians related to what we eat, drink, and enjoy and even some things that we are owed or deserve.

To us in the West, willingly giving these up is an uncomfortable concept.

However,...

It’s true. Charles Spurgeon had a love/hate relationship with Christmas. In seventeenth-century England, Christmas was often associated with moral laxity and splurging. The Puritans resisted the Roman Catholic flavor of the festivities, and so did Spurgeon. Like his predecessors, the preacher...

What would prompt us to refer to a man as God? And even if we acknowledge that Jesus was somehow God, how did he become God? Was he born a man and later “divinized” in some way, perhaps at his baptism? Many have wrestled with these questions throughout church history, but the...

We are conditioned for disappointment from a very young age. Life just doesn’t always work out the way we want it. Sometimes it’s because we have a skewed perception of reality, which is particularly true when we are younger, and other times it’s because reasonable expectations...