What is the secret to John Piper’s success at Bethlehem Baptist Church? So I was called to Bethlehem Baptist and began in June 1980. I was thirty-four years old, and there were three hundred older people and almost no youth. What I have done is try to preach the whole counsel of God from his …
I feel bad when I have to give a book a bad review. I don’t feel too bad if I perceive it to be harmful to the Christian community, but I do feel bad when the book is not necessarily harmful, it’s just painful. I feel bad because I know that an author somewhere spent …
I heard recently of a pastor who was censured by his deacons because he refused to allow a woman to sing in the church choir who was living in open and unrepentant sin. Odd to consider that a group of leaders who are supposed to use the Bible as their guide opposed the biblical mandate …
About a year ago I received Luke: The Gospel of Amazement from the Biblical Imagination Series by IVP Books and yesterday I received the latest installment in this series, Mark: The Gospel of Passion. Michael Card wrote these and there are books on Matthew and John forthcoming in the next couple of years. Honestly, when …
I’ve recently been studying the passages in Proverbs that speak about our use of language, our mouth, and our tongue. Last week I was struck by Proverbs 16:23, The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. What was so striking? The writer’s emphasis on the heart. In Matthew …
This first sin, struck at the very heart of the family beginning with the role reversal that led to the struggle for leadership. Rather than leading his wife, Adam stood by and allowed his wife to lead him. The leadership scenario, however, did not result in a closer walk with God, but instead in separation …
Today, a new story about The Navy Seals is in the news. Apparently, a group of US Special forces that includes members of Naval Special Warfare Development Group (formerly known as SEAL Team Six that killed Bin Laden) performed a daring rescue of Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted, two aid workers in Somalia during the …
I love books. I especially love Bibles. I appreciate the care with which many are bound, I like the smell, and of course, I love the broke-in feeling of an old Bible. My heart is warmed when I flip through my Nelson New King James Study Bible that carried me through high school, college, and …
Though I have not been able to give this book the time it deserves, I have spent an hour or so working through Ministry by the Book by Derek Tidball. The concept for this book is interesting and helpful. Tidball essentially builds a pastoral theology by examining pastoral roles as they are presented and handled …