Ryan PembertonRyan J. Pemberton—author of Called: My Journey to C. S. Lewis’s House and Back Again and coauthor of Walking with C. S. Lewis—explores Advent ideas for your worship community. For Pemberton, Advent is a beautiful, counter-cultural...
“Is this something we do?” I remember asking when I first heard the word “Lent.” Even though my father is Catholic, I grew up in a Protestant house where Lent, Ash Wednesday, and fasting were as exotic as Rome, the pope, and crucifixes. It wasn’t...
Most Christians would agree that a biblical sermon is a good thing, but how many would actually be able to define what makes a biblical sermon biblical? “The fact is, most people think biblical communication is a style,” says Dr. J. Kent Edwards...
“For freedom Christ has set us free,” the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians. “Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1). But what does the Apostle Paul mean when he writes of our freedom in Christ...
“This is not the world of 100 years ago,” notes Dr. Tim Sisk, pastor, professor, and missionary to Japan and Bolivia. “It’s a very different world, and there are a number of different issues that impact how we take the gospel there.” The changing...
As much as at any other point in history, the world’s major religions are engaging with each other in powerful—sometimes violent—ways. This raises a few questions. How are Christians to relate to other world religions? Can they coexist...
Christian worship is big business. From Christian radio stations to massive international tours to the entire Christian recording industry, worship is no longer confined within church walls; it has global reach. But what does Scripture teach us...
A mother buries the child she loves. A hardworking husband loses his job. A family goes hungry. All of these scenarios beg the same question: If God is good, why do we suffer? For some—including many Christians today—suffering is a sign of God’s...
John Calvin called the Psalms “an anatomy of all the parts of the soul,” meaning there is not a single emotion in all of life that is not articulated in the book of Psalms. When Dr. Mark Futato realized the Psalms’ broad relevance to all of...