Elyse FitzpatrickDid you attend church on Sunday? If so, you’re part of an increasingly rare minority. In fact, fewer people regularly attend church now than at any time in American history. Why is this? What follows is a testimony—a confession—of my five decades...
Wyatt GrahamWith the advent of the internet, we parents deal with a constant flow of parenting tips and tricks. Fresh data comes every week. Influencers tell us about new studies that should supposedly change how we parent. The ground beneath our feet feels...
Peter KrolIf you search your Bible for the phrase Bible study, you won't find it. A big part of the problem is that the word Bible never occurs in most English Bibles. Even if you search for just the word study, you won’t find quite what you’re looking for...
Mitch ChasePeople are afraid of demons. What are demons afraid of? Have you ever wondered? Maybe you would think it strange to imagine demons being afraid of anything. The accounts of demonic possession in the Gospels, and the attempts to represent such...
“Imagine” is my least favorite Lennon song. Sadly, Lennon isn’t a dreamer at all in this song, though he claims that he is. He’s living without real imagination or hope, foolishly thinking that the answer to death and war, greed and hunger, is to be...
Blake AdamsFor Catholics, Orthodox, and many Protestants, Holy Week is the most sacred time of the year. Traditionally, it is more important than Christmas, as it focuses on the central event of the gospel: the death and resurrection of Jesus. Contents The...
John Mark ComerI recognize that a growing number of people have an emotional allergy to the word sin, but it is just the word we use to name the felt experience of the human condition that pretty much all luminary thinkers agree on. Whether ancient, modern...
Mark WardGod himself is love (1 John 4:8). Love for God is the greatest commandment. Love for others is the second (Matt 22:34–40). Love is the greatest Christian virtue. But what is love? That is a rather important question. Similar questions come to mind ...
Seana ScottSometimes we feel spiritually dry. When your own inner life feels more barren than bountiful, James 4:8 offers a two-step path toward spiritual renewal and refreshment: Confession Repentance. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your...
Robert ElmerHow many different ways can we apologize to God? Quite a few, actually. And in the ancient prayers of God’s people—in Scripture and outside it—their focus quite often turned to confession or its many related expressions: remorse, guilt...
Michael F. BirdAmong the divine attributes, none is so mysterious and sublime as that of divine holiness. In systematic theology, the divine attributes—aspects of God’s character and being—are normally divided into two categories: the incommunicable and the...
George HillmanGrowing up, my family had a weekend farm just north of the town where we lived. As a kid, it was a great place to explore nature and learn many life skills. It was on that farm, for example, where I learned how to drive a manual transmission even...
Matthew HarmonWhen it comes to understanding the person and work of the Holy Spirit, theologians often use the term mystery. Reflecting on John 3:3–8, Graham Cole writes: Jesus said that the Spirit’s action is like that of the wind. The movements of the wind have...
Mike Leake“Church.” To my pre-adolescent mind this word meant, “that place you go when you visit grandma’s house, where you sing boring songs and hear an old guy talk for hours.” To my adolescent mind this word meant, “that place you endure when...
Mary DeMuthWhen I first became a Christian as a teen, I didn’t know any of the lingo erupting around me. When I first heard the word backslider, I pictured a person on their backside careening down a Slip ‘N’ Slide. Since people mentioned...
Tobin PerryHave you ever wondered, “What does the Bible really say about not going to church?” You’re not alone, especially in recent years, as the COVID-19 pandemic affected the church-attending habits of Christians worldwide. A few years...
The pandemic lulled me into a new church rhythm. The kids slept in, and I slowly sipped coffee. They eventually woke up and we logged into YouTube from our smart TV to watch the livestream for the second service. Months later, when the church...
Esther SmithPrayers for physical wellness fill our prayer chains, but what about prayers for mental health? We all face struggles that threaten our mental well-being. Anxiety overwhelms us. Depression crushes us. Addiction entices us. We walk out of...
Keith N. Smith Jr.Are Christians in a war? If so, how do we fight in this war? These are important questions for every follower of Jesus to consider, because the Bible tells us that we are indeed engaged in a spiritual battle against the kingdom of darkness. This is...
Visit any church enough times and you’ll probably hear a sermon that spotlights Galatians 5:22–23—the “fruit of the Spirit” passage: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness … ” Sound familiar? It’s a perennial favorite of many preachers, as it dives...
Bryan BlazoskyWhile serving in a small church plant during my first year of college, I remember being given for the first time something called a spiritual gifts test. I don’t remember the specific questions on the test, but I do remember the result. For the...
Gregg AllisonCan we, or can we not, pray to the Holy Spirit? Augustine (354–430) composed this prayer to the Holy Spirit: Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy; Act in me O Holy Spirit that my works, too, may be holy; Draw my heart O Holy...
Todd HainsEvery morning and every evening I pray for my children. I pray the words God has placed over my children and over me. Because God’s Word interprets the world, these words are how God wants me to see my children. In baptism, God has given my...
Bible study is the practice—whether individually or within a group—of reading, interpreting, and applying Scripture to daily life. Christians don’t study the Bible simply to amass information they won’t use. The point of Bible study is to know God...
Family discipleship is hard work. The days are long with small children: a messy home, a litany of whys, and a gaggle of shouts of joy and frustration over the big and the small. In the midst of all this, you might ask yourself: Am I up for fighting...
Logos StaffIs cursing a sin? Many Christians would instantly answer yes. But not so fast—it depends on what we mean by “cursing.” When you read the Bible, you’ll see that “cursing” and “swearing” mean something very...
Ryan LyttonThere are 211 instances of “the practice of communicating with a deity” in the Bible, according to the Logos Bible app‘s Factbook . Such a list demonstrates the massive undertaking that is the study of prayer. So, when we approach the topic of...
Jessica ClarkA few years ago as I was exploring spiritual disciplines, I found myself surprised at how often fasting came up. Fasting wasn’t something I heard much talked about in the churches and communities I’d been a part of. But it kept coming up...
Christa Threlfall“Shh—I’m listening to your opinion of God!” If you, by some secretive means, were able to eavesdrop on the private conversations between my husband and me, you would get a pretty good gauge on the status of our marriage. Though it...
“The Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity on something besides Jesus.”— Tim Keller Our identity in Christ may be simultaneously the most important and most ignored part of our spiritual growth...