Every Christian is to follow the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and long to see the character of Jesus reflected in their life. The Bible refers to following Christ in this way as discipleship. Thus, the vital question for every man who longs to be a disciple of Christ and to disciple his family, is how?

Unbelievers will not leave behind families, religions, or political allegiances for generic theism, nor for a merely human Jesus who teaches new moral maxims and little else. We must allow our theology of conversion to inform our missiology.

There are some good days, and certainly some fine people who encourage him, but he’s frustrated because the job God called him to do just cannot be done. He has many people to tend to, numbers of which are missing, and even those who are present are more than any average man could possibly care for—that is, really care for.

Today’s links include resources on suffering, pastoral friendships, encouragement, and the search for an ideal church.

There is no such thing as a pastor who knows only the burden of leadership or only the sweat of service.

Let us today go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in him, and can sing, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”

Humanity is fascinated with the idea of time manipulation because, try as we might, we cannot control it. We rarely have awareness of when chapters of our lives are about to begin and end, let alone understanding of “what God has done from the beginning to the end.” But I am confident in this: our tension with time reveals our deeper yearning for redemption.