When I put a new vegetable in front of my four-year-old, his eyes narrow, his brow furrows, he leans slowly closer to his plate, and, before tasting it, he predictably says, “I don’t like this.” This neophobia—the fear of the new—seems contextually inborn. When I tell my four-year-old, “We are going to watch a new […]

Faithful preaching has three primary ingredients. Creativity and homiletical polish are helpful, but the key ingredients of faithful preaching are preset and established by God. The three ingredients touch on who is qualified to preach, why one should preach, and what one should preach. Who May Preach? Though the gospel call is promiscuous, the call […]

The Beginning of Prayer In the beginning, God breathed His breath into humanity. According to both Moses and Paul, this breath (or Spirit) caused Adam and Eve to be living souls (see Gen 1:7; 1 Cor 15:45). What does it mean to be a living soul? At the very least, it means that we were […]

Most people don’t know who you are. In fact, most church members are unknown. They aren’t speaking at conferences, writing books, on a website, or being paid. I’ve been at conferences with thousands and thousands of people and less than a dozen on stage. Most Christians are the people in the pew, not the pulpit. […]

Despite having a widespread reputation for irreligious beliefs, President Thomas Jefferson was a hero to many Baptists in America because he was arguably the nation’s greatest champion of religious liberty. Baptists wanted to convey how delighted they were with his election as president in 1800. A big block of cheese played a major role in […]

As you have read through your Bible, maybe you have wondered, “Why is no one called a missionary in the New Testament?” There are pastors and elders, apostles and evangelists, prophets and priests, but where are the missionaries? Indeed, you may have noticed that the word “mission” does not even appear in your English Bible. […]

Motherhood is often the sipping of lukewarm coffee. It’s the crunch of Cheerios underfoot. It’s washing dishes and waking to wash dishes…again. Mothering leaves us exhausted. We work around the clock, and the laundry is still half-folded. When we’ve left careers, trade promotions, and external achievements for more time at home, this discouragement is compounded […]

When I played college baseball, we used to play games on the road to make the time go by faster. My games of choice were either Spades or riddle word games. My favorite riddle was “The Green Glass Door.” If you haven’t heard, it goes like this: There is a Green Glass Door. A goose […]

Everyone is born dead. Signs of life are evident—the ability to breathe, the pulse felt on our wrists, and an ever-increasing ability to understand the things of this world. Yet signs of death are lurking in the background. Death is seen in the disobedient child, in the small lies we tell each other, and in […]

Editor’s Note: Excerpted with permission from The Great Commission: A Sermon Collection by Charles H. Spurgeon, edited by Jason K. Allen. Copyright 2024, B&H Publishing. Available now from B&H and wherever Christian books are sold. What the Christian Does[1] I will take it for granted that every believer here wants to be useful. If he […]