God created men and women to work in such a way that we both have the same goal and we need one another to get the job done. 

He may not change your circumstances, but he will give peace in the midst of hardship as he promised.

When we talk about multiplication, we mean that churches have a process to discover, develop, and deploy church planting teams from the inside. ​​

Stuff is going to happen. Things will break. People will hurt you. Leaders will disappoint you. But Jesus never fails. Never.  ​

When you stand behind the sacred desk to preach, be a voice, not an echo.

When circumstances are running smoothly and our own plans are being fulfilled, it is easy to forget the Lord and all he has done in the gospel.

I am a long way from having the character of our heavenly Father, but my daughter is helping me understand what it means to be drawn fully into the gospel story.

Marriage is a covenant and not a contract. Marriage is intended to be commitment to which we maintain trust and fidelity until separated by death.

Community is a costly business, but someone must pay the cost. Why not you? Why not me?

“Oh good! It’s always great to meet a fellow Christian," said the young man on my doorstep when he discovered I was a pastor.

True and lasting influence is not automatically attained by a high-level job, but by being purposeful in how we relate to others.

This week's links include resources on being freed from pride, Lottie Moon and singleness, being brought close, and the recent Houston Chronicle report. 

It is a divine lesson to know how to be full

God spoke into these situations with temporary protections that pointed to the Savior coming who will correct all injustice.

School is life for foster kids so develop a partnership with the local school your child will attend. 

As a denomination, my tribe has a history that is a mixed bag when it comes to how churches get planted and the effectiveness of those plants. I believe we are turning a corner with our approach.

In the spirit of Hebrews 11, reading good biographies summons forth a veritable chorus of cheers, encouraging us to lay aside every encumbrance and sin that so easily entangles us and to run with endurance the race set before us.

If your pursuit of Christian maturity does not have the person and work of Christ as its central focus, it’s a fool’s errand.

Walk where Edwards and Whitefield walked, visit everywhere from Yale to Harvard and coastal Maine to rural Vermont, meet with local pastors and church planters, and even enjoy some local eateries and coffee.

The womb should be more like a blossoming garden than a cold cell at Auschwitz. Those who use this law as occasion for murderous convenience will not go unnoticed by the Lord.

Whatever Albert Einstein meant when he said “God does not play dice with the universe,” the believer can assert with even greater conviction (and gratitude) that his heavenly Father does not play dice with his people.

When we pursue kindness, we direct our lives to reflect God and to live for what He expects of us.

This week's links include resources on ease as the new vice, attractive qualities in a leader, what Christ will never say to us, and congregational singing. 

Jesus promised that we would be baptized by the Holy Spirit. What on earth can that mean?

Christ, to the uttermost, has satisfied divine justice; the account is settled; the handwriting is nailed to the cross; the receipt is given.

God's good word gives us the ability to simply breathe, to live, every single day. 

Whatever the circumstances, potential foster or adoptive couples should court their parents and patiently give them a vision for multigenerational influence. 

When you get a little grace, you start asking, “Who else?” Because there must be someone.

The idea of the professing Christian living in isolation from the local church is quite foreign to the New Testament.

The dark parts of our hearts have been exposed by learning to care for another human being who is not biologically related to us. 

Holding a grudge never ever results in what we think it will. 

This is the good news of the gospel. Words that didn’t make sense together make sense now because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.​

Not only is it very intellectually satisfying to trust the Gospels, but it is more satisfying than any of the alternatives.​

Trials, of all kinds, test our faith in crucible-like ways—ways that will show the greatness and goodness of God and result in our greater praise to him. This is, in part, because he endures the trials with us.​

There is much good in young men rejecting passivity, taking responsibility, and seeking to better themselves. But the arteries of anger, victimhood, and aggressive machismo running through the new masculinity movement do not bode well.

There is no magical formula for you to faithfully walk with Jesus. 

This week's links include resources on self-control and the leader, churches at a tipping point, pain and planting churches, and being in the margins. 

Oh, what a fulness must this be of which all receive!

If we were merely flawed people, then the cross would have been an extreme overcorrection. 

As they see you expanding your parenting to include the new kids in your home, while yet devoting yourself to them, they will be ready to expand their capacity to be a brother or sister to the new kids God has given you.

In the Christian gospel, we have not only a God who answers our questions, but also a God who enters our pain. The fact that Jesus entered our world to live as a man of sorrows proves he’s trustworthy.​

There is no “being the church” apart from “going to church.” The two are intrinsically connected.  ​

When I look at the history of the Church, I am reminded that God often works wonders through deeply broken people, and through some of the darkest atrocities imaginable. My faith is not in Christians, but in Christ — a holy, good, and just God.​

We are to handle our disagreements with humility, not with even an ounce of grumbling or quarreling.

God’s Word was more than sufficient to guide us in our time of transition.

This is the lesson for us who want to do good, but don’t want to get our hands dirty.

The truth that God is in control of our suffering is offensive to many, but it is a truth we should want to embrace when faced with the alternatives.

This week's links include resources on myths about complementarianism, practicing the doctrine of justification, engaging emotion in preaching, and liturgies for youth.

The culture wants us to separate reason and faith. But the bible wants us to engage the mind that God gave us.

Are you a sheep?

This is a fit prayer for every day.

God gives generously in kindness to the least, last, lost, and left-out.

As a member of the body of Christ in a local church, you enjoy a mutual commitment with other believers that reflects your relationship with your spouse. 

The New Testament is saturated with the local church. Trying to understand these 27 books apart from the local church is like playing baseball without the bases. You may be able to recognize the sport, but the path to winning has been eliminated.

We cannot make someone experience conviction—that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. But we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit not only by proclaiming the gospel, but also by simply reading the Bible.

To think rightly about what we deserve, we must start with God. Our flesh wants to make everything about us, as if the world revolves around humans, but creation tells a different tale.

Sin was defeated in the past, is defeated in the present, and will be defeated in the future only by the cross of Christ and our participation in it.

As the preacher exegetes his text and his times, he sees how the two intersect, or do not intersect with his congregation.

We must be mindful to walk in humility, being open to learning what God has taught others, knowing that we are not the only saints who have traversed the path we are on.

My dad often told me, “The debt we owe to the past is to leave the future indebted to us.” Here are 11 things I learned from my dad and grandfather that have sustained me for the last 65 years in ministry.

Why, despite an abundance of helpful resources and exemplary models, do we still have a hard time turning the homiletical corner to preaching Christ?

My desire for rest is not wrong, it’s just often misplaced. 

This week's links include resources on loving a prodigal child, on losing mom and the church, union with Christ, foster care, and men serving in kids ministry.

Beloved reader, what is thy desperate case? 

Let stories be as bold, brash, and audacious as they were meant to be.

Foster care or adoption will stretch your marriage in ways it has never been stretched before.

Real friends are candid and give counsel, but their love keeps it from being reckless. Real friends are careful with one another. They don’t want to push you away; they want to bring you nearer to themselves and to Jesus.

It is life and death. The wind is howling, the waves are building, and life is coming at me with all its fury. What have I to cling to? Hold fast to the gospel. Cling to Christ.

These things took time and a process in order to come full-circle - the pain of personal growth, the healing after the pain, and the perspective gained in hindsight beyond the healing. And the unnerving and exciting thing is this: God’s still got more to do.​

As pastors, we need to remind young couples not only that we are all sinners, but also that we are all sexual sinners.

Just by being there you increase your chances of making an impact and you give yourself the chance to use your gifts.

When we become Christians, we move from an “I” to a “We.” Therefore, the local church is a single, spiritual entity – an entity that ought to think and act corporately.

The wise pastor will become familiar with New Testament hyperlinks to the Old Testament and learn to move between anchor texts and their targets so as to rightly divide the Word of truth.​

What are you hiding? 

Every now and again some well-meaning brother or sister will say to me, "This one's different. You gotta see it. It's not like the others." And then it is. It painfully, painfully is. 

This week's links include resources on protecting teens from pornography, living to die, disappointment in ministry, and how to live post-Advent. 

"Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening."

Against this dark backdrop of depravity beams the love of Christ. 

When our hearts believe the lie that there is something more beautiful and more valuable than Jesus Christ, our lives will reflect our rejection of that truth.

For most of us, "missions" isn’t at the forefront of Christmas considerations. Perhaps it should be.

Pastoring is a challenge no matter the size of the community, but having the right set of tools can make the job a little easier.  

Seeking the blessing of the city means knees will bow.

We lay preachers don’t get many preaching reps, and we certainly don’t want to do a bad job when one comes our way. 

We love them, shepherd them, and pray for them, but we can’t make them follow the Lord. 

Charles Spurgeon preached at least 14 sermons about the New Year in his 38 years at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Though many themes arise in his comments, belief is as pervasive as any.