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.​

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

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

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.