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The Crown of Thorns Club
When was the last time you went to a private social club? If you think that kind of thing is for the elite members of our society alone, guess again. The Yellow Pages are filled with lists of social clubs …Read More
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Children of Promise
Which is more important, the unity of the church or its purity? To which are we to give preference: love or truth, fellowship or doctrine? The apostle Paul places great emphasis on unity: “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children …Read More
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A Testimony of Faithfulness
Among all the names mentioned in the letter to the Hebrews, only one belongs to a member of the New Testament church. Here are four clues. If you still can’t get the answer, look up Hebrews 13:23. Clue …Read More
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Respect Your Elders
“Respect your elders!” was a continual rebuke I heard from my uncle during my childhood. Although then I couldn’t define the word respect by any dictionary standard, I had a good working knowledge of what it meant to respect …Read More
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Many Gifts, One Body
A few years ago I was given a month-long sabbatical to study in Wittenberg, Germany, the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation. While in Wittenberg, I stayed at the Evangelical Preacher’s Seminary, which shared the same courtyard as Martin Luther …Read More
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Covenant Community
When a pastor looks at his assembled congregation, what does he see? If he accepts a biblical covenant theology, he knows that he is not looking at a collection of randomly gathered individuals, or even families, but at a part …Read More
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A Generation of Heroes
Satan watches for those vessels that sail without a convoy,” wrote Puritan pastor George Swinnock (1627–1673). Every individual knows he was created for community. Isolation is the Devil’s playground, and our Enemy is on the lookout for the …Read More
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The Bonds of Brotherhood
Fraternity … what does this word mean? It can refer to several distinct types of associations or relationships, and the church can learn valuable lessons by exploring these in more depth. The term fraternity may prompt us to recall the motto …Read More
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The Church Gathered
In ancient Athens, Aristotle, a Greek philosopher of the fourth century BC, wrote about a custom in which, at age eighteen, young men submitted to an examination by fellow citizens and subsequently started physical and military training. Three fathers from …Read More
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Band of Brothers
Real men don’t eat quiche, and real men don’t do church. For a variety of cultural and sociological reasons, it has become an accepted fact that the majority of people in most churches are women. It is now …Read More
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An Appetizer for the Feast
Go ahead. Ask me what would make me happiest if I had a totally free day. I’d tell you that during such a dream day I’d be by myself, probably with a book. Right at the front of …Read More
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A Culture of Sacrifice
It was October 25, 2007, and the moon shone brightly over the rugged terrain of eastern Afghanistan. Elements of 1st Platoon, B Company (173rd Airborne Brigade), walked cautiously back to their outpost after completing their assigned mission. But unknown to …Read More
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Who Is My Brother?
Conservative Christians seeking a way to encapsulate our most fundamental political commitments came up with “family values.” We vote “family values.” We support “family values” candidates. Even the left has noticed, countering our language with this bit of bumper-sticker wisdom …Read More
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Your Church and Your Life Planning
A friend recently emailed me asking how he should weigh leaving his church to take a job in another city. I told him that he was “free in Christ” to stay or go but that I loved his factoring his …Read More
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Where and How Do We Draw the Line?
“In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” Sounds nice, but which are which? Everyone wants to be unified in what really matters, to agree to disagree on what isn’t as important, and to exercise love in …Read More
