Worldview & Culture / Christianity and Culture

  • Lies and Their Consequences

    Deuteronomy 19:16-21

    The Lord, being the font of wisdom and truth, has given us fair principles for guiding His community. It is essential, therefore, for a healthy church to follow His law, showing grace to the repentant and applying discipline when professing ...Read More

  • Lively and Gracious Speech

    Colossians 4:6

    Jesus’ teaching in parables is an excellent illustration of the kind of speech that Paul talks about in today’s passage. His words were memorable, exciting, and attracted many to follow Him. At the same time, there was no hint ...Read More

  • Living in Exile

    Nehemiah 1:1-3

    When it comes to the “culture war,” American evangelicals often embrace one of two extremes. On the one hand, they can give up trying to influence society altogether. On the other, they might believe the nation will be saved if ...Read More

  • Our Witness to the World

    1 Timothy 5:14-15

    When missionaries enter a new culture, they have to adapt to their audiences in order to preach the gospel intelligibly to those in need of salvation. We must do the same, but we must be ever cautious that we do ...Read More

  • Philosophy and Superstition

    Acts 17:16–21

    The idea of all the world being a part of God, or participating in deity, is common in New Age thinking. Perhaps this view is popular in the West because it is so democratic, all things sharing equally in divinity ...Read More

  • Preparing to See the King

    Genesis 46:31–34

    It is sometimes difficult to discern how to live in the world but not of the world. But surely we are living too much according to the world’s standards if we never encounter any opposition to the Gospel. Do ...Read More

  • Pursuing the Quest for Purpose

    Think about how proximate purpose may be contributing to God’s remote purpose in your life.Read More

  • Putting Your Faith in Action

    Examine your heart today: Are you believing the right things, yet doing the wrong things? Are you believing the wrong things while still trying to do the right things?Read More

  • Rejecting Kingdoms of This World

    Spend some time in prayer today for your city, state, and nation.Read More

  • Saving the Phenomena

    Romans 1:18-32

    When we see an apparent conflict between the Bible and science, either our understanding of the Bible is wrong, our understanding of science is wrong, or our understanding of both is wrong. As Christians we can confidently pursue all of ...Read More

  • Sin’s Reality and the Ideal

    Philemon 8

    As today’s study shows, understanding the cultural background of a passage in Scripture is important to figuring out why an author says what he says. In turn, as we hope to show in future studies, knowing this historical context ...Read More

  • Spiritual Adultery

    James 4:4

    David Brainerd, missionary to Native Americans, comments, “Worldly pleasures, such as flow from greatness, riches, honors, and sensual gratifications, are infinitely worse than none” (The Life and Diary of David Brainerd). The pleasures this world has to offer, while not ...Read More

  • The Eye of the Beholder

    Ecclesiastes 3:11a

    Although the subject is always deeply involved in any encounter with the arts, we must recognize that there is one ultimate standard of beauty—the Lord Himself. Scripture often speaks of the “beauty of the Lord” (Ps. 27:4), and ...Read More

  • The Myth of Chance

    Proverbs 16:33

    As today’s passage indicates, even a random outcome in the casting of lots to make a decision is determined by the hand of God. Every seemingly “chance” event — a flat tire, running into a long-lost friend, a roll of ...Read More

  • The Ninth Commandment

    Exodus 20:16

    Slander and gossip pervade our culture, and thus it is very easy to break the ninth commandment without being aware that we are actually doing anything wrong. As those who have been called out of the darkness of sin into ...Read More