Below is a message that I preached to our church at the beginning of the year, and now it seems appropriate to share at the end as well. It’s on the first two chapters of the book of Job. The key question of the book is NOT “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The key question is “How will good people respond when bad things happened to them?” Will God be enough for them? All people suffer. But not all of us suffer in the same way. Not everyone sees God’s hand in their suffering. Even among those who do, not all can accept it. For some people,…
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Let every heart prepare him room!
How could there possibly be anything more mysterious and wonderful than the incarnation of Jesus Christ? God became a man. God took on mortal human flesh. Even though he himself was unfallen, he subjected himself to the brokenness of this fallen world. He sneezed. He coughed. He got headaches and an upset stomach. Every morning he got up, shook the dust out of His hair, and put his hand to the plow in his Father’s field. The incarnate Son of God was obedient even to the point of death. And three days later, what was mortal became swallowed up by immortality in the resurrection. Even now, the resurrected Christ sits…
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The How and Why of Church Discipline – 2 Corinthians 13:1-4
I have been preaching through 2 Corinthians and on Sunday made it through the first four verses of chapter 13. In this text, Paul gives us a glimpse of how corrective discipline is supposed to happen in a church and why he’s threatening such discipline against some troublemakers in Corinth. It’s a very practical text and certainly crucial for us to understand. You can download the message here or listen below.
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Practical Advice for Christian Parents of a Child Identifying as Transgender
Over the last decade, there has been about a 4,000 percent increase in children declaring they are transgender. Even more alarming is the fact that the majority of this increase has been occurring among adolescent young women. Abigail Shrier has chronicled this story in her watershed book Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters (Regnery, 2020). In my work for CBMW, I am traveling and speaking about this issue all the time. In my own experience, I can confirm that what Shrier writes about in Irreversible Damage is happening across the country, even among young women in evangelical churches. For that reason, parents and pastors often ask me for…
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Farewell, Charlie Brown Christmas
“A Charlie Brown Christmas” was an annual fixture of my childhood. For me, this special and “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” were two highlights of the Christmas season. Those were the days when there were only three broadcast channels and before people had VCR’s. You couldn’t record it to watch at your leisure. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” came on once a year, and if you missed it, you’d have to wait an entire year for another opportunity to see it. You had to “check your local listings” to know when it would be on, and then you made an appointment to plant yourself in front of the television to watch the…
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Terminate the Constitution?
Over the weekend, former President Trump wrote the following on Truth Social: You read that correctly—”terminate” the Constitution. This statement surely can be added to the long list of foolish, reprehensible things the former president has said over the years. It repeats his “big steal” gambit. Even worse, it calls for the Constitution of the United States to be overthrown. Nearly two years ago, I wrote about his stolen election claims and the January 6th disgrace, and I suppose I have nothing to add to that (read it here). But on this latest remark about “terminating” the Constitution, it’s worth pointing out that this kind of talk is a complete…
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Interview with FRC about Being Personally against but Legally for Gay Marriage
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Should Christians be personally AGAINST but legally FOR gay marriage?
I have been travelling around the country for the last decade or so speaking to evangelical churches and conferences about gender and sexuality. In those travels and indeed in my own church, I have heard story after story from ordinary Christians about how difficult it is to be in secular workplace environments that are becoming increasingly hostile to Christians who believe what the Bible says about marriage. A dear brother shared with me once about a small celebration in his office during work hours for a colleague who was soon to enter into a gay “marriage.” Should he eat a piece of cake with his officemates? Or should he risk…
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What Happened at the Rocky Mountain ETS?
Another annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) is now in the books. We met in Denver, Colorado this year, and it was a really good week. For those of you unfamiliar with ETS, it is a society of theologians and biblical scholars who are dedicated to biblical inerrancy and a belief in the Trinity. At the annual meeting, members come together to present academic papers, meet with publishers, and catch up with old friends. Keep in mind that I only experienced a narrow slice of things, but here are my reflections on what I saw. 1. Denver, Colorado It’s really cold there. It’s also a place where marijuana…
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A Discussion about “Gay Christianity” with Becket Cook
I recently recorded a conversation with Becket Cook about the Revoice conference and the celibate gay Christian movement. Many thanks to Becket for inviting me on his show. The video and the podcast are below.
