On the Net: "Eleven Vital Steps to Minimize Risk of Child Sexual Abuse in Your Church" and Much More

Eleven Vital Steps to Minimize Risk of Child Sexual Abuse in Your Church

We cannot eliminate the risks of allegations of child sex abuse, but we can minimize the risks. Here are eleven key steps to take. The first ten came from Richard Hammar, and the eleventh is mine. Read More

5 Problems With Top-Down Vision-Casting – And a New Testament Alternative

Acts 2 does not give us a picture of Peter hearing from God in private, then coming to the disciples with the vision. Read More

Will God Condemn the Innocent?

If you have spent much time talking with people who are not yet Christians you will invariably get questions about God’s judgment. And these are important questions for us to consider. As people are introduced to the God of the Bible they are confronted with a worldview that is alien to everything they have previously encountered. “A God who judges . . . really?” Read More

What A Beloved Narnia Story Tells Us About The Star Of Bethlehem

Mark Wood offers an interpretation of the star of Bethlehem garnered from "a very old tradition from the philosophy of Plato" upon which C. S. Lewis drew in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Read More

Why I Changed My Mind on Nativity Scenes

There was a time I happily dismissed nativity scenes as unrealistic and trivial.

But not any more. Read More

4 Christmas Killers—And Their Antidotes

Pete Scazzero: “Sadly, the Christmas season is a low point spiritually for most Christian leaders.” Read More

5 Common Executive Pastor Pitfalls

When we insist on being the generator of innovation, we go from being a great leader to an insecure one. Read More

Why Is Christmas Missing From John's Gospel?

John manages to introduce Jesus without making any reference to the amazing events of the first Christmas. Why would he do that? Read More

5 Reasons to Read the Bible When You Feel Absolutely Nothing

While we may not "feel" it, the Bible does make a difference when we read it. Read More

10 Recommended Books on Prayer to Read during the Holidays

If you have some extra minutes to read during the holidays, here are some recommended books about prayer. Read More

I would add Rosalind Rinker's Prayer: How to Have a Conversation with God and Conversational Prayer and Brother Lawrence's The Practice of the Presence of God to that list. Anglicans will find these three books particularly helpful in overcoming their preconceptions of how they should pray arising from their use of a Prayer Book.

Taking Back Christianese #6: “All Sins Are Equal in God’s Sight”

As true as this is, however, our enthusiasm for maintaining the seriousness of sin (which is good) can lead us to make additional statements which may not be so true (depending on how they are understood). One of these statements, and the next installment in our “Taking Back Christianese” series, is, “All sins are equal in God’s sight.” Read More

Is It Sinful to Be Pregnant Before Marriage?

Here is a sensitive question we get not infrequently in the inbox, and this time it comes from a nameless female listener, who simply asks this: “Pastor John, is it a sin to be pregnant before marriage?” How do you go about answering such a sensitive question? Read More

4 Times In Life You Should Expect To Face Temptation

Temptation is a mysterious thing. There must be method to the madness, there must be patterns of how and when we are tempted by specific sins. If there are, I’ve never quite been able to hack or solve the system. But at the very least we can observe this: There are some times in life when you should be especially wary, when temptation is especially likely. Here are four times you should expect to face temptation. Read More

If We Are Pro-Life, We Are Pro-Refugee

Ed Stetzer: “We cannot say that we are pro-life if we turn our backs on those in need.” Read More

The Christmas of Cultural Christianity

Cultural Christianity is a reality that would be helpful for both Christians and non-Christians to accept if not embrace. It is seen in the famous atheist Richard Dawkins’ love of singing Christmas carols.Cultural Christianity is a reality that would be helpful for both Christians and non-Christians to accept if not embrace. It is seen in the famous atheist Richard Dawkins’ love of singing Christmas carols.Cultural Christianity is a reality that would be helpful for both Christians and non-Christians to accept if not embrace. It is seen in the famous atheist Richard Dawkins’ love of singing Christmas carols. Read More

Election Year Thoughts at Christmastime

Russell Moore: "What does a family Christmas look like after a divisive election?" Read More

Fascism And False Messiahs: Why The World Needs Christ More Than Ever

Two decades after the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust, a historical amnesia has set in among the nations of the West. Fascism has now made a subtle return to the political mainstream. Read More

Christians are not immune to the fascist resurgence and its influence. Jesus himself warned that even his followers would be led astray by false messiahs.