Saturday Lagniappe: "8 Questions for Churches at a Crossroads" and Much More

8 Questions for Churches at a Crossroads

As I look at the landscape of stable or slightly declining existing churches that are fighting hard to stay afloat in the current of a rapidly changing culture, I see some common factors that must be addressed by church leaders. Here are some tough questions I believe every church ought to honestly ask.... Read More

Do Visitors to Your Church Really Feel Welcome?

I don’t know of any church leader who wants visitors to their services to feel unwelcome or uncomfortable. And yet it still surprises me that many churches still don’t think through some of the ways, both obvious and subtle, that work against making visitors feel “at home” with the congregation. If you’re a church leader who cares about the experience of hospitality for those who visit your church services, I hope you will work through the following questions with eyes open to the impression your church may be leaving visitors. Read More

How Much Should You Pay Your Pastors?

This article offers some brief perspectives on pastoral compensation decisions based on my three-year service as deacon of budget at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. First, I will comment on how healthy churches tend to generate healthy pastoral compensation decisions. Second, I will mention two biblical principles that are important for determining how much churches should pay their pastors. My prayer is that these perspectives will be of help to local churches as they undertake their annual compensation review process. Read More

Building a Theological Library, Part 3: Tips on Building a Digital Library

We live in exciting times. At no point in human history has it been easier to collect and maintain a ministerial library if one chooses the route of a digital books. Read More

I have built my own digital library from older works from Internet Archive, New Scriptorium, Google Books, Project Gutenberg, Justus Anglican, and other websites

Why Sermon Preparation is Not Devotional Time

Sermon preparation is not—and should not—be used as devotion time. Sermon writing is devotional to an extent. Both involve prayer. Both elevate Scripture. Both require the work of the Holy Spirit. But they are different. Read More

Asking the Right Questions

When it comes to helping others apply the Bible, we should begin by asking the questions for the four aspects of application. But there are two additional categories to think through when seeking to apply the Bible to the lives of others. Read More

A Brief History of the Altar Call

By the mid-20th century, altar calls had become a staple of evangelical and Baptist life in America, especially in the South. Many evangelical and Reformed-leaning churches in recent years have stopped doing altar calls, for a variety of reasons. Critics of altar calls have pointed out that they have no strong biblical basis, and that they were part of the “New Measures” introduced by Charles Finney in the later stages of the Second Great Awakening. Read More

Who Were the Galatians?

If someone was to ask you who Paul wrote his epistle to the Galatians to, how would you respond? If you’re like most people, you’d probably answer that it was written to the church at Galatia, and—technically—you’d be right. But did you know that there’s actually quite a bit of discussion around whether Paul’s letter was written to those in northern or southern Galatia? Does knowing who Paul was writing to affect how we read it? Not necessarily, but it does change the way we look at the book of Galatians in regards to Acts. Read More

4 Things I Learned Serving in Kids Ministry

A few Sundays back, I found myself in a unique situation. Pastor Shane was slated to preach, a group of other folks from the church were leading the music, and my only in-service responsibility was to do the welcome prior to the sermon. I’m not entirely sure where the idea came from—maybe it was the Father’s Day mojo?—but I decided to volunteer in our children’s ministry for both services. Here are four things that I’ve been thinking about since Sunday. Read More

6 Ways to Teach Your Kids the Bible

Here are six tips my wife and I have found helpful in our rhythm of Bible reading with our young kids (currently 6, 5, and 3). Read More

Legalism and Consistent Spiritual Habits: Not the Same

I believe many followers of Jesus mistakenly lump a commitment to consistent spiritual disciplines into the pejorative pool of legalism. Unfortunately, dismissing these proven habits as “legalistic” causes these believers to unwittingly miss out on significant spiritual growth. I believe a right-sized understanding of legalism, accompanied by a proper motivation to embrace the habits for spiritual growth, can produce a harvest of spiritual revitalization.Read More

Societas 2017 ‘always being reformed’

The College’s annual student magazine publication, Societas (2017), is now available. Societas provides a snapshot of life at Moore College through the eyes of the student body and highlights the activities and achievements of the year. This year has been one of celebration, as the College has been marking the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. This year’s issue grapples with the weighty Reformation theme and its relevance today with feature articles on different aspects of the topic. Learn More

Young, Female, and Pro-Trump

How white evangelical millennials are defying political prediction. Read More

'How Can Christians Support Donald Trump?' Is the Wrong Question

Is "easy believism" a factor behind white evangelical support of Donald Trump? Zack Hunt believes that it is. Read More

Whatever you may think of Hunt's contention, "easy believism" has been a problem besetting North American evangelicalism since the early days of revivalism. See Thomas Kidd's article, "A Brief History of the Altar Call."