After being in paid ministry for over a decade, I recently joined a church where I have no position, title, or responsibility beyond that of any other new member. Let me tell you, it’s an eye-opening experience of how churches operate.
We’re preaching through Hosea at our church, and studying it mid-week in our Bible studies and youth groups. My group and I grappled with Hosea 6:6. In the NIV it reads “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings”.
Michael Bennett’s book is brilliant. I loved it. Let me tell you why.
A new anti-religion-in-schools billboard, what has happened to penal substitutionary atonement, the darker side of predestination, a reminder to keep evangelism on the table, and a Psalm of encouragement for those who are suffering.
What do airlines, hotels and other travel-related organizations want from business travellers? Well, obviously my money, but they would never be so crass as to put it like that. Instead they say, “We want your loyalty”.
Should every Christian aspire to be a bibliophile? Only if every Christian desires to be increasingly conformed to the image of Christ.
When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he wept bitterly over the people and spoke about the temple’s imminent obliteration, in part because the temple was operating as a “den of robbers” (Luke 19:41-46). The inspection grade was a clear fail!
Links that matter on Australia and racism, four reasons to expect fruit, family devotions, The Gospel Coalition Australia, the redefinition of marriage, and transgender issues from a doctor's perspective.
One of the bedrock families in our congregation just lost their matriarch. I’m thinking about ways that I could have been, and hope to be, more helpful to this family. So with minimal personal editing and the vulnerability of the moment, here are some things for us to remember as we walk with families that break.
In 1 Corinthians 9:24, the Apostle Paul urges Christians: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” I have often heard people explain this verse as an exhortation to strive hard for salvation, to endure in faith, to persevere in love, to remain steadfast in hope, and take hold of the prize—eternal life.