Articles

The What So what exactly is forbidden by the third commandment? The word vain (as it’s rendered in the ESV) can mean “empty,” “nothing,” “worthless,” or “to no good purpose.” We are forbidden, therefore, from t... Continue Reading...

A Unique Opportunity for Mission Halloween offers a great opportunity for many to engage in new relationships with those around us or to revisit some old relationships with new missional intentionality. Regardl... Continue Reading...

Pastors and leaders spend a lot of time with people—leading meetings, grabbing coffee, responding to messages. And yet with all this connection, they are often socially isolated, with their interior lives large... Continue Reading...

Nearly half a million people run marathons annually. That's equivalent to everybody in Toledo, Ohio, running 26.2 miles every year. What's interesting is more than 50 percent of the runners are running marathon... Continue Reading...

Q. Will we pray ourselves into a glad submission to God? A. Our preaching will never satisfy us. It isn’t meant to. Let’s give our hearts to God. ——— Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the... Continue Reading...

Dear Church, There are some in your community who are struggling. Those among you may be struggling in different ways and to different degrees. Infertility is more common than you may realize. You very likel... Continue Reading...

I love Bible studies. I love sermons. Both have their place and both can be tremendously beneficial in the life of the church and the spiritual diet of the believer. But I’ve observed that some sermons are actu... Continue Reading...

One fundamental reason for a follower of Jesus to study the Bible is that Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, studied the Bible. Jesus' education, like that of other Jewish boys growing up in first-century Israel,... Continue Reading...

As in cake-baking, 5K-running, baby-birthing, and home-building, so in Bible-studying - preparation is indispensable. Study methods abound, but using any of them effectively requires preparation. Instead of hun... Continue Reading...

I hadn’t preached much, and I didn’t preach well. Unfortunately, I was unware of this, but it was crystal clear to the people in attendance at that small country church. At first it was just yawns. Then I notic... Continue Reading...