Welcome to the War (1 of 3)

The track you're running on may look okay, but lurking ahead is a trap. One wrong step and you're on a side road...permanently. The world is no friend to the committed Christian. Temptations abound which can ruin your life and the lives of others. Today: a big-picture view of a great battle...as the enemy of your soul seeks to do you in. Heed the warnings for the road ahead...and stay with us.

Servolution: Starting a Church Revolution Through Serving

As long as we are talking about the example of Jesus, pastor Dino Rizzo uses the servant model of Jesus to encourage churches to revolutionize their approach to ministry. Servolution (Zondervan) is subtitled Starting a Church Revolution Through Serving and is packed with powerful stories of how a church that serves can change lives by the thousands.

The Apologetics of Jesus

Norman Geisler is one of the most prolific and effective writers today on apologetics. He has joined forces with Patrick Zukeran to write The Apologetics of Jesus (Baker), which explores the apologetic methods and teachings of Jesus as detailed in scripture. Church leaders will find many helpful insights that can inform their own defense of the faith.

Empathy, Netanyahu, Despots and Chimps

One thing I have learned as a pastor is that one cannot reason with madness, but only treat it with Truth. If that were the proposed aim of our desire to show empathy to dictators and those who deny the rights of Israel, who call the president of the United States, "Satan" (though now they call our new president, "our son"), then I could understand; but I see nothing that demonstrates such Reagan-like resolve in dealing with these thugs and killers. The question is: Why are we not showing empathy to Israel, Poland or the Czech Republic? We read about empathy everywhere, but the empathy is misplaced; it is empathy distorted.

Crisis and Renewal: The Era of the Reformations

Speaking of church history, R. Ward Holder has written Crisis and Renewal: The Era of the Reformations (Westminster John Knox), the latest volume in the Westminster History of Christian Thought series. This book serves as an introduction to the remarkable people, ideas and events that shaped the church in the 16th century.