Tag: Articles

Canadian Free Stuff Fridays: Book Giveaway!See AlsoFree Stuff Fridays (21Five)Free Stuff Fridays (Redeemer University)Free Stuff Fridays (21Five)

One of the privileges we have as Christians is the privilege of caring for one another—of blessing one another in our difficulties and comforting one another in our sorrows. In such “one another” ministry we represent God and extend love and mercy on his behalf. This is a precious and sacred ministry that falls to every believer.See AlsoPast Them, Through Them, Over Them, Around ThemThe Ministry of SorrowA La Carte (October 17)

The pictures quickly made their way around the world—pictures of an aircraft lying upside down in the snow just beyond runway 23 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. On February 17, Delta flight 4819 landed hard, shearing off the right wing and flipping over before finally sliding to a stop. Remarkably, despite the crash and subsequent fire, all of the passengers and crew escaped. Equally remarkably, few received significant injuries.See AlsoThey Were ReadyThe Right MeasureThey Were Ready

Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because there are few examples of pastoral prayers online and I thought these may serve to inspire themes, passages, or ideas as other pastors and elders prepare to lead their churches in prayer. Please feel free to use or to adapt these prayers however you see fit. Here is one pastor Paul Martin prayed before our church not too long ago. See AlsoThe Pastoral Prayer: Examples and InspirationsA Pastoral PrayerA Pastoral Prayer

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I was intrigued by Aaron Renn’s recent article The Maturation of New Calvinism. His thesis is that “New Calvinism has shifted from an ‘All-Star team’ model designed to exert influence over the broader evangelical world to a post-superstar model that primarily serves its own community. This represents the maturity of the movement, perhaps putting it on a sustainable footing for the future.” And what is that future? He believes it’s a future of being a subculture within broader evangelicalism rather than being what it may have once aspired to—a gatekeeper or shaper of evangelicalism. Its particular subculture is made up of “educated strivers in urban centers, college towns, and professional class suburbs.” Renn believes that New Calvinism would do well to simply embrace and serve this narrow but significant demographic rather than attempting to reach far beyond it.See AlsoWeekend A La Carte (March 8)The New Calvinism: Areas of WeaknessJohn Piper: 12 Features of the New Calvinism

The relationship of the Christian to the political process is one of those issues that arises time and again and cycle after cycle. It is one of those issues that often generates more heat than light and that brings about more division than unity. Yet I would like to think we can agree that there is one unique contribution that Christians alone can and must make to the process.See AlsoWhy I Believe in Church MembershipFree Stuff Fridays (MBTS)As He Reaches Toward Us, We Reach Toward Him

The French language has an endearing little phrase that could almost have been drawn from the Bible’s wisdom literature. “Plus ça change,” they say, “plus c’est la même chose.” The more things change, the more they stay the same. Though I live in the 21st century, I read in the 19th, which is to say, the great majority of the material I read recreationally is sermons written in the 1800s.See AlsoUndermining the BibleMaybe We Make Meditation Too DifficultThe Hands and Feet of the Bible

At times we all live burdened lives, weighed down by the cares and concerns, the trials and traumas that inevitably accompany life in this world. And while we sometimes feel crushed by life’s heaviest burdens—the death of a loved one, the rebellion of a child, the onset of a chronic illness—we can also sometimes stagger under the weight of the relentless accumulation of many smaller burdens.See AlsoGod Means To Make Something Of UsHow To Bear Up Under Your BurdensYou Are Dust, Not Divine

There are some lyrics we all especially treasure, certain lines that settle in especially near to our hearts. Personally, I often find myself pondering the words that begin CityAlight’s “In the Valley (Bless the Lord).” “When the path that I feared / Is the way He has set / And I long to give in and retreat.” While admitting I may be biased since CityAlight wrote the song to accompany my book Seasons of Sorrow, I believe the words describe an experience that every Christian knows.See AlsoI Want Him Back (But Not The Old Me Back)A New Song: In the Valley (Bless the Lord)The Song I Sing in the Darkness

A couple of months ago, I wrote an article titled “Trump, Trudeau, and the 51st State.” It began with the words, “These are strange days in Canada.” Little did I know—though I suppose I should have predicted—that they would only get stranger.See AlsoTrump, Trudeau, and the 51st StateA La Carte (November 2)I Went Away for Just 6 Days…

When Jesus’s disciples asked for instruction on prayer, he warned them of a common temptation—the temptation to think that prayer depends upon saying just the right words or a certain number of words. “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do,” he said, “for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8).See AlsoTogether We Pray 2024What Jesus Does Not PrayLet None Despise This Prayer