On a cold Sunday morning, I took a Lyft to a church I’d never attended in a city I’d never been to. The driver was listening to some pretty raunchy rap and wasn’t interested in small talk. She dropped me off in what I thought was the parking lot and, despite my initial desires, I... Continue Reading →
How Long Have Christians Been Privately Reading Scripture?
If you’re like me, you’ve perhaps assumed that private and individual reading of the Bible did not start until after the invention of the printing press. For starters, competent literacy was hard to come by in the ancient world. Additionally, written materials, due to the slow production process, were also just as sparse. Sure, there were... Continue Reading →
The Legalism Behind the Attractional Church Model
Often, the terms seeker-sensitive or attractional are used to describe a certain church model approach. Jared Wilson defines an attractional church as a “church ministry whose primary purpose is to make Christianity appealing.”1 This does not mean that it is or isn’t contemporary, or even that it is or isn’t a megachurch. Rather, it describes a... Continue Reading →
13 “One-Liners” from The Gospel Coalition National Conference 2019
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending The Gospel Coalition’s 2019 National Conference. It was a week to remember and there is much I could write about. However, I thought I would just leave thirteen of the best one (or two)-liners that either challenged me, or that I thought were just generally impactful... Continue Reading →
Ralph, Are You Sure You’re Good?
Recently, I watched Wreck-it Ralph for the first time (I know, I’m really behind the times). Overall, I enjoyed the movie and even thought that there were some good messages within it, such as an anti-bullying scene and a general idea of the value of friendship that developed during the film. However, it was one... Continue Reading →
The Holy Spirit and Contemporary American Christians
Over the last couple of years I’ve been paying attention to conversations that I’ve had with various Christians, particularly with regard to how they view the Holy Spirit’s work in a believer’s life. Frequently, whenever I am discussing a particular view that I hold on a specific doctrine, my conversation partner will say something like... Continue Reading →