Good Friday Quiz: Score Yourself on a Scale from Jehovah’s Witness to Joel Osteen.
“Good Friday” is a fascinating name for a commemoration of history’s worst injustice. Just how should we feel on such a day? “Good” suggests happy, but that Friday was anything but. “Friday” references the day on which Satan wielded every cruel tool he possessed in order to mutilate and humiliate history’s most innocent person. It was...
Daniel McCoy
Why Do We Celebrate Easter? J.E.S.U.S. gives us 5 Easy-to-Remember Reasons.
Why do we celebrate Easter? Easter is the most important event that has occurred so far in human history. It is the day Christians celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. It is a celebration of the inflection point of what Scripture refers to as the gospel—God’s good news. The crucial elements of the gospel are...
Bobby Harrington
Losing My Faith in Progressive Christianity: The Fleeting Fulfillment of a Feelings-Based Faith (Part 6)
This is Part 6 in a series on leaving progressive Christianity by Dave Stovall, worship leader and former lead singer of Wavorly and band member of Audio Adrenaline. He describes how his journey into progressive Christianity left him dissatisfied and how he found the road to a more sustainable, faithful faith. Here’s Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part...
Dave Stovall
What Are the Gospels in the Bible? A Summary of Each Gospel
Have you ever wondered what is unique about each of the Gospels in the New Testament? The four Gospels in the Bible are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Gospels provide a comprehensive portrait of Jesus, allowing the readers to see his central place in the scheme of redemption. The climactic death, burial, and resurrection...
Orpheus J. Heyward
A Lesson from Peter on Making It Through Dark Valleys
The apostle Peter followed Jesus but experienced his share of dark valleys. From his life, we see what carried him through these seasons. Sometimes you’re on top of the world and sometimes you’re in a valley. David experienced a valley when he was hunted by Saul, and later when he fled Jerusalem after being betrayed...
Stephen Brownlow
Is the Bible the Word of God? Here’s What the Bible Claims.
Is the Bible the Word of God? A first step in answering the question is to ask what the Bible claims about itself. The question matters because, if it is the Word of God, no other source of truth should come close in claiming our attention. Is the Bible the Word of God? Here are...
David Young
Are There Generational Curses? What the Bible Teaches on the Subject
Are there generational curses? You’ve probably noticed physical traits passed from generation to generation in your family. But what about spiritual and moral traits? Is there anything hereditary about spirituality? Although the Bible describes the consequences of sin passing from generation to generation, one of its central messages is that God’s grace and power are...
Daniel McCoy
Lord’s Prayer: Your Kingdom Come
What did Jesus mean we told us to pray, “Your kingdom come”? It’s worthwhile to pause and ask how this core concern ought to shape our prayers. Jesus’ discussion of the “hypocrites” (Matt. 6:1-6, 16-18) has an obviously tight structure. Right in the middle, he breaks that structure for a rather important tangent on prayer...
Jeremy Bacon
What Is Liberation Theology? What It Teaches and Why It Matters
Liberation theology is a way of seeing theology as primarily something you do in order to help oppressed people. Although it started with Marxist-influenced Latin American theologians, this way of framing theology has expanded into additional liberation movements, such as black theology and feminist theology. Theology is a good thing. Liberation from oppression is a...
Daniel McCoy
Book Review for Atheism on Trial: A Lawyer Examines the Case for Unbelief, by W. Mark Lanier
Attorney and biblical scholar Mark Lanier just released a powerful new book, Atheism on Trial: A Lawyer Examines the Case for Unbelief. This latest book is part of a three-book project following after Christianity on Trial (IVP, 2014) and coming before a future volume Lanier has in the works on world religions. Lanier has spent...
Scott Sager
What Is Process Theology? Definition and Evaluation
What is process theology? Process theology teaches that everything that exists—including God—is in an eternal process of growing and becoming. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean a chaotic mess, since God and the world exist in mutual interdependence. And God is constantly luring the world to good values. When I picture “process theology,” I’m reminded of...
Daniel McCoy
Discipling Minds for This Cultural Moment
Part of Christian discipleship is to disciple minds. In order to help us disciple minds for this cultural moment, we will explore three questions about current Western culture. You know those “You are here” signs in malls and amusement parks and on hiking trails? At one time or another, many of us have found ourselves...
Some Positives of Christian Education
As I think about topics to address concerning Christian education, I often find myself focusing on cautions and pitfalls. Things that Christian educators should watch out for and work to fight against. While I think these are important things to write about, it feels problematic. When you’re zoomed in on a problem, it’s easy to...
Tim Casey
Is the New Testament Reliable? An Answer in 11 Numbers.
Is the New Testament reliable? Can we know what the original documents said, and can we trust that the authors were telling the truth? Here are 11 numbers which help explain why I trust the New Testament. 1. 5,800+ manuscripts There are over 5,800 handwritten copies (manuscripts) of parts of the New Testament in its...
Daniel McCoy
When Life Falls Apart: A Lesson from the Game of Jenga
When life falls apart, it can be a frustrating but fruitful time of reexamining what your life is built on. Ever played Jenga? The more fragmented and extended the stack of blocks gets, the more fragile it becomes. The tower sways with every attempt to make it taller. Then there is that panic moment when...
Jim Frech
Apology Accepted: The Art of Evangel-ogetics
Apologetics and evangelism belong together (hence, “evangel-ogetics”). Trying to defend the faith without seeking to help people know Jesus is just an intellectual exercise. Words are funny things. I find great amusement in exploring the definitions of different words, especially considering how the meanings intended for some words change over time based on usage. For...
T. J. Gentry