This three-part post was originally published in Preaching Magazine

D.A. Carson in his essay on "Challenges for the Twenty-First Century Pulpit" discusses what Paul meant when he says in Acts 20:27, that he did not shrink from preaching "the whole purpose of God" (NASB). Carson writes,

"[Paul] taught the burden of the whole of God's...

This three-part post was originally published in Preaching Magazine

I became an environmentalist at a Southern Baptist Seminary.

Several years ago, I was in a systematic theology class at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary when the discussion shifted to the revelation of God. My professor began sharing with us about the two ...

This three-part post was originally published in Preaching Magazine

In 1843, Ludwig Feuerbach proclaimed, "Nature, the world, has no value, no interest for Christians. The Christian thinks only of himself and the salvation of his soul." Feuerbach wasn't the only one to claim such a thing. In the 1967 issue of Science, Lynne White Jr. ...

This article was originally published on RelevantMagazine.com.

I don't know when it began. The moment when Napster launched, maybe. Whenever it was, it set off a cultural ripple infecting the masses with an insatiable desire for more, faster and free. It's called the free culture movement, and it advocates increased access to creative goods...

In 2006, my frustration with the Church had reached fever pitch. I was having a hard time relating to it like many in my generation. Then I stumbled across Sarah Cunningham's book, Dear Church: Letters to a Disillutioned Generation. In 14 letters written to the Church, Sarah vented her frustrations and mine. She also gave me...

Alvin Reid is author or coauthor of more than 10 books and considered one of the leading evangelical thinkers on evangelism. He is also Associate Dean for Proclamation Studies and Bailey Smith Professor of Evangelism at my alma mater, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. I recently caught up with Dr. Reid to ask him...

Recently, I've been thinking about the free culture movement. Wikipedia aptly defines it as "a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify creative works in the form of free content by using the Internet and other forms of media." If you lay awake at night seething over copyright laws, you're probably a proponent of this...

Looking for a VBS curriculum for this coming summer? Want to recommend something to your children and preschool ministers as an alternative to one of the cheesy VBS curricula out there? Maybe you should drop someone an email and recommend Renew, the green VBS curriculum. I haven't read through this, but it is interesting. The study focuses on...

I've never been one to fix my bayonet over gender issues in the church. There are some people out there who get some sort of thrill from talking about gender roles into the wee hours of the night. These people love debating why women can't preach or teach or pastor or lead men and why men should do all those things. If your internet browser's...

Interesting new research from Ed Stetzer & Co. A LifeWay Research study breaks down protestant pastors' views on most divisive environmental issue as well as how often they address creation care from their pulpit. Clear divisions among political and theological lines. Read the study news release.

Has your pastor ever addressed creation care from...

On my way to speak at a college retreat in St. George Island this past February, I stopped to refuel in Carabelle, FL. It was a quaint little seaside town that was more Georgia than Florida in many ways, not the least of which being the ginormous trucks filled with rednecks aplenty. As I was walking into the gas station to pay for my overpriced...

Faith and politics often collide, but this time massive legal fallout seems imminent. Tomorrow, a group of 30 uber-conservative pastors backed by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization, will endorse Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain from their church pulpits. Jerry Falwell is smiling from the grave.

I hate labels. Evangelical, emergent, emergING, post-modern, conservative -- each of these has become so nebulous and subjective that they have little meaning left in them. Unfortunately, no matter how much we loathe them, contemporary language is so saturated with labels that they are really inescapable. Therefore, we need to understand what...

It is almost trendy these days to take a jab at the church. Floods of books have come out from gentle restoratives to outright polemics. Some regularly take her to task on public blogs while others just give her a good pop when no one is looking. Regardless, it is undeniable that there is a generation of disgruntled, dissilusioned followers who...

I don’t believe God is politically partisan. I know we like to shore up our egos with visions of God marching with us to the ballot box and guiding our hand to vote one party exclusively, but the older I get the more ludicrous that seems.

Like many evangelical children, growing up I demonized Democrats as venomous reprobates—they were...

The morning comes too quickly. Barely awake, you drag out of bed to get ready to go to school or church or work. You don't remember much about the ride, it is almost as if you warped to your destination. Just when you walk into the business meeting or get up to give your book report, you realize you aren't wearing any clothes! Your body jolts...