Do People Truly Understand the Gospel? As a biblical counselor in private practice in the Bible belt, I have the privilege of extolling to individuals, couples, families, and teenagers every day the beauty of the gospel of Christ and its profound, life changing implications for their lives. And, sadly, what I am learning is that … Continue reading The Explicit Gospel
Ray Ortlund begins his foreword to Jared C. Wilson's Gospel Wakefulness like this: What is the spiritual future of our churches? If our future is going to be better than our present, we have to change. How does change happen? Not by our own brilliance or willpower. Not even by agreement with the gospel. We … Continue reading Awakening to the Gospel
W.H. Auden, in A Certain World: A Commonplace Book, wrote this of marriage: "Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotions but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate." Could this statement be true? The assertion that any relationship … Continue reading Tim & Kathy Keller on Marriage
I wrestled to find a suitable title for my review of Darrin Patrick and Matt Carter's new book, For The City. Obviously, I decided ultimately that their subtitle, "Proclaiming and Living Out the Gospel," was the most appropriate description of this book. For The City is the story of two church planters who, by God's … Continue reading Proclaiming and Living Out the Gospel
Ed Moll and Tim Chester say that their book Gospel-Centered Family is "not about how the gospel fits into Christian family life, but how family life should fit into the gospel - God's greatest purpose for the universe, achieved in Christ." In less than 100 pages, Moll and Chester have written a book that is … Continue reading Gospel-Centered Family: Becoming the Parents God Wants You to Be
Walter Isaacson's highly anticipated authorized biography of Steve Jobs will hit bookstore shelves tomorrow, and I am sure it will contain tantalizing details of the life of one of the great icons of American culture. Jobs' intellect and creativity were rewarded with virtually all that this world can offer, and Jobs, like Solomon before him, … Continue reading King Solomon and Our Thirst for Money, Sex & Power
What causes people who have experienced God’s forgiveness from past sins and who trust in a glorious future with Him in Heaven to lead what the apostle Peter describes as “ineffective or unfruitful” lives (2 Peter 1:8) in between? Why do I, in my struggle against sin, often find myself trying to perfect by the … Continue reading The Gospel in the Here and Now
