7 Reasons to Be Thankful to Be a Christian in America in 2019

To be thankful to be a Christian in America in 2019 is really to be thankful for three different things. First, and most important, it means to be thankful to be His, to have God as our Father. Second, it includes, of course, being thankful for our country and the freedoms we enjoy in America. […]

Reformation Day and the 3 Theses That Impact Me the Most

Tonight (October 31st, 2019) I will be dressed up as Tin Man with my wife and kids as we hang out with friends and neighbors for a neighborhood block party. We are going as characters from the Wizard of Oz – mainly because we have a dog now and the kids are excited to bring […]

Beware the Person of a Single Book

Thomas Aquinas is credited with saying, “Beware the man of a single book.” Aquinas was an avid student of the Scripture, early church fathers, Aristotle, and the sciences, and he was clearly wary of those who only cared about one discipline or one issue. Aquinas’ quote reminds me of something my good friend Ed Stetzer […]

Life in Community: Joining Together to Display the Gospel

Dustin Willis has planted, pastored, and now serves thousands of churches in his role at the North American Mission Board. Dustin co-authored Life on Mission and blogs regularly at SendNetwork.com. Additionally, Dustin just released his new book, Life in Community: Joining Together to Display the Gospel. Dustin has a heart to see everyday people join together […]

Three Important Stats About Our Cultural Context

The end result of a church’s focus must not merely be a bigger or better church, but a transformed community. The end result of a church’s mission statement must not be the church itself, but a broader community impacted and changed. As we consider serving and impacting the world around us, it is wise to […]

Gospel and Groups

When writing Christians living in Corinth, the apostle Paul emphasized the gospel as of “chief importance” and “what believers have taken their stand on.” They did not receive and believe the good news of Jesus and then move on to something else. We don’t “move on” from the gospel because there is nothing else of “chief […]

When Advice Ceases

Ari Fleischer was serving as White House Press Secretary as our nation was attacked on September 11, 2001. He was with President Bush the entire day, and he recently tweeted his experiences from the day at the times they occurred 13 years ago. They are fascinating to read, and you can see them all here. […]

2 Thoughts on Multicultural Ministry

After the tragedy of September 11th struck New York City, the Beastie Boys (who lived there) wrote a song about their home called Open Letter to NYC. In the song you sense their appreciation for New York because it is a place where multiple cultures come together as one. You sense a belief that the […]

Gospel and Holiness

Before the apostle Paul challenged believers in Romans 6:12 to “not let sin reign in their bodies,” he reminded them of the gospel and connected the imperative of personal holiness to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Paul’s point was, “Your sin was crucified and buried with Christ. Why would you want to live […]

Gospel and Serving

Jesus motivated His disciples to serve people by connecting His challenge for them to serve with the reality that He served them first. At the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and said to them: So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one […]