By Terry Dalrymple While governments around the world are focused on poverty alleviation, the church is uniquely called to it. We hear Jesus saying, “Whatever you do to the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do to me” (Matthew 25:40)...
There’s a palpable pressure that comes with being a parent. The great responsibility to meet your children’s needs and train them up in the way they should go can be paralyzing. I feel this burden enough with my first four children; the pressure is...
By Douglas Heck I heard what I thought was God’s voice saying, “You have the wrong sermon for tomorrow.” It was late Saturday night and I had just completed the last touches for preparing my sermon to preach the next morning at our new church plant...
The other morning I woke up while my children were still sleeping and began to pray. I started thinking about my identity. Who am I? As I settled into my prayer time, I began to rejoice at the thought that I am a mother. It is part of who I am. To...
In today’s churches, pastors are often expected to be jacks of all trades but also master the art of the care of souls (what Harold Senkbeil identifies as the “enactment of the word of Christ upon the souls for whom our Lord shed his blood and...
Although “performance review” may seem like a corporate term, it’s simply a way of tracking growth or decay—matters that concern every organization. Here are some quick tips on church performance reviews, as well as the unfortunate task of employee...
The Dead Sea Scrolls were first found in 1947 in Qumran by a Bedouin shepherd boy. He had tossed a stone into a cave and heard a clinking noise—the rock had hit a clay pot containing some of the scrolls. Since then, scrolls have been discovered in...
Rick Brannan has just finished an important side project on early Christian papyri: Fragments of Christianity —now available for pre-order on Logos. Keep reading to learn what Rick Brannan says about the book—and how it can help us understand...
Every church is full of sufferers. No matter the size of your congregation, someone is probably suffering from illness, relational dysfunction, financial distress, loss, addiction, or any number of hardships. Thankfully, there are worship songs that...
In this excerpt, Dru Johnson explores what Hebraic thought and is and why it matters for students of the Bible today.
In this post, David deSilva—author of Unholy Allegiances: Heeding Revelation’s Warning, you’ll explore three mistakes many people make when approaching the book of Revelation, and how being aware of them will ensure you are reading Revelation...
by Dr. Jonathan Stricklin | Grace Bible Church of Cedar Ridge Introduction “The Prince of Preachers” is the title bestowed upon the great English expositor, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. As Spurgeon’s weekly sermons were being transcribed and published...
In this excerpt from the Mobile Ed course Introducing Spiritual Formation, award-winning author and internationally recognized speaker Dr. Gary Thomas explores why adopting the humility of Christ is evidence that we value true holiness. Transcript...
I’m going to lay all of my cards on the table right here at the beginning: I wholeheartedly, unreservedly, and unashamedly believe that every church should have a plan in place to care for its guests.
A PhD in biblical and theological studies provides skills that could be used in a variety of nonprofit or parachurch organizations that engage in activities like political activism or pastoral support. Since one of the great challenges for many...
By James P. Chaisson, Ed.D. Introduction After his resurrection, as he was preparing to leave this earth and ascend to the right hand of the Father, Jesus told his followers, and by extension the church universal, to go into all...
The Christmas season provides a unique opportunity for your church to connect with people in the community. And social media is one of the greatest tools we have to promote what’s happening in the life of our church.
Jesus’ own townspeople in Nazareth mistook who he was, as did Herod, Mary Magdalene, and even Peter. But did John the Baptist misunderstand Jesus? In this excerpt adapted from the September/October 2021 issue of Bible Study Magazine, Joseph R...
Peter J. Leithart opens Reflecting on the Word: Video Devotionals (Year C) by exploring the Church calendar and why it’s valuable for believers. Video excerpt and transcript below. Human beings are temporal creatures, but this doesn’t simply mean...
"I am simultaneously free from the perils and pressures of the tenure committee and the publish-or-perish paradigm."
The apostle Paul is arguably one of Christian history’s most formative thinkers and writers. Recently, Faithlife’s Daniel Motley spent some time chatting with Dr. Douglas Moo, one of the world’s leading Pauline scholars, about his landmark study: A...
Anglican theologian J. I. Packer (1926–2020), one of the twentieth century’s most widely respected Christian writers, dedicated himself to a lifetime of Christian ministry. His impact was immense—he was known for profound theological writing...
Jeffrey Tripp received a doctorate in New Testament and Early Christianity from Loyola University Chicago, and now teaches Math at Rock Valley College. He often incorporates statistical methods into his biblical research, which focuses on the New...
Typically when seminary students begin their theological education journey, they anticipate writing lots of papers, listening to long lectures, and digging into new, deep topics they may not have explored before. They don’t often consider their time...
By Reuben Evans The new series Angels follows up The Unseen Realm and Demons. It’s available for purchase on Faithlife TV. Pop culture and church tradition have a lot to say about angels. However, in this documentary series, Dr. Mike Heiser takes...
by Luke Nagy We’ve all heard the saying, “this world is not my home; I’m just a passing thro’.” The words are from a hymn penned in 1919, and arranged in 1937. It reflects a popular attitude among Christians in America at the time, and currently. A...
Happy Reformation Day! In this guest post from Dr. Jim West, professor of biblical studies at the Quartz Hill School of Theology, we are reminded of the great Reformers and how they changed the course of history. *** The temperature outside the...
Douglas Moo writes, “The apostle Paul has arguably had a greater impact than any figure other than Jesus Christ Himself.” Moo, a New Testament scholar and professor at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, has spent more than 30 years in intense...
“I am not the head of the church. Jesus is.” As a pastor, I had not only heard that many times, I had said it many times myself. And I really did believe it. But it left a major question unanswered for me. If I am not the head, what part of the...
Here Richard Bauckham answers the question: "What first made you suspect that Matthew used Luke?"