Who wants to spend more time in prayer next year? (My guess is that’s everyone.) Prayer is one of those few things you can do with excellence the first time you do it—and you can still get better at it. But becoming better at prayer is an exercise...
"Mounce is to be commended for producing a quality seminal grammar, and this latest edition is a worthy upgrade."
"One of the key elements for teaching any language is culture. . . . Yet in teaching biblical languages we sometimes forget this."
Every year, Christianity Today announces their “picks for the books most likely to shape evangelical life, thought, and culture.” That’s a tall order, and it makes the winners well worth looking at. For 2020, two Lexham Press titles carved out a...
“A class on Mary called ‘Mother of God’? At a Protestant school?” My admission that I teach such a class arouses incredulity, because not many transgress the ecumenical divide. Reflections on Mary have remained robust for millennia, but not in all...
"Bernard’s brilliance is not his use of so-called critical methods but in the fact that, as a monk, he had prayed, read and studied the Sacred Scriptures so intently that his vocabulary is literally a biblical vocabulary."
For over 60 years, Christianity Today (CT) has set a high standard in Christian publishing. Covering everything from current events to theological trends, the magazine and its authors have modeled evangelical cultural engagement at its finest. CT’s...
Happy Thanksgiving! As the smells of turkey and stuffing waft through homes across the United States, it’s the perfect time to thank God for his kindness and faithfulness to us. “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful...
One of my warmest memories with Professor Hurtado occurred in 2014 at SBL in San Diego over a meal. We went to lunch at a French café and before we began eating, he paused and said: “Let’s pray over our meal.” He thanked God for the meal, closing...
These days are hectic and divisive—and while it can feel as if the chasms between each of us are deepening, recent films about Mister Rogers’ life are helping us remember our shared humanity. I recently went to a screening of A Beautiful Day in the...
In 2017, David Pleins and I released a new resource designed for students of biblical Hebrew: Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories: A Student’s Guide to Nouns in the Old Testament, a user-friendly book from Zondervan that...
If you’re building church graphics slides for your service each week, you’ve probably wondered, How can I… do this faster? be sure I’m choosing the best backgrounds? get a consistent look for the entire presentation? keep from pulling...
We often read our Bibles as if Jesus made his first appearance in this world as a baby in the New Testament. Our story as Christians, we sometimes think, starts with the book of Matthew. But the Bible’s witness to Jesus did not begin there. A common...
"The impression we want to create is that Jesus is the reason why we have a New Testament. Jesus is the momentum, the event, the power, and explanation for why Christianity began"
1. Deuteronomy 15:6–11 When Yahweh your God has blessed you, just as he promised to you, then you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow from them, and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. If there is a poor...
When someone new sets foot in your church, what happens? A greeter hands them a bulletin as they walk through the door, an usher helps them find their seats. Now what? Maybe your regulars introduce themselves and strike up a conversation. Maybe they...
This excerpt is adapted from The Lord’s Prayer: A Guide to Praying to Our Father by Wesley Hill, a new release from Lexham Press. At the center of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, He offers to his disciples a model for prayer...
Can we properly interpret the Gospels without cultural scripts? That is, without knowing their historical and cultural background? Dr. Darrell Bock says no. Dr. Bock is the Executive Director of Cultural Engagement and Senior Research Professor of...
In my senior year of Bible college, I had two electives to choose from for my final theology class. I saw the option for Puritan Theology but thought, “This will be a very boring class. What could I glean from the Puritans?” You see, I grew up...
Pursuing your calling brings victories—and rejections. If downheartedness tempts you to lose focus, remember this thought from beloved rector and Bible scholar R. T. France: “Not everyone was impressed by Jesus.” Consider Jesus’ rejection as told in...
It’s difficult for parents to find things for their kids to watch on TV. What sources do you trust? How do you vet programs? Do you prescreen all the material you give to your kids, or find reviewers you trust to give you a summary? There are a...
By Leland Ryken, excerpted from J. I. Packer: An Evangelical Life. *** Preachers are only half of the equation in preaching. The other half is the people who listen to preaching. Just as it is easy to think of education in terms of what...
In 2017, David Pleins and I released a new resource designed for students of Biblical Hebrew: Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary by Conceptual Categories: A Student’s Guide to Nouns in the Old Testament (Zondervan, 2017), a user-friendly book from Zondervan...
Even though believers may approach generosity from different theological viewpoints, we can all agree that generosity is close to the heart of God. The Bible contains thousands of verses about money, stewardship, and generosity. The beautiful (and...
Why read a book of Protestant appreciation for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI/Joseph Ratzinger? First, it helps clarify some misunderstood doctrines of the Catholic Church. Second, the prevalence of Catholicism should challenge Protestant pastors...
Phillip E. Johnson (1940–2019), sometimes called the “godfather of intelligent design,” died on November 1 at age 79. Johnson, author of well-known books such as Darwin on Trial, became a formidable voice on creationism, science, reason, and faith...
Before I share with you how I study God’s word using the inductive Bible study method, I want to share with you why I study it this way.
By Leland Ryken, excerpted from J. I. Packer: An Evangelical Life. The idea of calling or vocation is important to [J. I.] Packer. It could hardly be otherwise for a latter-day Puritan, inasmuch as no subject occupied the Puritans more than the...
By Neal A. Huddleston The literary genius of the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Bible—embodies the tangled strands of ancient history. The narrator weaves a vibrant tapestry beginning in Genesis with the journey of the first recorded human...
The brand-new Bible Study Magazine Podcast launches today. The theme of the first season is “Biblical Literacy”—how to achieve it and how to promote it. Many people Faithlife serves have already achieved biblical literacy; they know how to get...
