“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” —Matthew 3:2 NIV So begins the ministry of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. And this theme, repentance, occurs frequently in the early chapters of all the Synoptic Gospels. In fact, the ministry of...
It is natural at the turn of the seasons to reflect on the previous year. A question many of us may be asking during this time is: What’s next? What surprises await us in the coming year? The truth is that we don’t know what the coming year has in...
As I write this, we are just waking from the sugarcoated dream of the Christmas season. We have tried and tasted every delectable culinary bite we could. Salt-and-pepper-crusted medium-rare steak. Racks full of drying homemade pasta. Mugs of rich...
The word selah is prominent in the Psalms, occurring 71 times (as well as 3 in Habakkuk)— but what does it mean?
I was staring at the back of The Man Sitting in Front of Me, the one who killed my little brother. First my sister, then my niece, stood and told the man what his act had taken from us. The murder had been vicious. My not quite thirty-eight-year-old...
I met once a Latina single mother who’d been experiencing real hardship. She was unable to pay for adequate childcare for her four kids because she had to take on two jobs to make ends meet. She didn’t come from a very religious background. She was...
I heard the word “discipleship” frequently growing up. My Bible teachers and pastors spoke on this topic, explaining how it bolsters the Christian life. However, not until recently did I hear the related phrase “spiritual formation.”...
Every year, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus the Nazarene. Multiple Old Testament passages anticipate the unborn messiah in his mother’s womb. One such passage, Isaiah 49, predicts seven centuries in advance that God’s servant (Jesus) would...
Christmas is upon us, and like last year, the world is—different. Yet students are still coming home for the holidays, and families are (mostly) still gathering. Amid the uncertainty, people are looking for comfort and even direction. It’s a vital...
Christmas songs play nonstop on radio stations from Thanksgiving on (sometimes earlier!), but Christmas songs about Jesus are harder to come by. Here’s a list of Christian Christmas songs you can lead in worship at church or as you worship Jesus at...
To catch all of our Logos Lives, follow us on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe on YouTube. This past week, I was at the Evangelical Theological Society annual meeting, and I had breakfast with an old friend who used to work at Logos. We had a great...
Jonathan Leeman and Vern Poythress on the theology and language of love Watch Mark Ward’s full interview with Jonathan Leeman on the theology of love. Love is the most important commandment in the Bible. And the second most important. On love for...
What’s the first part of your church’s worship services? Chances are, it’s a call to worship—even if your church doesn’t actually refer to it as a call to worship. What is a call to worship? Simply put, a call to worship is the beginning of a...
Thanksgiving Day gets overshadowed by other holidays in store aisles, porch decorations, and people’s priorities—but preaching about thankfulness will always hold a place in the pulpit. Here are 14 sermon illustrations on Thanksgiving to help you...
Many of us read Luke 2 at Christmastime, but what Scriptures can we read at Thanksgiving? Here are 54 Bible verses about thanksgiving and gratitude to meditate on during the holiday season or take turns reading around the table on Thanksgiving Day...
This is the second article in a two-part series dealing with the common myth that Greek is the most precise language known to mankind. (Article one here.) I’d like to look at a few more examples of imprecision in the Greek of the New Testament...
With more than 100,000 copies sold, The Unseen Realm by Michael S. Heiser has helped readers find biblical answers to tough questions, like: Why does the Bible use the word elohim to refer to other gods? And for that matter, does Psalm 82 (among...
Logos users loved Sermon Manager back when we introduced it in Logos 9. And by combining all the power of the new Sermon Manager with the improvements we made to Sermon Builder, Logos quickly won the hearts of organizational nerds everywhere...
Why doesn't John Piper need BDAG very much?
Logos 10 has arrived! New and improved features help you dig deeper into the Word, faster. Logos user Richard W. says, “Logos 10 is faster, sleeker, and packed with even more powerful tools to help make the study of God’s Word easier and more...
Logos 10 has arrived! The new and improved version is simpler to use so that everyday Christians, small group leaders, students, professors, and pastors can easily uncover insights in the Word of God. Here are few highlights we’re particularly...
Sometimes volunteers are just going to quit, and there’s nothing you can do to change their minds. People move. They get new jobs or go through transitions that make volunteering more difficult or stressful. But sometimes people quit for...
There’s an epidemic in small group communication. You ask a question, and only the sound of crickets greets you. It’s not just once—it keeps happening. This epidemic isn’t anything new, but it’s gotten worse as small groups moved online, where video...
I don’t know a single worship leader who doesn’t want more solid musicians on their worship team. Identifying those musicians through an audition process is the first step to getting them there. But how can you set your new musicians up for success...
When it comes to church volunteer training, you might say, as Dickens once wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . ” Having helped lead volunteer teams for hospitality, care groups, women’s ministry, events, finance, and...
Some years ago, Carl Trueman asked a question churches today are reckoning with: What can miserable Christians sing? In the midst of a pandemic, people in your services are likely struggling with fear, anxiety, grief, and uncertainty. We can’t know...
A lot of Christians think they aren’t cut out to be a youth leader. But if you love Jesus and you care about kids, everything else falls into place. In my five years working with middle school students I’ve met multiple 80 year olds who...
Is all the extravagance surrounding Easter a distraction, or are Christians right to give it the special attention they do? Let’s avoid the culture wars of the Easter Bunny, Cadbury eggs, and egg hunts, and simply speak to what happens in most...
Easter Sunday is just around the corner. As you prepare for your service and meditate on the glory of the cross, take a look at these Easter worship songs and hymns. Some are traditional, some are contemporary, and some are somewhere in between—but...
What you’ll see in this Logos Live episode Chauncey Allmond interviews Dr. Eric Mason, founder and lead pastor of Ephiphany Fellowship and founder and president of Thriving, an urban ministry organization. Hear about how preaching and...