Reformation21

Tourists travel from all over the world to experience the expansive deserts, remote wildernesses, peoples, foods, and sites of north Africa and the Middle East. Many of these (occasionally naïve) travelers have been drawn to the region by the adventures of Lawrence of Arabia or Indiana Jones, only...

Note: This article is part of a series on terminology related to homosexuality. The term “sex-positive” describes an open and approving attitude toward various sexual identities and behaviors. It is meant as a contrast with the traditional view that sex is properly reserved for the exclusive,...

“You shall not murder.” Death. It happens every day, everywhere across the world, and yet there is something about death that sets it apart from other common events in the world. We approach it with a mixture of contradictory feelings, all of them strong. Awe, horror, fascination, confusion,...

How I wish seminaries described themselves in press releases (let the reader understand): Our approach to pastoral preparation is time-tested, rich, and rigorous. The university has been the handmaiden of the church for over a thousand years. The model of pastoral preparation of devoting years of...

Note: This article is part of a series on terminology related to homosexuality. "Sex reassignment" refers to a surgery (or series of surgeries) to alter a person’s visible sex characteristics to conform to his or her gender identity. More colloquially, it is also called a “sex change.” The newer...

When I was a boy, my parents gave my siblings and me a big, round trampoline. That gift brought us and countless hours of fun, laughter, and exercise. So, when our children were old enough, Jordan and I decided to surprise them with a big, round trampoline for Christmas. As I bolted the frame...

Apologetic conversations aren’t about hypothetical truths, but about life’s most important matters. We mustn’t simply stick to the scripts of critics; we must see ourselves as God’s prophets “anointed to confess his name” and reveal the mysterious “counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance...

What are your plans for 2022? Perhaps you plan to get married, or continue your studies, or look for a different job, or buy a house, or travel abroad. Whatever your plans may be, I hope you will consider what God teaches in Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the...

“You shall not murder” “Have you lived a good life?” “Well, I’ve never killed anyone.” Christians know that line won’t stand up in God’s courtroom. We quickly pivot away from murder to press the sin issue from other angles. “Have you loved God perfectly, every moment of your life? Have you ever...

Christian apologists give reasons that substantiate the faith. But sometimes Christians are the reason people find the Christian message implausible. People object to Christianity because of their sense—accurate or not—that the gospel doesn’t make people better and, in fact, seems to make some...