My Favorite Books of 2024 Daily Doctrine by Kevin DeYoung This is my pick for the Book of the Year. DeYoung has taken a rather unique and refreshing approach to a volume of systematic theology. It is composed as a year of daily readings (5 per week). And in terms of categories he does not skimp...
When considering the qualifications for elders, “able to teach” is often recognized as the one qualification uniquely required for the office (1 Tim. 3:2, Tit. 1:9). Certainly, the unique role of elders centers on “the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). But another qualification is often missed or...
‘After the hymn, the minister will ascend the stairs into the pulpit for the Scripture reading, pastoral prayer, and sermon.’ What role does the physical pulpit have in a local church? For most of my life, I attended churches where the pulpit was moved around, wheeled in, carried out, or was a...
Imagine a young man meets a woman on a dating website. He sees her picture and is infatuated, but upon meeting her things don’t go well. She says she doesn’t like baseball, but the man does, so he insists that she does too. She says she prefers nights in, but the man is convinced that she actually...
There’s an old trope that gets applied to a lot of different subjects, “It’s both an art and a science.” Whether the skill in question is drilling wells, acting, or writing fiction, this is a way of conveying that there are objective, mechanical aspects that can be taught and learned by most anyone...
I shouted over the many voices crammed into the Twin Lakes cafeteria, “I went to Covenant!” The man was likely the same age as me and looked very confused by this answer. “How did you end up here?” I am sure he meant well. I know exactly why he was confused. The seminary/denominational tribalism...
Thank you for your commitment to God’s inerrant Word and for helping to make the Alliance Giving Tuesday event a success. You raised $47,760 in 24 hours! I’m sure your inbox and social media platforms were filled with messages from many worthy ministries and causes seeking your support. It means a...
In the early hours of June 21 st 1957, a stream of FBI agents burst into Rudolph Abel’s apartment and arrested him on charges of spying for the Soviet Union. At that time the Cold War was nearing its boiling point. Overseas, Americans had been killed fighting the gangrenous spread of communism. At...
Summary of the Book In the introduction of his book, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament , Mark Vroegop contends that “there is deep mercy under dark clouds when we discover the grace of lament” (p. 22). His book is a book about the grace of lament . Vroegop is neither an...
The prayers of a Sunday morning service offer a perfect context to encourage both gratitude for the Sabbath and renewed ambitions for the Lord’s day. If you are a pastor or elder seeking to encourage thoughtfulness about the fourth commandment, perhaps consider a sampling from these suggestions –...