Everybody wants to be happy. We spend our lives pursuing it. We look for it in relationships, careers, possessions, achievements, and experiences. We convince ourselves that if we could just change a few circumstances, we’d finally be happy. But what if we’ve misunderstood happiness altogether? What if we’re looking for it in the wrong places?Continue reading “The Happiness We Were Made For”
Tag Archives: God
Is Britain Really Experiencing a Christian Revival? And What If It Isn’t?
For a while, the headlines were wonderfully encouraging. Christianity was making a comeback. Young people were returning to church. After decades of decline, Britain was apparently experiencing a quiet revival. Christians understandably rejoiced. Pastors shared the statistics. Churches celebrated the prospect of renewed spiritual interest. Perhaps the tide was turning. Then came the uncomfortable news.Continue reading “Is Britain Really Experiencing a Christian Revival? And What If It Isn’t?”
Don’t Just Explain the Text: Why Preachers Must Apply It Specifically
There is a sentence that can sound wonderfully spiritual at the end of a sermon “Now go and apply this to your life.” The problem is that it may mean almost nothing. A congregation can hear thirty minutes of careful exegesis, understand the structure of the passage, appreciate the historical background, admire the preacher’s theologicalContinue reading “Don’t Just Explain the Text: Why Preachers Must Apply It Specifically”
Should Christians Eat Halal Meat? What 1 Corinthians Teaches Us About Food, Freedom and Conscience
Can Christians eat halal meat? It sounds like a fairly modern question. Walk into a supermarket, order food from a takeaway, or eat in certain restaurants in Britain and you may discover that the meat being served is halal. For some Christians that barely registers. For others it raises an immediate concern: Has this meat beenContinue reading “Should Christians Eat Halal Meat? What 1 Corinthians Teaches Us About Food, Freedom and Conscience”
Will Christians Really Judge the World?
There are some verses in the Bible that we can read dozens of times without really stopping to think about what they mean. Then, suddenly, one phrase catches our attention and refuses to let us move on. For me, one of those phrases came up recently in a sermon I was listening to and itContinue reading “Will Christians Really Judge the World?”
Rebuilding Trust in Church Leadership: Biblical Models for Integrity and Transparency After a Season of Scandals
Trust is slowly earned and quickly lost. That is true in families, workplaces, friendships and churches. Yet when trust is broken by a Christian leader, the damage can feel especially deep. Pastors and elders preach the truth, call others to holiness, offer spiritual guidance and are often welcomed into the most vulnerable moments of people’sContinue reading “Rebuilding Trust in Church Leadership: Biblical Models for Integrity and Transparency After a Season of Scandals”
A Heart Aflame for God
The phrase spiritual formation can make some conservative evangelicals slightly uneasy. It can sometimes be associated with mystical practices, vague spirituality or disciplines borrowed uncritically from Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Yet the Bible clearly calls Christians to pursue spiritual maturity – to keep our hearts diligently, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling,Continue reading “A Heart Aflame for God”
Could Your Devotional Material Be Hindering Your Spiritual Growth?
There is a quiet irony in much of modern Christian publishing. We have more devotional material available to us than almost any generation in church history, and yet many Christians know their Bibles less well than previous generations did. That is not because devotional books are bad. Far from it. Many are rich, faithful, Christ-centred,Continue reading “Could Your Devotional Material Be Hindering Your Spiritual Growth?”
Taught in the Valley: Why God Often Uses Suffering to Make Us Depend on Him
There are lessons God teaches us in the valley that we rarely learn on the mountain top. I wish that were not true. I wish there were easier ways to learn dependence, humility, endurance, compassion and prayer. I wish sanctification could happen without tears, weakness, sleepless nights, hospital appointments, unanswered questions and bodies that doContinue reading “Taught in the Valley: Why God Often Uses Suffering to Make Us Depend on Him”
The Quiet Crisis of Prayerless Orthodoxy
There is a danger that can creep into conservative evangelical churches quietly, almost respectably. It does not usually arrive with scandal. It does not always look like compromise. It can sit under faithful preaching, sing doctrinally rich hymns, affirm historic confessions, defend biblical truth online, and recommend excellent books. It is the danger of prayerlessContinue reading “The Quiet Crisis of Prayerless Orthodoxy”
