Holy Week in Quarantine
In a liberation greater than any the CDC could offer, Easter points us to the fact that God does liberate his people from death to life in Christ. Continue reading Holy Week in Quarantine
Does Your Faith Offend Enough People?
I propose a new church-growth model: Preach in such a way where you try to offend as many peoples’ sensibilities as possible. Throw as many stumbling blocks in front of religious people as you can. Unashamedly hold out the apparent foolishness of Christian dogma to the skeptical. Continue reading Does Your Faith Offend Enough People?
The Worst Sort of Grumbling
Numbers 16:41–50 serves as a warning to myself and those who would be tempted to cast off God’s commands, chart their own path, and then grumble about the consequences. Continue reading The Worst Sort of Grumbling
Moral Courage in the Face of Death: Fifty Years Later
Fifty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his prophetic, final speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” In … Continue reading Moral Courage in the Face of Death: Fifty Years Later
25 Helps for Family Worship
A lot of us did not grow up in homes where our parents made concerted efforts at discipling us (largely because no one had done the same for them!) and we struggle to know what discipleship looks like in a Christian home. Richard Baxter helps us with this through 25 directions for family discipleship, which are doable, freeing, and helpful. You’ll find that he prescribes faithful plodding and not heroic conquest. Continue reading 25 Helps for Family Worship
Mr. President, Tear Down This Façade
If you know me, you know that I love Alabama. It’s a beautiful state with mountains in the North and … Continue reading Mr. President, Tear Down This Façade
Beauty and the Bad Argument
I really debated whether to enter the fray on Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast. Between mommy blogs and Christian commentators, what could I add to the conversation that will edify anyone? Then, I encountered an impressively bad argument. Continue reading Beauty and the Bad Argument
Why I Told My Students that Leviticus Is My Favorite Book of the Bible
Three weeks ago while preaching through the book of Ruth, I highlighted that Boaz demonstrated himself to be a profoundly godly and extraordinary man because he—first—knew the law and—second—went beyond it when he allowed Ruth to glean under his watchful care. Then I told them, “And you’ll never know why Boaz is so extraordinary if you don’t know Leviticus. For that matter, you can’t really understand your Bible unless you know Leviticus. That’s why it’s my favorite book of the Bible.”
Continue reading “Why I Told My Students that Leviticus Is My Favorite Book of the Bible”
An Old Dusty Story: Ash Wednesday
We are a storied people. We are shaped by the stories that we tell. This is James K.A. Smith’s idea of ‘cultural liturgies.’ It is in recognition of these cultural liturgies that I have cultivated a practice of intentional liturgy. I think the big question comes down to this: are you consciously liturgical? Continue reading An Old Dusty Story: Ash Wednesday
To Ash or Not to Ash; Why Even Ask?
Yesterday, on Ash Wednesday of 2017, I posted an article written by Carl Trueman, a professor of Christian theology and … Continue reading To Ash or Not to Ash; Why Even Ask?
Zach Carter 