Category Christward Collective

I recently received an email from a missionary couple in our congregation who serve in a large country in Africa. The wife of this couple who wrote us was telling us how her husband had been arrested and falsely accused…

One of the great difficulties we encounter when we seek to preach Christ from the Old Testament is the challenge of being able to rightly apply the text–both in its original context and then to our own. After all, a…

Jesus Christ came to Earth to inaugurate His Kingdom. But the Kingdom of Christ would not look like any other kingdom of this world. It would be a kingdom without borders, a kingdom without end, and a kingdom without rivals.…

Tonight, my church will hold a Good Friday service of hymns and Scripture readings.  Here, is the way I will frame the hearts of our flock to contemplate the horrific reality of the death of the Son of God: "Why…

At the end of an unusually exhausting or challenging week I sometimes find myself saying, "This has been the hardest week of my life." This is often simply a sophisticated way of complaining. We want others to know how hard…

No, the Westminster divines weren’t intentionally attacking The Jesus Storybook Bible; but they probably would have taken issue with the pictures of Jesus. I serve on the Theological Examination Committee for the Presbytery in which I minister–which means, among other things,…

Every pastor needs “coaching.” Though they have gone by different names over the years (mentors, teachers, etc.) the ideas of mature men helping others mature in leadership has always been around. Pastors need seasoned leaders that can speak into their…

In recent years it has become common for theologians to give focused treatment to the sphere (i.e. the sacred space) in which redemption occurs. The Temple motif–from the Garden of Eden to the Heavenly City (i.e. the New Jerusalem)–is traced out in…

Bible software programs have not been part of my life as a pastor. When preparing a lesson or sermon, my desk is littered with books and papers. It looks like chaos, but I assure you that it is organized chaos…

The previous post in this two-part series began with the problem of spiritual lethargy which led us to the passage in Heb 6:1-12, a passage that is written for the expressed purpose that it would help against spiritually lethargy (v.12).…