Christward Collective

Saint Aurelius Augustine (354-430) had his finger on the pulse of all men, when he confessed, “O Lord, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless, until they find their rest in Thee” ( Confessions , 1.1). Ever since our first parents gave up restful communion with God in...

The Lord knows us and knows our afflictions. In Mark 6:30-44 we have a beautiful picture of this knowledge of the Lord and the compassion that flows from Him in light of this knowledge. The first scene is of the twelve disciples. They have been laboring in ministry the entire day and Christ is an...

The enormous privilege of being a pastoral intern with Phil Ryken at historic Tenth Presbyterian Church afforded me many other undeserved and exciting experiences. One of the most special of these experiences was the opportunity to help Linda Boice--Dr. Boice's widow--break down her husband's...

Whenever I’m leading the first few meetings of a small group or discussion group, I like to say, “You all can talk or I can talk. I prefer that you talk but I have no problem filling space with words, after all, I’m a pastor.” We all laugh and after a few people take me up...

Christian leaders face many difficult, daunting, demanding, and, sometimes, dangerous situations – both outside the church and inside the church. That’s why the military model of leadership is used so commonly in Scripture. And yet the vast majority of us are cowards. We avoid danger...

When we speak about the accomplishment of the gospel, our discussion often begins with the crucifixion of Jesus and ends with the resurrection. Is it possible that there is more to Jesus accomplishment than this? One of the most fascinating passages in the New Testament is the Transfiguration...

Some years ago, while engaged in pastoral ministry in New England, I had an interesting conversation with an elderly Roman Catholic lady. Somewhat spontaneously we found ourselves talking about whether one could know if he or she was saved. This lady noted that it was not possible to know whether...

I was recently introduced to the phrase, "going-to-hell sin." This intrigued me because, from my own studies of Scripture when I was a young Christian, I always thought it was clear that all sins were "going-to-hell sins." But apparently not. Hollywood certainly has us thinking...

He in our place. "He has borne our griefs" (Is. 53:4). "He was wounded for our transgressions" (Is. 53: 5). "He was crushed for our iniquities" (Is. 53:4). "Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his stripes we are healed" (Is. 53:5). He...

My friends and I have thought up a genius idea to streamline the Christian book industry. Our plan is to create a random book title engine to maximize book hype. You would provide your favorite orthodox doctrine and the engine would add to it -driven, -centered, total-, or -everyday. And no, I...