Editors’ note: Christians in the Wes, face a number of explicit threats to the authority of Scripture. But explicit threats alone don’t weaken our trust in the Bible. Subtle threats—those that creep in unnoticed—also foster skepticism. Writing for Themelios, TGC president Don Carson outlines 10 ways we subtly abandon the authority of God’s Word. Below are some excerpts from his timely essay.

On the danger of appealing to selective evidence:

The most severe forms of this drift [appealing to sel..

MERRY MONDAY BY PARRIS-

“For which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk?” Luke 5:23
In a world that is falling apart all around us with rebellion and anger against authority being loudly demonstrated without the least embarrassment; forgiveness seems like a bygone era. Even churches are jeered at and many discourage attending what they call “organized religion”. Entitlement, victimizing, and casting blame make huge furrows all around us. But when you “see forg..

Key Passage”What great blessings there are for the people that are sad now! God will comfort them.”
— Matthew 5:4 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key ThoughtPaul told Christians in Rome, “Weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). Disciples face sadness for many reasons. Discipleship is not about always being happy. It's about following the path of Jesus who was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). He surrendered his rights to bless others. He surrendered his life to forgive the very..

Today’s media has hijacked the word “radical.” Its Latin origin simply means “roots,” like the roots of a tree.

In this sense, Christian parents actually hope to raise “radical” kids. As our kids grow up, we want them to grow down—deep into the roots of the faith.

Deep Roots

Why should we wait years to introduce our kids to theological treasures like the Trinity, the attributes of God, the storyline of the Bible, or union with Christ? Kids are brighter than we often realize. Even at a young ..

“Systematic theology thus contemplates the body of biblical teaching as a living organism, offering loving attention to its various members and tracing their organic relations to each another. Ultimately, systematic theology helps us better understand God and all things in relation to God.”

“Systematic theology” is a label with admittedly clinical connotations. It conjures a picture of the theologian as someone who takes in hand the living Word of God only to dissect and dismember the body of b..

By John Frye
In my past spiritual formation and in my current neck of the woods, the gospel was and is reduced to “Jesus died for your sins, simply receive him, and you’ll be forgiven and go to heaven when you die.” All these things are true, but none of them are the gospel as defined by Paul (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) and by the gospel sermons preached by Peter and Paul in the Book of Acts.
Let me rehearse for you the tiny gospel I received and passed on to others. You might conclude I’ve exaggerat..

Do you remember what it was like to go to church for the first time?

A lot of pastors have been in church for so long that we can’t remember. Maybe you grew up going to church with your family like I did. If so, you can’t remember because you were too young.

If you came to faith in Jesus later in life, you might have an advantage in this area. You know how awkward it was.

Maybe you didn’t know anyone. Maybe you only knew one friend who invited you there. Maybe you were nervous. Maybe you were..

The world’s struggling children to receive 664,000 gift-filled shoeboxes from Canadians

By
Samaritan's Purse Canada

|
January 26, 2017

Canadians lovingly invested the time and money to pack 664,525 shoeboxes with toys, hygiene items, school supplies, and many other items during the 2016 Operation Christmas Child shoebox campaign that recently ended.

Distribution of the shoeboxes in the developing world has already begun. During the next few weeks, children in Haiti, C..

Many of us were introduced to the Christ and Culture issue by reading H. Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture and it has stood the test of time as it is now still routinely purchased and read in its sixth decade. In his influentialism approach to Christ and Culture I saw the essential typology for American Christians — both liberal and conservative, evangelical and otherwise. So I read more of H. Richard Niebuhr’s books (though I confess I don’t think I’ve read an entire book of his more famous ..

Key PassageAt that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River. Jesus came to John and wanted John to baptize him. But John tried to say that he was not good enough to baptize Jesus. John said, “Why do you come to me to be baptized? I should be baptized by you!”
— Matthew 3:13-14 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key ThoughtCan you imagine John's surprise when Jesus wanted to be baptized by him? “I'm not worthy…” “I need to be baptized by you…” But, even when God shows us a way that may se..