Patches of stubborn November snow dotted the landscape, refracting the headlights of my idling ’04 Honda Civic. I had limped to the end of a full Sunday and sat motionless in our apartment’s parking lot. It was my first Christmas season as a worship pastor and I was crumbling under the weight of traditions, expectations, and the fear of man. My new wife, Emily, sat beside me, patiently waiting and praying for the Lord to shine light into the gloom of my discouragement. Our first Christmas together was shaping up to be anything but merry and bright. As our vacant stares surveyed the snow-strewn hill through the windshield, the Lord surveyed my heart, piercing it with his word. He led me to grapple with my grief, and understanding struck me like a sword thrust; my soul was parched by the...

Every year, we recommend daily devotionals to accompany your Bible reading. This year, instead of suggesting several options, we’ve selected one devotional for 2025. We are encouraging our entire church to use In the Lord I Take Refuge by Dane Ortlund. This devotional walks through the entire book of Psalms, showing how each Psalm is relevant to the Christian life. The chapters are short and easily digestible, making them manageable even on busy days. It is designed for 150 days and includes the full ESV text of each Psalm. If you choose to read the Psalm one day and the commentary the next, the devotional can nearly last the entire year (not counting Sundays). We have selected this book for the following reasons: The chapter lengths are achievable, even on busy days. The commentary...

Every year, on a designated date after Thanksgiving, the Connells decorate our Christmas tree. Sometimes, it is planned in advance and attended to with ceremonial bluster (that is my influence), and sometimes, it is the result of spontaneously seizing a free evening amid the annual Christmas chaos that accompanies a Worship Pastor’s home at Christmas. Now that our children are older and establishing their own homes in other places, this year’s effort had to be both planned and seized. We knew that we would have everyone under our roof briefly on Thanksgiving Day, so Mary and I made the decision in advance that we would violate my conscientious opposition to allow the ever-burgeoning Christmas season to encroach upon the sanctified day reserved for giving thanks. Even though my family...

The contemporary biblical counseling movement is facing days of significant challenges. Many voices with confused misunderstandings of biblical truth are seeking to redefine biblical counseling. They are attempting to blur the clear lines between approaches to counseling care that are uniquely biblical and those that are fundamentally secular. Nothing less than the faithfulness of the biblical counseling movement is at stake. In these confusing days, the authors in this volume believe it is time to be clear about what is going on and what is at stake. A Call to Clarity evaluates the arguments of The New Integrationists, reaffirms key theological doctrines undergirding all faithful counseling, and calls all counselors to a vision of counseling care founded on the sufficiency of...

The Best and Worst of Times One of the very best Christmases of my life started out as one of the worst. It happened when I was in the fifth grade. Back then, my mother was depressed, completely enslaved to alcohol, and was violently abusive to me and my twin brother. Things always got worse in the lead-up to Christmas, and that year was no exception. Mom was so consistently drunk and disoriented that she was not going to work, was not sending us to school, and was not even trying to care for us. We had not had a regular meal in days. My oldest brother was serving in the military at that time and called to check on us. He listened to all that was going on and immediately called our dad to tell him we needed help very badly. This was important because my mom had moved us away from our...

Thanksgiving is more than a cherished holiday on the calendar; it is a profound spiritual practice deeply rooted in Scripture. For Christians, the Thanksgiving holiday provides an opportunity to reflect on what the Bible teaches about thanksgiving and also how to tangibly apply that teaching in our homes. Here are seven biblical themes of thanksgiving and then seven practical ways to express thanksgiving during this season and throughout the year. Thanksgiving in Scripture 1. Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness Thanksgiving in Scripture is often a response to recognizing the goodness of God. From the opening chapters of Genesis, God’s creation reflects his generosity and provision. Humanity’s response should naturally be one of gratitude. The psalmist writes: “Oh, give thanks to the LORD,...

Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. Proverbs 24:11 Life in a Dobbs World On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with their ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Just like that, a half-century of court-imposed abortion ended, and we went from living in a world defined by Roe to one defined by Dobbs. As grateful as all Christians are for the decision, we also must admit that life in a Dobbs world has been more dangerous for unborn babies than many anticipated. In this Dobbs world, we face three emergencies that require the best of us. The Political Emergency Dobbs directed the fight for life back to the states with mixed results. Since Dobbs, the number of abortions has increased,...

It was 2 a.m. Friday night. I had just flown in from a seminar out of town. I was eager to see my wife and talk with her. As I quietly crept into the house, I found her sitting up in bed, waiting for me, half asleep from the sheer exhaustion of caring for our three young kids without me for a week. “What’s this?” I said as I saw the little blue tip of a pregnancy test sticking out of her nightstand drawer. “Oh no!” she said, suddenly roused from her daze, “You weren’t supposed to see that! I wanted to surprise you!” “Well, it’s definitely a surprise! But this is one of those early detection tests. Are you sure it’s correct?” “Yes, I’m sure!” she said as she pulled out a ziplock bag with 5 other positive tests. We scheduled our confirmation screening for two weeks later. After measuring...

When Gospel Ministry Makes a Mess . . . I am writing to encourage ministers of the gospel who feel overwhelmed. I want to do that by thinking about the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Paul had one of the most effective ministries in human history, but his reputation in the city of Ephesus was complete trash. As Paul preached the Word of God, he received numerous unpleasant responses. For starters, he developed a determined enemy named Demetrius, who was committed to opposing his work (Acts 19:24-25). In response to the pot-stirring of Demetrius, a riot broke out full of people who were confused about most things except how much they hated Paul (Acts 19:28-29). This ruckus placed Paul’s companions in jeopardy simply because they were his friends (Acts 19:29). The riotous crowd placed Paul...

The 2024 election is over. After years of campaigning, two assassination attempts, a change at the top of the Democrat party ticket, endless fact-checking, countless polls, and spending almost $16 Billion, Americans finally made their choice. That choice was to remove political power from the Biden-Harris administration and to return it to former president Donald Trump. That decision will create joy for some, and despair for others. Here are five ways every Christian can respond regardless of how you feel about the results. 1. Pray One of the few explicit commands in the Bible about political engagement is the demand to pray for our leaders. “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we...