First Thoughts

Voting and Christian Morality One week away from an election of tremendous consequence, Christians face three logical options. First, they could vote for Kamala Harris. Some Christian leaders have encouraged this, with one stating in a now-deleted post, “Never Trump. This time Harris. Always Jesus.” Most Christians are unlikely to follow this advice, but some will. Second, they could disengage from the political process in some way. A number of ways exist to do this, which include abstaining …

On October 31, much of our modern American culture will be focused on costumes and candy. The history and celebration of Halloween is complicated and controversial, but for Christians, especially Protestants (of which Baptists are included), we have something much more significant to celebrate every year on October 31. That date commemorates the start of the Protestant Reformation when, in 1517, Martin Luther, a German monk and theologian, posted his famous 95 Theses on the door of the Castle…

Communication Quarrels Christians fight about everything these days. Christian parents argue about how to raise the kids and spend money. Church members bicker about how to vote in the presidential election. Denominational leaders fight about the best way to pursue abuse reform. Even biblical counselors debate which practitioners are most infected with worldly thinking. All communication has at least two sides: the speaker and the listener. My words here are about the responsibility we all ha…

Last week, thousands of biblical counselors gathered in Fort Worth, Texas, for the annual meeting of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). I was honored to be a speaker for this event, and First Counseling, the counseling ministry of First Baptist Church, hosted a booth in the exhibitor hall. Representatives from First Baptist gave away anti-zombie stickers to anyone who visited the booth. We gave away many hundreds of these stickers which were a tremendous hit. When I ret…

Introduction Beginning in September of 1887, Charles Spurgeon, pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, published a series of articles in his monthly magazine, The Sword and the Trowel, concerning the infiltration of liberal theology into the doctrine and practice of contemporary Baptist ministers with whom he had previously partnered.[1] Amid a growing influence of secularization in the church, Spurgeon saw the writing on the wa…

[Heath Lambert recently edited a collection of biblical counseling essays that will be released in October as A Call to Clarity. This article is an adapted version of his introduction to that book.] Wishing Wells and the Word of God One of the most famous and funny accounts from the lore of the Lambert Family involved a debate over the existence of a wishing well. The conflict began when my daughter was just old enough to speak in choppy sentences. She insisted that there was a wishing well b…

Disappointment and Disgust I learned of Steve Lawson’s “inappropriate relationship” the way I usually learn of news in evangelicalism: through text message. I was in a meeting when my phone started shaking with texts from friends all over the country. Those messages fit into the broad categories of disappointment and disgust. Some were heartbroken by the news of disqualifying sin in the life of a man who had meant so much to them. They know this creates pain in the lives of everyone involved …

I distinctly remember a time during college when I was with an open-air evangelism team doing some street preaching in New York City. As I was doing my best to explain the gospel – both the bad news of sin, death, and hell, and also the good news of Jesus, salvation, and eternal life – I was interrupted by someone passing by. He yelled to me and the small crowd that was listening, “I’m not worried about going to hell, all my friends will be there too, it will be one big party.” Sadly, I don’t…

College football is a really big deal! When the fall season is upon us, there are very few things that capture more of the attention of our country than this great sport. One of the most important things fans obsess over is the ranking system. Which team will be #1? Is it Alabama? Is it Ohio State? Or might it even be our beloved Gators? People care about the rankings because being #1 means that you are the best. Ranking Your Relationships: Getting the Order Right When it comes to our family …

What Is Your Relationship with God Like? I want to share an easy indicator of your relationship with God. This indicator has nothing to do with how much you read your Bible or how often you go to church. It’s not about the verses you have memorized, how long you prayed today, whether you go on mission trips, or work with the homeless. These can all be helpful, but it’s not the indicator I want you to think about. The indicator I want to emphasize is how you handle relational drama. Our lives …