Exploring Faith and Spirituality

Religion

On My Shelf: Life and Books with Matthew Bingham

On My Shelf helps you get to know various writers through a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their lives as readers. I asked Matthew Bingham—author of A Heart Aflame for God: A Reformed Approach to ...

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Shepherd the Flock: Advice to New Elders

You can’t read the book of Acts and the New Testament epistles without seeing the vital role elders play in providing leadership to the church (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5). Also referred to as pastors/s...

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Heavenward Still: How a 19th-Century Novel Speaks Today

When I was a young newlywed, I had a picture of what my life would be like when I was older. I was certain that by the time I entered my 40s, I’d be a faithful, wiser version of myself simply becau...

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Outprinting the Prosperity Gospel in Southern Africa

Seven years ago, Tommie van der Walt went to his elders with an idea. “I wanted to train pastors,” he said. He especially wanted to train pastors in impoverished and underresourced areas. And he w...

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Unity, Leadership, and the Eternal Church (1 Cor. 3)

In this lecture, Don Carson discusses 1 Corinthians 3, highlighting the apostle Paul’s warning against factionalism and emphasizing that Christian leaders are servants of God. The church is portray...

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Don’t Look for Bigfoot When You Need the Church

Imagine a world in which more people believe in aliens than in the fairness of the criminal justice system. Where belief in telekinesis is more common than trust in the government. Where more peopl...

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Let’s Not Rush to Roles

It seems nearly impossible in our current Christian context to discuss male and female personhood without hastening to our roles. “Yes,” we’re often told, “we know that men and women are co-image-b...

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Want to Grow in Wisdom? You Need Gospel Friends.

Who are “your people”? Most of us have a microcommunity—the people we exercise, vacation, and go to church with. The people we grab coffee or lunch with most often. The ones who come to birthday pa...

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Countering 3 Muslim Attacks on the Bible

Pew Research Center reports that Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group. In North America, Islam is growing not only by immigration and high birth rates but also by evangelism and ...

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Saving Our Kids from Scrolling to Death

It’s no secret that kids today are not all right. Youth rates of anxiety and depression, eating disorders, pornography exposure, and suicide remain shockingly high. Inside and outside the church, w...

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Work Is Cursed. We Need the Gospel.

If you read media reports, you’ll discover most of them see work in a negative light. Here are recent examples: Employee engagement is down. The perceived quality of products and services is falli...

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4 Questions Pastors Should Ask Before Using AI

AI is everywhere, and it’s advancing at unpredictable rates. Between apocalyptic doomsday predictions and “utopian” visions of a laborless world, faithful pastors of varying ages, gifts, and denomi...

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Biblical Ethics in a Divided Age: Learning from Herman Bavinck

Much of American political discourse is really about ethics. Based on the latest news cycle, debates flare up about topics like the use of excessive force by police, systemic causes of racial dispa...

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In the Aftermath of the Texas Floods, Keep Watch with the Suffering

Eight years ago, my family lost our home and most of our belongings in an unprecedented flood after Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 40 inches of rain over four days. Six feet of water sat in our ...

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Does Paul Really Promise I’ll Suffer?

Suffering shapes the life of every person to varying degrees. I’ve experienced chronic illness for most of my life, and although I’ve prayed many desperate prayers, the Lord hasn’t taken this suffe...

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Living and Leading in the Way of the Cross

In this lecture, Don Carson emphasizes the role of Christian leaders as servants of Christ and the importance of faithfulness, humility, and integrity in their leadership. Carson urges Christian le...

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A Conservative Case for Religious Freedom

Eighty percent of Americans believe religion is losing its influence in public life. In the past, John Wilsey might have found a silver lining in that news. When he was writing on American civil re...

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Social Media: Wisdom and Warnings

Melissa Kruger talks with her friends Hunter Beless and Laura Wifler about the role social media has played in their lives, both positive and negative. They talk about temptations that can arise fr...

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Apocalypse in the Tropics review – how Brazilian politics succumbed to rightwing fundamentalism

Petra Costa explains how screeching evangelical Christian leaders have become kingmakers to all politicians in a chilling documentary that shows democracy on the brinkPetra Costa’s documentary tell...

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Struggling with Peer Pressure? 7 Tips for Muslim Teens

You’re Not Alone in This You’re at school, the bell rings, and your friends are already planning something you know you shouldn’t be a part of. It’s not haram, but it doesn’t sit right with your ...

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How to Teach Hijab with Love, Not Force

In this modern era, where faith and identity often collide with cultural pressures, many Muslim parents struggle with one sensitive question: how do we teach our daughters to embrace the hijab with...

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