It’s natural for pastors to equate increasing numbers with ministry success. I’d like to challenge that idea a bit, beginning with an illustration from my own family. This summer I “married off” the oldest of my four daughters. When I finished walking my wife down the aisle, I whispered to her, “We did it.” I […]
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Groaning Grace
The modern church doesn’t lament well. The churches in which I grew up tended to omit “downer” Psalms in favor of those that we consider to be more “uplifting.” If we’re honest, we’re almost embarrassed by the negativity of Psalms of lament, Psalms of imprecation, and books like Ecclesiastes and Lamentations. You might think that’s just […]
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Go Behind the Scenes
Chris Anderson gave an interview to BJU Today about the background, research, and writing process for his recent biography Panosian. You can read the full article here.
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The Eye of Faith
One of Luther’s central insights at the Reformation was the nature and importance of faith. For him, faith is famously that which justifies, which makes us right with God. This is not because of any intrinsic virtue faith itself possesses. Rather, it is because faith unites us to Christ such that we receive His righteousness […]
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Church Works Media Merger
Church Works Media is thrilled to announce that we have added Paul Keew to our ministry team as our first full-time employee and merged with his music publishing company “O God, My Joy” and “Chosen as His Children”) to the CWM catalogue as well as contributing to future projects. This is a huge move forward, […]
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My “Interracial” Engagement
In 280 days, I get to marry my best friend—the man I admire more than anyone else in the world. And some people are surprised he’s black. When Ray Holden and I started dating during my sophomore year, I don’t think I fully understood racism. To me, it was an abstract—a deep feeling that people […]
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A Father’s Adequacy
Some men feel inadequate in their role as a father, so they withdraw and leave it to their wife to carry the load. Some men feel totally adequate in and of themselves to handle the upbringing of their children.“I got this,” they say to themselves before prayerlessly entering a room to shepherd their teen in […]
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The Gospel Meditations Backstory
By God’s grace, we’ve printed 135,000 copies of the various Gospel Meditations devotionals. That’s a staggering number. How did it happen? What’s the backstory of the books? Well, it all began with Mother’s Day. It all began with Mother’s Day Churches often struggle to find “just the right gift” to give out to mothers each […]
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The Passivity of Christ
The four Gospels provide infinite opportunities for the Christian to marvel. The words of Christ are captivating. The miracles of Christ are awe-inspiring. And we could go on, endlessly: the purity of Christ, the compassion of Christ, the humility of Christ, and so forth. I’m struck on this Good Friday by the passivity of Christ. […]
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Grace, Truth, and Billy Graham
Billy Graham died yesterday. After 99 years on earth, right now he is seeing Jesus face to face. No doubt he also sees multitudes whom he told about Jesus. There’s no person in history who has preached the gospel to more people than Billy Graham. Not the Apostle Paul. Not George Whitefield. Nobody. So why […]
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