I want to be like Jonathan Edwards, don’t you? The guy was amazing. He was a polymath, an incomparable scholar, “probably the greatest America mind ever” (as they say). Writing a treatise on spiders was like a few rounds of Angry Birds to him. He was the pastor-theologian. A school president. A missionary to unreached peoples. A leader in a movement that changed America. He was a giant.

Paul Talks About Us

And then the Apostle Paul reminds us with the Corinthians: “not many of you” were wise or powerful or noble. “Not many of you.” It doesn’t apply to everyone, but...

Darrin Patrick's message at the 2012 Conference for Pastors was on being and building men in the local church. He expounded Galatians 5 and walked through the on-the-ground work of killing sin and living in the Spirit. Download the audio and video.

Memorable Quotes

• "When you become a leader of men, you plug your life into an ampiflier and everyone hears it."
• "You don't obey for your acceptance, you obey from your acceptance."
• "You don't measure your maturity by comparing yourself with others. You judge maturity by comparing yourself to Jesus."
• "Paul tells us to crucify...

The price William Tyndale, Adoniram Judson, and John Paton paid to translate the Word of God, pave the way for missionary mobilization around the world, and lead the hostile to Christ was great. Yet their stories show how the gospel advances not only through the faithful proclamation of the truth but through representing the afflictions of Christ in our sufferings.

You can now order the book for just $5.

(Offer good only for purchases made through our online store and while supplies last.)

Other Specials

• Finally Alive ($5)
• The Dangerous Duty of Delight ($5)

When the Lord Jesus called his disciples, he famously said that he was going to transform them into “fishers of men” (Mark 1:17).

He did not say, as it turns out, that he was going to send them fishing for fallacies. Similarly, the point of apologetics is to win the man, not the argument.

 

Now of course, arguments can (and should) play a role in this kind of public evangelism. Apologetics needs to consist of more than just smiling at people and being sweet. Argument plays a role, but argumentation is a sharp tool, and a tool is...

Your theology determines your philosophy, which in turn determines your methodology.

This was the mantra of the leadership at The Village Church in Dallas, Texas. I spent nearly six years there as a pastor and director of Missions and Church Planting before joining the Mars Hill Church and the Resurgence team in Seattle, Washington. It was from this mantra that the Lord birthed in me an understanding of how to develop a philosophy of ministry that could actually be articulated, taught through, and practically used to guide ministry on a daily basis.

I wanted to make this resource...

Two years into our marriage, my wife and I purchased our first house. It was during the height of the Seattle housing boom, when the average time a house stayed on the market was four days. That’s not a typo. We are talking pan-seared tuna. These things hit the market and were snatched up. So when a “For Sale” sign sprang up in one of the neighborhoods we were watching, we jumped on it. To show how quickly we jumped, the lock box hadn’t been installed yet but we found a key in the mailbox and...

A great gift from our friends the Stubbs — do hard things! This does not get old. Lots of “hard things” ahead, and lots of joy. Audrey means “noble strength.” See earlier photos below! Announcing the arrival of Audrey Lynn Harris — December 19, 2011. 7 lb, 11 oz and 20 inches long. Mother, baby, and daddy are doing well. “Behold, children [...]

UPDATE (12/09/11): They won! Thank you to everyone who watched and shared the video. $16,000 for the village of Cusuna! Last week we got an exciting email from a 12-year-old rebelutionary named Sean. After watching the DVD conference, he and some friends decided to do hard things: Collecting hundreds of pairs of shoes for the village [...]

The final conference, over 5 years after the first. From 17 to 22 years old. Photos by Ashley Christine at Focal Clarity. Grateful for Joel — leading worship at every conference all these years. John Reilly, lead singer of the awesome band Reilly. We love the dueling violins of this husband-wife duo! Seeing and hearing the stories of lives changed [...]

I've been mulling over whether or not to do a post or two about translation theory, since translations are back in the news. Whether or not I'll get around to it, I'm not sure, but two of my points would be that much of the issue comes down to (a) the meaning of "meaning" and (2) the relationship between "form" and "meaning."

But perhaps I can offer just a thought or two about the word literal. The word is almost unavoidable, but I think we should take pains to use it carefully and rarely. The reason is that it...

We all know the story of the two criminals crucified with Jesus on the cross.

The details are relatively sparse. We know that three men were crucified: Jesus the Messiah, with one man on his left, and one man on his right (Luke 23:33).

One of the men--on the left or on the right, we don't know--"railed at" (or reviled) Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39).

Little did he know that the only way for Jesus to "save them" was to refuse to "save himself."

But the railing criminal received a surprising response. He was...

“Each of Vern Poythress’s books has been, in my judgment, the best book on its particular subject, whether science, hermeneutics, dispensationalism, theological method, gender-neutral Bible translation, or the Mosaic law. Not only are these books expertly researched and cogently argued, but they are explicitly Christian in their starting point, method, and conclusion (to use a phrase of Cornelius Van Til). Poythress does not merely claim that these disciplines allow a place for God, or that a theistic worldview provides useful context, or that engagement in such studies is somehow useful to Christians. Rather, he comes right in your face with...

The first song I heard that I thought would be on our most recent album, The Gathering, was Have Mercy on Me. Co-written by Dale Bischof and Pat Sczebel, it combines grief over sin with an assurance of God’s mercy in Christ. Even though as Christians all our sins are completely forgiven (Col. 2:13), we [...]

My top recommended book on a biblical theology of worship is David Peterson’s Engaging with God. If you’re responsible for leading in your church, either as a pastor or a musician, I think you’ll serve people more faithfully and biblically if you read it. I go through it every year with my interns and never [...]

Here’s our latest video from The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11. As You Go was written by Mark Altrogge, who has been writing songs for Sovereign Grace Music since the early 1980s. That’s a long time. It amazes me how he continues to write such theologically rich, relevant, singable songs. What you may not know is [...]

8:21 a.m. My 3.Week 5 Crib Jumping

52home

"Our times are in God's hands; it is well they are so. Believers are not to expect great wealth, long life, or to be free from trials. But all will be ordered for the best. And remark from Job's history, that steadiness of mind and heart under trial, is one of the highest attainments of faith. There is little exercise for faith when all things go well. But if God raises a storm, permits the enemy to send wave after wave, and seemingly stands aloof from our prayers, then, still to hang on...

3:14 p.m. Ask Kristin

52home