In his classic work, “How to Read a Book,” Mortimer Adler writes, “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.” In order for good books “to get through to you,” consider some of the following……
Read More“Jesus ate with sinners!” The drug-addicted mother threw the statement in the face of her substance-recovering daughter as a taunt and manipulative tool. The daughter had recently come to Christ and was seeking to find freedom from a drug-shrouded childhood. She was raised in the drug culture by a mother who was equally given to…
Read MoreLarry Robbins recently retired after a 23-year career as a Community Chaplain, serving with his local police force. Through that time he also served on the pastoral staff of his church. In the March/April 2023 edition of FrontLine, Larry wrote an article reflecting on his experience and ministry opportunities as a police chaplain. I was…
Read MoreWe seem to live in an age of turmoil and even crisis within large ministry organizations or institutions—whatever major denomination that you observe. And yet we want stability in our own ministries. We want to optimistically move forward successfully fulfilling the mission God has given to us. How can we do so? Ministry stability and…
Read MoreGod intends prophecy to have a definite impact on people. Commentators and hermeneutics texts warn us not to misconstrue the intent of prophetic passages. Much of what they say is helpful; what’s curious is what is left unsaid or even denigrated. Many interpreters downplay some purposes that seem not only self-evident but Scripturally emphasized. The…
Read MoreKevin Schaal’s article on Monday (Fighting for Free Speech is Fighting for the Gospel)touched on something I’ve been thinking about recently. Our times are full of stories from various locales citing pressure tactics on Christians to conform to the new state religion of “freedom-of-sexual-expression-no-matter-how-bizarre.” I’m not sure what label we should put on this, but…
Read MoreWe live in challenging times, do we not? Perhaps, many might think “challenging” is a bit of an understatement. Truth seems to be such a rare commodity. We do not trust our government, the media, even one another. There is little in the way of civil debate over social or political issues. Rather, harsh condemnation…
Read MoreThe intersectionality of religion and politics is a huge bone of contention in the present social dialogue. People from the right and left are both attacking the idea of Christian Nationalism—in whatever way it may be defined. However, the idea of free speech is foundational to Western culture, and it is extremely important to…
Read MoreDuring our recent Annual Meeting held at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa, our theme was “Reclaiming the Great Commission.” In our podcast last week, I interviewed Jim Tillotson, the President of Faith Baptist Bible College & Seminary located in Ankeny, Iowa. Jim was one of our speakers at the Annual Meeting. I promised…
Read MoreWhen I was proof-reading my husband’s master’s thesis on pastoral transitions, I started to think again about the biblical role of a pastor’s wife. As I read through his paper, I saw a good pattern for establishing a biblical perspective on a debated issue. The role of a pastor’s wife has been debated by many…
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