Why Do So Many People Listen to Jordan Peterson?
People listen to Peterson because they are terrified of death.
Everyone tries to save themselves, and every one fails to do so. The scriptural story repeats this idea through its narratives—kings rise, kings fall. And it took Jesus to liberate us from the fear of death. As Hebrews notes, humans “were held in slavery by their fear of death” until Christ came (Heb 2:15). Ernst Becker... Continue Reading
2 Reasons Bully Pastors Rise Up in the Church
God has given us the norms for leadership, so we don't need a new model of leadership. It's in the pages of the New Testament.
The first is that we’ve backed away from a biblical definition of a leader—humble, gentle, kind, faithful, loving, servant… There’s a second thing: we’ve diminished and devalued the importance of a strong, watchful, comforting, confronting leadership community around a leader. The Church’s Leadership Crisis There are two things that are at the heart of... Continue Reading
Spurgeon as a Literary Man
Spurgeon was a voracious reader with an eidetic memory. He had the ability to read and synthesize large quantities of content quickly and effectively without sacrificing comprehension.
Spurgeon was both widely read, and shaped by the content of his reading. He had a unique ability to assimilate vast amounts of information with accuracy and permanence, and to retrieve that information for concise use in his sermons and writings. Nevertheless, he avoided the appearance of intellectual superiority, despised pretention, and felt that including... Continue Reading
On Being Black and Conservative
Kay Coles James is president of the conservative Heritage Foundation and is a member of the Presbyterian Church in America.
Mrs. James almost sputters—“You can tell that I struggle even to find the words”—when I ask what she thinks of the New York Times’s “1619 Project,” which attempts “to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619,” when the first slaves were brought to Jamestown, Va., “as our true founding.” That dubious history, Mrs. James says, hurts... Continue Reading
Becoming a Man with C.S. Lewis
Lessons from his teenage wanderings.
One of the primary tasks of middle adolescence is to learn to be appropriately independent. It is a necessary step toward growing up and being on one’s own, in the way God intends. In some families, however, adolescents learn in a stormy way, accompanied by all manner of rebellion against parental authority. They need not,... Continue Reading
Living for Him Who Died for Us (Count Nicolaus Zinzendorf)
"He launched a worldwide missionary movement that set the stage for … the ‘great century’ of missions that would follow.”
In 1719-1720 Zinzendorf had his Wanderjahr, a year of traveling abroad to complete his education. While at the magnificent art gallery in Dusseldorf he viewed many masterpieces. The painting that impacted him the most was of the thorn-crowned Christ after he had been flogged by Pontius Pilate. Beneath it was the Latin inscription: “This I... Continue Reading
John Kyle, PCA Minister and Former Coordinator of Mission to the World, Called Home to Glory
John Emery Kyle, 94, of Monroe, NC, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Thursday, September 24, 2020.
In 1972 they returned to the United States and in 1973 John became the first coordinator of Mission to the World with the newly formed Presbyterian Church in America; 1973-1977 and 1988-1994. In 1979 John and Lois moved to Madison, Wisconsin where he served as a Vice President of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and as the... Continue Reading
An Open Letter to the Lonely Pastor
The pastor loves caring for his flock, and he loves his family, but he feels so alone.
You mentioned how the Lord has blessed your ministry; now share some of these blessings with your wife so she can rejoice with you. Tell her about the discoveries you’ve made in your devotional reading of the Word. Share your excitement about the sermon outline of a difficult passage you landed on—how it finally came... Continue Reading
The Morning Star of the Reformation
Hus, Luther, and the other Reformers were indebted to him. So are we. Wycliffe was indeed “the Morning Star of the Reformation.”
While attending church on December 28, 1384, Wycliffe suffered a severe stroke, his second. He died two days later. Post tenebras lux—”after darkness, light”—is the slogan representing the Reformation at Calvin’s Geneva. The sun did rise in the Reformation of the sixteenth century, and the light of the gospel chased the darkness away. But we... Continue Reading
An Open Letter to the Overcommitted Pastor
“Never confuse activity with accomplishment.”
Your personal devotional life will be the easiest thing to sacrifice, and the one thing you cannot afford to lose. The congregation will not know right away if your time with the Lord is suffering. You will still be able to preach sermons on Sundays, and you will be capable of recalling Bible verses when... Continue Reading
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