I’m often asked what Biblical tools I use when delving in depth on a particular portion of Scripture. I’ve listed many of the New Testament commentaries I recommend here. Another invaluable resource is the IVP Bible Dictionary Series, which I can’t recommend enough for serious students of the Scriptures. However, one of the volumes in that series has been updated. The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels by Joel B. Green, Jeannine K. Brown & Nicholas Perrin is an incredible new update! Over twenty-one years… Read more

To the many who have asked, here are my comments about the subject of hell that I’ve written and tweeted in the past. * Whatever the nature of eternal punishment is — conscious torment or annihilation — this question has never altered my desire to bring people to Jesus Christ. Jesus is real Life, for the here-and-now, as well as for the future. So my motive for evangelism has never been to give people a fire-insurance policy. * The greatest Christian minds differ… Read more

The following is a guest post by Jana Wilson. — Congregations everywhere warn about the potential evils of social media. Overusing these platforms in a negative manner can lead to mental health issues as well as dangerous situations. Cyberbullying and other social issues are alive and well, and it can be quite upsetting to spend too much time on your social sites. However, as is a fundamental Christian belief, there is a light and dark side to almost everything. While… Read more

The following is told from the lips of Lazarus, the man whom Jesus raised from the dead. The story presents several different ways in which people respond to Christians when they are sick or suffering. — I could not sleep most of the night. Tossing miserably, my mind refused to shut down. Neither would the pain vibrating throughout my body. If I die, what will happen to my sisters … and my father? With the silversmith shop closed, who will… Read more

Most errors circulating in the Christian world today can be found in the New Testament era. In particular, the two main enemies of the gospel—legalism and libertinism (license to sin)—were both present in the early church. Galatians was written to legalists—hence the strong emphasis on liberty, freedom, and grace. James was written to libertines, those who presumed on the grace of God and turned it into a license to sin. Thus the book of James is strong on obedience, faith… Read more

The 100th episode of my podcast is available to stream or download. It’s unlike anything you’ve probably ever heard in the Christian podcast world. For that reason, it defies a title or description. You can listen to the episode in the following ways: iTunes Podbean (Stream) RSS Feed   Read more

“Another cause back of our top-heavy and ugly over-organization is fear. Churches and societies founded by saintly men with courage, faith and sanctified imagination appear unable to propagate themselves on the same spiritual level beyond one or two generations. The spiritual fathers were not able to sire others with courage and faith equal to their own. The fathers had God and little else, but their descendants lose their vision and look to methods and constitutions for the power their hearts… Read more

EUGENE PETERSON’S passing reminded me of the monumental importance of passing the torch (and those looking for someone from which to receive it). Dallas Willard passed it before he left this earth. I hope the same is true for Eugene. Here’s the article I wrote about it earlier this year. — The phrase “passing the torch” is a commonly used metaphor to depict the act of passing on a charge or responsibility to another individual. The metaphor comes from the… Read more

Here’s a conference message I delivered in Ohio called “The Unsearchable Riches of Christ.” Listen to the episode in the following ways: iTunes   Podbean (Stream)   RSS Feed   PODCAST ARCHIVES – click here to see the complete list of episodes on one page. Read more

In our book, Pagan Christianity, George Barna and I wrote an entire chapter on the history of tithing from the Old Testament era, through the New Testament, and onward into church history. What we establish will shock most Christians. Namely, Christians didn’t begin the practice of tithing until hundreds of years after the death of the apostles. They certainly gave money to various needs. But they didn’t tithe as they do today. On another subject, have you ever asked yourself… Read more