After we posted the link to my recent blog about New York’s Reproductive Health Act on Facebook, an EPM board member and one of our staff had exchanges with commenters claiming we were sharing false information and exaggerating the law’s effects. We always respond to people’s genuine questions, but I rarely defend myself to critics, knowing it seldom makes a difference when their minds are already made up. But when lives of unborn children are at stake, I and our staff believe in... Read more
Nanci and I love Mary Clayton Wood, now Mary Clayton Crow, one of our dear friends. She’s a godly woman who’s both fun and engaging, and has a big heart. She and her family have suffered some very serious and heartbreaking trials over the past few years, including the tragic death of her husband, Hunter Wood, who I considered a good friend. Through that, we’ve seen how God has grown M.C.’s character and trust in Him in even deeper ways.... Read more
The article below is excerpted from a 12-day devotional on Heaven I wrote, which is on YouVersion. I highly recommend the YouVersion app, which is on my phone and also available for computers and tablets. It has a selection of versions, including the ESV and CSB, as well as high quality free audio. There’s also lots of great free Bible reading and devotional plans. Here’s Day 1 from my Heaven devotional: A pastor once confessed to me, “Whenever I think about Heaven,... Read more
On January 22, 2019, on the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the New York Senate passed the Reproductive Health Act, which allows abortions “after 24 weeks if a fetus is no longer viable, or if a woman’s life or health is at risk. Abortion also would be regulated in New York under public health law, instead of the existing penal law,” reports Syracuse.com. As Russell Moore explains, in effect, it “removes any protections as persons from unborn children at any stage of... Read more
This is an excerpt from Greg Gilbert’s book What Is the Gospel? It’s also cited by Ray Ortlund in his book called The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ. I highly recommend both books. Gilbert uses satire to portray the type of god that many people seem to believe in these days. He’s basically toothless and harmless, so diminished in His attributes that He is neither to be feared nor to be loved on any deep level. He perhaps merits... Read more
Christian slaves in America sometimes were forbidden to sing—even to God. So when they went to the river, they would hang wet blankets around themselves, then sing into pots filled with water to absorb the sound. “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10), they couldn’t hold inside their songs of praise. Perhaps what you’re facing makes you wonder if God has turned His back on you. Your trial may last a day, a year, a decade, or more. But I... Read more
Last month, Tom Phillips, who led Chuck Colson to Jesus in 1973, went to be with his Lord and Savior. When asked in an interview if he had ever gotten over the night when Christ gripped his life, Chuck replied, “No, and I never want to get over it. When I think about who I was that night and who I had been, and then think about what Jesus has meant to me since and knowing that I can live my life... Read more
There was a time when I could not fully accept any explanation for evil and suffering that didn’t make sense to me, start to finish. However, over the years, and through the process of writing my book If God Is Good, I’ve come to trust my own understanding less, and God’s Word more. I find a strange delight in being swallowed up by the immensity of God’s greatness and by the divine mysteries that once disturbed me. Knowing that I’ll sit... Read more
Like many others, I deeply loved British pastor-scholar John Stott (1921-2011) and appreciate his books and contribution to the church of Christ. He had a great impact on me as a young Christian. Years ago, I met John Stott at a conference when my friend John Kohlenberger asked me to go with him to a private luncheon honoring Stott. John K. was invited, and at his request, I crashed the party. We were the only guys there not in coat and tie—neither... Read more
Plagiarism is definitely a problem—sadly, even within parts of the Christian community. However, as I share in this past blog, the talk about the serious sin of plagiarism has helped cultivate a suspicion that’s sometimes unhealthy. The following incident illustrates how easily an unintentional mistake can happen in the process of writing a book—and that sometimes, what on the surface appears to be plagiarism might not always be so. In my book Money, Possessions, and Eternity, I start out a paragraph with this bolded statement,... Read more
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