Article

Six things new church members need to know

Every time I teach a church membership class, I try to answer these six questions guests and new members often have.

A Fresh Look at Martin Luther’s ‘A Mighty Fortress’

Since German is my first language, and since I grew up hearing this hymn from my parents first in German, I wanted to attempt a fresh version that might clarify a few obscure spots in the English text.

How the Reformation recovered the Great Commission

The Reformers didn’t just recapture the true gospel, they caught a vision to spread it to the ends of the earth.

What to expect when pastoring your first church

New pastors quickly find out that the church on the ground is different, messier, and more complicated than the church you envisioned in your head.

7 elements every worship service needs

As worship leaders, what we believe about God must always determine how we lead our churches.

Take up your cross, put down your phone, and follow me

5 tips to follow Jesus in a hyper-distracted world

This is why I love teaching my kids about the Reformation

I want them to know the gospel is everything. I want them to know defending the Bible is dangerous, but worth the risk.

Questions you’ve always wanted to ask about the Reformers

Luther did not set out to start a new movement what he saw was that the church needed to be reformed not only in its morals, but also in its doctrine.

Luther’s timely discovery of a merciful God

Church history professor Michael A.G. Haykin takes you to a critical moment for Christianity. For a German monk, it was decades of spiritual struggle in the making.

6 habits every aspiring missionary needs today

Whenever someone tells me about a desire to serve in missions, I want to affirm this wonderful calling while also tempering their excitement.

The Reformation Isn’t Over

Despite claims to the contrary, critical doctrines central to the Protestant Reformation continue to set it apart from the Catholic Church.

Luther’s Battle for Sola Scriptura

At the center of the Reformation was a robust theology of the Bible.

Here We Stand

Eight ways the Protestant Reformation continues to shape evangelicalism — and Southern Seminary

Abandon the Reformation, abandon the gospel

Does Reformation theology matter today? Absolutely. It is tempting to think of the Reformation as a mere political or social movement. In reality, however, the Reformation was a fight over the gospel itself.

2 lies every pastor’s wife needs to stop believing

Ministry wives, you’re going to make mistakes, but the perfect and holy God provides his strength through my weaknesses, which far outweighs any pastor’s-wife-concocted perfection or friendship scheme that I can devise.

Are the Five Solas Biblical?

Since the solas are true to Scripture, all Christians in every generation ought to remember, embrace, and proclaim them

How can I know that my child is saved?

While we are not God and cannot see the heart, certain evidence can help us discern the legitimacy of a child or teenager’s profession of faith.

Don’t waste your leisure

Scripture clearly forbids laziness, but does not forbid leisure time. After God finished creating the world and everything in it, he rested.