Why would people today want to study the life of George Whitefield (1714-1770)? He started no denominations, as the Wesley brothers did, and was best known for a preaching style that highlighted emotional responses. A traditional disdain for such a “manipulative” homiletic practice suggests he should be forgotten. Yet those who would take such…
When it comes to discipline in the Christian life, many believers question its importance. Devotion to prayer declines into drudgery. The real-life usefulness of meditation on Scripture seems uncertain. The purpose of a discipline like fasting is a mystery. Why not leave spiritual discipline to those who seem to be more disciplined by nature…
The character of Christianity depends, in profound ways, on one’s beliefs concerning creation. For the first 250 years of the existence of the church in America, Christians assumed the truth of the doctrine of creation. It was revealed in the Bible and it made the most sense of the natural world. When large numbers…
This is the third post in a series from A Guide to Biblical Manhood. Download the whole guidebook as a free PDF here. Lay your life down for your wife Regardless of any examples or influences you may see around you of marriages that seek to be 50/50 and fully equal, it’s your…
EDITOR’S NOTE: Below, James M. Hamilton Jr., associate professor of biblical theology at Southern Seminary, discusses his new book, Exalting Jesus in Ezra and Nehemiah, with Towers editor S. Craig Sanders. CS: What is your process for turning a sermon series into a book? JH: I had been manuscripting my sermons to be published…
*This is the second post in a series from A Guide to Biblical Manhood. Read the first post here. In a Genesis 3 world, your marriage depends on forgiveness and repentance. James says we all stumble in many ways (James 3:2) and that means you and your wife will stumble…in many ways. You can’t be surprised…
“I cannot believe that you would do that!” That incredulous assertion is an all too familiar response from parents (including myself) who discover a child has sinned. But for Christian parents, such an assertion is anti-Christ because it constitutes speaking as if the gospel is not true. It represents the response for a parent…
In the following videos Dan Dumas discusses expository preaching and how it’s changed with John MacArthur. You and see part one of this series here. 4. When you look at your expository ministry in total, are there any regrets or things you would do differently? 5. What has been the fruit of a long expository…
Archibald Thomas Robertson was born Nov. 6, 1863, near Chatham, Virginia, where he spent the first 12 years of his life before moving to a farm in North Carolina. At the age of 12, he received Christ as his Lord and Savior and was baptized later that year. At the age of 16, he…
*THIS IS THE FIRST POST IN A SERIES FROM A GUIDE TO BIBLICAL MANHOOD. EVEN THE LEAST OBSERVANT MEN AMONG US KNOW THAT THEY SHOULD LOVE THEIR WIVES. THAT’S CLEAR IN THE PASSAGES INCLUDED HERE FROM THE WRITINGS OF PETER AND PAUL. BUT, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE CONTEXT OF THEIR WRITING, YOU SEE…
In the following videos Dan Dumas discusses expository preaching and how it’s changed with John MacArthur. 1. How has expository preaching changed since 1969 when you started preaching? 2. How has your preaching changed since you began? 3. What is the difference between a good communicator and an effective expositor? _________ –Dan…
When was the last time you complained? I live in Philadelphia, and this past winter was one of the worst we’ve ever had. From November through March, all I heard was, “It’s so cold. I hate the snow. I can’t wait for summer.” Philadelphia also has the tendency to get uncomfortably hot, and guess…
You can read part one of the post here. In my last post I began by posing several questions regarding the task and mission of the Jenkins Center for the Christian Understanding of Islam at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. One of the questions I posed was: how do we go about articulating a Christian understanding…
The following post is part three in a series of posts titled: Can Jesus heal mental illness? by Heath Lambert. Read also part one , two, and three of this series. In this post I want to talk about the relationship of suffering to the spiritual issues that our culture often refers to as mental illness. At times the biblical counseling…
As many know in our nation, on August 9, 2014, an African-American male from the small community of Ferguson, Missouri, once again became the star of another tragic American drama. Michael Brown, an unarmed 18 year old African-American teenager, was shot six times by Darren Wilson, a white St. Louis County cop. The aftermath…
How do we go about articulating a Christian understanding of Islam? What are the distinctives of such an understanding as compared to other understandings? Given that Islam is not a monolithic faith, how do we go about distinguishing between all the variations of Islam current among Muslims themselves? What are the needs of Muslim peoples here…
Following Jesus’ example and teaching, the apostles interpreted the meaning, significance, and application of the entire Bible in light of Jesus’ person and work. Their preaching was the preeminent display of this hermeneutical commitment. When the apostle Paul declared, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified,” he…
The following post is part three in a series of posts titled: Can Jesus heal mental illness? by Heath Lambert. Read also part one and two of this series. Jesus, healing, and the spiritual nature of mental illness In Part 1 of this series I discussed the difficulty of defining mental illness because it is not a…
