Do antidepressants help those who have been diagnosed as being clinically depressed? Most people, including doctors, would say yes. One can hardly watch TV without seeing an advertisement for an antidepressant promising help and hope to the defeated and depressed. In 2005, 27 million people took antidepressants.
Many of you have heard the term “missional” before. It is a buzzword among churches that are seeking to be relevant in their communities in bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world. Missional churches see themselves as missionaries and seek to live out this reality everywhere they go.
A lot has been said about the missional church. What do you have to say about it? I’m curious to hear your responses.
*Originally posted on 9Marks.org. Republished with permission.
One Thing I Remember from Preaching Class
byKevin DeYoung
This has helped me. I pass it along to any young preachers out there looking for free advice.
When you come to a passage there are four things you can do: illustrate, defend, explain, apply. I rearranged the order from seminary class so the four points make a convenient acronym: IDEA. Most young preachers, and probably most preachers in general, gravitate toward “explain.” Continue reading One Thing I Remember from Preaching Class
Last week a plethora of helpful resources was posted online in anticipation of last weekend’s Sanctity of Life Sunday. Perhaps you can bookmark some of these links for use in the future. Continue reading Recent Pro-Life Posts
Kevin DeYoung has written a helpful article on a definition of social justice. The term “social justice” is used a lot today, with various meanings attached. DeYoung’s main point is that we should be careful how we use it. Notice the key differences: Continue reading Social Justice: A Definition
According to the Associated Press, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow will appear in a Super Bowl commercial produced and paid for by Focus on the Family. It will tell the story of Pam Tebow’s 1987 pregnancy. “After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child and gave birth to Tim.”
Scott Greening has discovered a great ministry resource, MailChimp. Read below how the Greenings have been able to use it effectively in their church-planting ministry.
Missionaries and churches are privileged to live in a day when communication is made easy. However, even modern conveniences have their limits. My wife and I have spent the better part of two years traveling from church to church presenting our church-planting ministry. God in His goodness has seen fit to raise up a team of over 300 people who have committed to pray for us and our ministry. But this blessing presents a unique challenge. My e-mail server allows me to send only 150 e-mails an hour, so sending an e-mail to our prayer team means waiting three hours for all the e-mails to cycle through the server. I realize this dilemma would be laughable to a missionary attempting to communicate with prayer supporters even a few decades ago. Missionaries of previous generations communicated by mail (the real kind that shows up at your house occasionally). Nonetheless, my problem remained. Continue reading Chimps: Helpful to Ministry
Professor Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa recently deciphered an inscription on a pottery shard that sheds light on ancient Israel. This pottery shard was discovered in the Elah Valley in Israel (which happens to be where the confrontation between David and Goliath took place—1 Sam. 17) and dated to the 10th century B.C. Professor Galil believes it contains Hebrew (or proto-Canaanite, a precursor of Hebrew) writing, which, if true, would be the oldest extant example of Hebrew writing. Continue reading NEWS FLASH: The Nation of Israel Existed in the 10th Century B.C.!
The Septuagint is a rich resource for those studying the Old Testament. For many of the writers of the New Testament, the LXX was the preferred translation (for example, that is all the author of Hebrews uses in his Old Testament quotations). The problem for the modern minister, who perhaps isn’t as sharp in Greek as [...]
Which authors (living or dead) have most influenced your thought?
This was a question recently posed to me by a younger friend who is considering entering pastoral ministry. Honestly, I hate this question because it forces me to make a short list out of what should be a very long one. But I also love this [...]
