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“Unbelievers needs to see that we care for them, not just their postmortem souls but all of who they are as fallen image-bearers of God.” Ed: It’s hard to deny that we are living in challenging times culturally. The church’s influence is fading and we are struggling to find answers to some hard questions. What’s your take on the health of the church today, especially as it relates to our witness? CJ: Eddie Glaude, a Princeton University professor, wrote a Huffington... Read More

“There are millions who will never hear strong biblical teaching unless teachers are willing to go.” Why would a respected evangelical leader like Francis Chan agree to speak at major events that also feature controversial prosperity gospel preachers? The short answer: to share the truth. The popular author and former pastor recently came under scrutiny for appearing on the same stage as televangelist Benny Hinn and Canadian evangelist Todd White when he was the top-billed speaker at The... Read More

The nation’s biggest Christian retail chain ends its brick-and-mortar operations after 128 years. LifeWay Christian Resources, the largest Christian retail chain in America, plans to close all 170 stores this year and shift its offerings entirely online. “The decision to close our local stores is a difficult one,” said acting president and CEO Brad Waggoner, who is succeeding longtime LifeWay president Thom Rainer. “LifeWay has developed close connections with the... Read More

How to understand sinicization and where it falls between sinister oversight and needed contextualization for Chinese churches. The headlines out of China last week sounded ominous. In strident language not heard in a long time, the head of China’s Protestant church gave a speech supporting the government’s policy of reducing Western influence on religion and making it “more Chinese,” a process dubbed sinicization in English. Is the move a step toward tighter... Read More

In the Black Belt—once cleared for cotton plantations—rural black communities suffer the consequences of poor land stewardship. In 2013, the septic system at Jesus Christ Church of God the Bibleway failed and sewage began leaking into a neighbor’s yard—not uncommon for rural Alabama, an area plagued by sewage problems and a related upsurge in hookworm cases. A warrant was issued for the arrest of the church’s pastor, Bishop Ira McCloud. The public health... Read More

What Does It Look Like to Embody Gospel-Shaped Power? In this final post, I want to address practical ways pastors and church leaders can properly and biblically use power to help foster healthy churches and communities. I suggest five key elements you can implement. First, structure a church with pastoral accountability. If the church structure does not have pastoral accountability, we need to question that structure, regardless of denomination or ecclesiological association. Good pastors... Read More

In Alabama’s Black Belt—once cleared for cotton plantations—rural black communities are now at risk for hookworm. In 2013, the septic system at Jesus Christ Church of God the Bibleway failed and sewage began leaking into a neighbor’s yard—not uncommon for rural Alabama, an area plagued by sewage problems and a related upsurge in hookworm cases. A warrant was issued for the arrest of the church’s pastor, Bishop Ira McCloud. The public health department accused... Read More

Revised code of conduct shifts in favor of “uniform standards of behavior for all students.” Azusa Pacific University (APU) has gone back and forth this school year on whether to allow students to date members of the same sex. Last week, the Southern California Christian college decided, once again, to remove a ban on “romanticized” same-sex relationships from its code of student conduct. APU had initially made the same change in the fall, only to reverse the decision when... Read More

The agnostic is credited with bringing believers and religious questions into the scientific realm. An agnostic theoretical physicist who has encouraged Christians to embrace the dual mysteries of science and faith is the latest recipient of the prestigious Templeton Prize. The 2019 honor goes to Marcelo Gleiser, a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. The 60-year-old researcher has suggested that science and spirituality represent complementary expressions of... Read More

When I found out about my daughter’s condition, I felt the destruction of my plans and hopes. But this place of limitation also revealed God’s profound love. “How do you prepare for a birth and a death at once?” I asked a friend one morning in mid-July. “Can anything be more unnatural?” Two months before, I had sat in a medical office listening to a doctor. His voice was unduly loud, as if he were speaking to a general audience. “Thanatophoric dysplasia... Read More