Kingdom People

Guest Post by Robert Sagers Many books are recommended to “put in a church member’s hands,” but then perhaps few are. But David Platt’s, Radical is truly, really and truly, a book to put in a church member’s hands. Or anyone’s hands. I thought about that book a few weeks ago, while at the gym [...]

One reason that Christians need to be part of a church too often goes unmentioned. I need the church in order to be prepared for the Day of Judgment! It is frightening to think that I would allow myself to be the sole judge of my spiritual condition here on earth. I know how easily [...]

Yesterday, I posted a reflection on worship called “Steak on a Paper Plate” which questioned whether or not a casual, informal approach to worship will be able to sustain substantive expository preaching over the long run. Today, a friend and fellow blogger, Zach Nielsen (Take Your Vitamin Z) responds to yesterday’s post. Zach is one [...]

When it comes to the atmosphere of worship services in the next generation, something’s got to give. More and more churches are focusing on the centrality of the Word in worship. The resurgence of Reformed theology among younger evangelicals, the reestablishment of a rock-solid belief in the inerrancy and inspiration of the Scriptures in the [...]

Christians are a peculiar people with a peculiar vocabulary. We talk about “sin”. We use words like “repentance” and “gospel.” We take common words like “sin” and “faith,” but fill them with meaning that flows from the Bible. Other Christian words are important too: Trinity Justification Sanctification Imputation Whenever we seek to proclaim the gospel [...]

In the most recent issue of Christianity Today (May 2010), a number of people were asked about the wisdom of celebrating Mother’s Day in church. Here was my reply: “Mother’s Day, even if it’s a good holiday and a good remembrance, is a consumerist holiday like Valentine’s Day. I think there’s a lot of good [...]

I performed my duty as a good American citizen a couple weeks ago and filled out the census report. The purpose of a census is to give our government officials a sense of where we are regarding the size of our population. What would a census of our churches look like? Numbers aren’t everything, but [...]

Grandpa and Grandma stepped out of their car and boarded a shuttle that whisked them away to their church’s main sanctuary. Both had been regular attenders of Higher Heights Church since its founding half a century before. That small congregation of thirty had grown consistently for the first twenty years before seeing an explosion of growth [...]

Imagine this fictional scenario. You’re at a conference for young, urban pastors. Most of the men in attendance are dressed to fit the part. No suits and ties in sight. Stylish jeans and untucked shirts are the norm. In comes an older pastor who has been invited to address the gathering. He is dressed to [...]

Last summer, my parents introduced me and my wife to a European board game called The Settlers of Catan. This award-winning game has become wildly popular, especially among college students. But Settlers is hard to play. The game is expensive. The rules are complicated. Each game requires more than an hour. To do well, you must master [...]