I didn’t vote for him. Maybe you did or didn’t. Or, maybe you didn’t vote at all. But based on what the Bible teaches, there’s a pretty strong case for honoring Joe Biden.

Stories are an essential part of being made in the image of God. Everyone has a story, and God gifts us with storytelling abilities. Most notably, every single one of us exists in the most significant story of all: God’s redemptive story. As people redeemed by God, there is nothing more important than worshipping God by declaring His story of redemption to others.

In 1999, my wife and I graduated from college and began working to pay off our student debts, which were substantial. We didn’t have a “missionary call,” but we believed it was important to be rooted and active in our local church, and faithful in reading our Bibles and prayer.

With things off to a fast start and generous individuals enabling our effort, I thought it would reflect the heart of our ministry philosophy to let you know up front how we handle your giving.

We have all heard some version of the statement: “I love Jesus, I’m just not into theology.” Or, “I know the gospel, which is all the doctrine I need.” Or, “learning doctrine and theology is for those stuffy seminary types.” Or, “Jesus + Nothing = Everything.”

If you want to climb a mountain, you would not simply start walking down up a trail. No, before you scale Mount Everest, it might be a good idea to sit down and get a bird’s eye view of the mountain, see where it is steep and where it requires more attention. You may also try to look at pictures of the peak, so you know what to expect.

Vivid within my memory is when my parents bought our first computer—a tall, bulky tower with a massively heavy screen that sat in our kitchen. I can still hear the static beeping connection of the world wide web. The small screen I carry in my pocket is much more powerful and efficient than that massive first computer.

Fear is found all over the scriptures. Both the Old and New Testaments are packed with stories and examples of God’s people continually being forced to choose between two different kinds of fear: the fear of the Lord or the fear of man.

This is a controversial topic that our ministry gets asked about consistently. It tends to incite debate but my encouragement is for Christians on all sides to think Biblically, rather than emotionally. Our aim ought to be to engage Scripture, present truths as best as we can, steer clear of character assaults, and make logical arguments with a generous dose of grace.

Christian parents need a steady stream of wise counsel. How we obtain that counsel, and whether or not we submit to it, is the difference between a home that is growing with chaotic rebellion (even if we deny it), and a home that is growing with consistent righteousness.

If you’ve interacted with social media at all this past year, you’ve more than likely seen the back-and-forth debates about social justice. In the midst of Twitter manifestos and keyboard wars, terms like “Marxism,” “Socialism,” and “Woke” are thrown around, and threads fill with $10 words that so few people actually understand.

One of the more-frequently misapplied passages of Scripture is Matthew 18:20, where the Lord Jesus is recorded as saying: “For where two or three have gathered in My name, I am there in their midst.” Whether this verse is thrown around at a men’s prayer breakfast, a church potluck, or a small group conversation in a living room, the subtle suggestion is that Jesus is not going to bother to show up when one of His followers is flying solo.

Negativity has been spreading faster than a California wildfire this year and with numerous states doing all they can to cancel Christmas, Christians need to push back with power that no government can ever shake. Simply put: we need to remember that we are a people of hope!

He sits in the counseling office, eyes down, a sheepish grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. He’d only been married three years but already had one little guy crawling and a baby girl in diapers. He and his young wife were burning the midnight oil – cook, eat, clean, diaper, work, park, toys, repeat – and by ten o’clock each night, there was barely enough time to say a prayer and catch some sleep, hoping nobody was teething.

A very sensitive and often pondered question is, “Do babies who die go to heaven?” Along the same lines, an additional question could be, “Do special needs individuals who do not possess the mental capacity to understand the gospel or profess faith in Christ go to heaven?” Beyond those, someone may ask, “Could this include a young child who was too young to grasp a genuine understanding of salvation?”

21st century America has seen a church planting revival. Church plants are popping up everywhere. I recently googled “Church Plant” in a well-known mid-level U.S. city, and twenty churches popped up within a 5-mile radius. There was a congregation named “Fresh Church” one block from “Radiant Church” who was just around the corner from “Destiny Church.”

Bible study is hard work. Reading and understanding a 2000-year-old document is hard enough as it is. But motivating our minds to study the Bible is half the battle. It may just be the hardest part of Bible study. Despite this, if you overcome all the distractions and lack of motivation, would you open it to the Old Testament? To the Prophets? To Isaiah?

Over the past 17 years — in the prosperity gospel, the seeker-driven church movement, and reformed-ish world — I’ve seen my fair share of manipulative tactics by greedy preachers and by wealthy parishioners. It seems that one cannot simply relegate money-manipulation to one theological camp, or only to leaders. Rather, it is common anywhere sin resides and wages war within every human heart.

As followers of Christ, we receive spiritual check-ups at many different stages of our Christian walk. We receive a spiritual check-up when we read the Bible, as it does its work of “piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow . . . judg[ing] the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12).

The wise men of every age ask the same questions: “Why are we here?” “What should we be doing?” “What is the meaning of life?” For answers, some look to Confucius, Aristotle, or Nietzsche. Or, more likely these days, we look to books, blogs, or YouTube channels.