When you listen to believers talk about the Christian life there is a common theme: prayer is important and difficult. This is not a new phenomenon, even the earliest disciples requested some classes on prayer (Luke 11:1). Therefore, it is encouraging and instructive to hear Jesus’ teaching on how to pray from what is called “The Lord’s Prayer.” What is interesting to me is the way he begins: “Our Father…” (Matthew 6:9). In this Jesus calls us to the family room for a conversation with our heavenly Father. Before we go further, however, it is important, even imperative to acknowledge and overcome a major obstacle that this opening presents. We all have the tendency to project a concept of fatherhood upon God instead of to receive the image that he ...

Just in time for Father’s Day, the editors at Crosswalk.com share the stories of the times where their human fathers molded and shaped them into people who want the world to know of the love of our Heavenly Father. Originally published June 13, 2013.

You’ve seen the articles: “What every driver should know how to do.” “What every parent should know how to do.” “What every student should know how to do.” The idea is that just as there are certain things we should know, as in facts or figures or cultural literacy, there are certain things we should also know how to do. For example, every driver should know how to fill up their gas tank, check the oil, and change a tire (we’ll assume that because they have a license, they know how to drive – no jokes, please). Yet such matters are different than knowing about cars. What we’re talking about is the practical knowledge needed if you are going to drive one. Got it? Okay, now that we’ve got the set-up, here’s the question: Does this apply for someone hoping to follow Christ? This isn’t talked ...

Waiting on the Lord can be hard for two reasons. Bad theology, the first reason, is what I wrote about previously here at Christianity.com.  The second reason has nothing to do with bad theology though. In fact, you can have very solid and robust beliefs about God, man, sin, etc. and yet still find it tough to wait. That’s because sometimes the waiting doesn’t end. Life-Long Waiting Recently, my family of six made a 1,200-mile trek to Texas and back to visit relatives there. We live in Indiana and have four children, so these trips are both exhausting and fun. But there’s also sadness in these trips, because it is the only time we get to see my mom, who at just 63 years old has advancing Alzheimer’s disease and is slowly fading away from us. We have, of course, prayed for her healing ...

On a recent vacation, we had the opportunity to go bike riding together as a family. Gratefully we were able to bring one of the children’s grandparents, so our usually large bunch of seven became eight. As is typical of a group of this size, we had a few handicaps among us. By the term handicaps, I am not referring to disabilities of the differently-abled types. Instead, I mean that we had frailties that did not allow everyone to come to the biking experience as equally proficient riders. The frailties were diversely cognitive, physical, and emotional. For example, one among us is afraid of both water and heights. Being in a vacation spot surrounded by water on all sides, including lagoons, coves, and an ocean, the riding events had to slow down for this cyclist near every water crossing....

I hear the statement quite often. Usually it’s raised in discussions of church membership. People want to know how to help a wounded friend or family member re-engage the church. Or, they’re the ones who have been hurt and they’re wrestling with whether church is worth it. Some want to be convinced to join a church and others want to be told it’s okay to leave. Answering well depends, in part, on knowing which way the person leans. But recently I’ve been thinking that part of the answer must include questioning the way the problem is phrased. What does the person mean when they say, “The church hurt me”? Let’s walk the possibilities backward from the most sweeping accusation to the most narrow. The Universal Church The person could mean the big-C Church has hurt them–all Christians everywh...

Paul Tripp

For over a decade I’ve been calling for churches to add a statement about marriage to their official documents. It was evident many years ago that the day would come when gay marriage would be widely accepted in our culture. I should note in passing that yesterday President Obama promised that he would not force churches to perform gay weddings. Well, that’s a relief. Or maybe not. After reading the president’s full statement regarding the Supreme Court decisions, Christians should wonder how long the government will respect our convictions regarding marriage. The tone of the statement suggests that we will feel increasing pressure to give way on the issue of marriage.  Either cave in or keep quiet.  For those who prefer neither option, let me recommend that every evangelica...

In her book, “The Envy of Eve,” Author Melissa Kruger helps us understand how seemingly harmless desires and questions like this grow into the sin of covetousness. Envying the relationships, circumstances, possessions, and abilities of others chokes out the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, allowing discontentment to bloom. The key to overcoming is to get to the root of our problem: unbelief—mistrusting God’s sovereignty and goodness. (“The Envy of Eve,” Christian Focus 2013) Originally published June 27, 2013.

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down two decisions on gay marriage: one dealing with California’s ban on gay marriage (a.k.a. Proposition 8) and the other with the federal Defense of Marriage Act (a.k.a. DOMA). In neither case did the Court do anything to slow down the advance of gay marriage in the United States. In the Prop 8 case, the majority decided that the plaintiffs did not have standing to argue this case before the Supreme Court. It remains to be seen what the exact implications of this will be, but for the time being it looks like gay marriage will resume in California. The Court also decided that section 3 of DOMA—the part defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman—is unconstitutional. It left in place section 2 of DOMA which says that states do not have to...

Christians often measure the significance of a job by its perceived value from the eternal perspective. Will the work last; will it “really count” for eternity? The implication is that God approves of work for eternity, but places little value on work for the here and now. By this measure, the work of ministers and missionaries has eternal value because it deals with people’s spiritual, eternal needs. By contrast, the work of a salesman, teller, or typist has only limited value, because it meets only earthly needs. In other words, this kind of work doesn’t really “count” in God’s eyes. But this way of thinking overlooks several important truths: (1) God himself has created a world that is time-bound and temporary (2 Peter 3:10,11). Yet he values his work, declaring it to be “very good,” by...

One of our most exciting research projects at the Fuller Youth Institute is our College Transition Project, a culmination of 5 years of study of 500 youth group kids as they transition to college.  The goals of this research are to study youth group graduates as they leave youth ministry and to offer help to parents, leaders and churches in building a faith that lasts, or “Sticky Faith”.  In the midst of a host of factors that help develop Sticky Faith, some of our most intriguing findings point to the role of parents and family conversations about faith. Reason #1:  Parents are usually the most important spiritual influence in their kids’ lives.  While we believe in the power of adult mentoring (we are both youth ministry volunteers at our respective churches), it’s ch...