April 18, 2024 by: Cameron Cole The Ever-Inspiring, Heavenward Life When my oldest child died, I knew that my life would never be the same. In the initial months that followed, I expected that the change would be entirely negative. However, not all of the differences were painful. The Lord did something unexpectedly positive that has remained with me ten years later. On November 10, 2013, my son lived in my house. On November 11, 2013, he lived in heaven above. Heaven was no longer an abstract, theological concept. It was now my son’s home. Before this season, I would describe myself as a heav ..read more

April 17, 2024 by: Alan D. Strange The True Calling of the Church The calling, or mission, of the church as the church is to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth, not to be another merely (or even chiefly) political, social, or economic institution. The church, in its full-orbed existence, may have political, economic, or social concerns that develop out of its mission, but those aspects are not what primarily mark and define it. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is head and King of the church, made it clear in his marching orders to the church—what we’ve come to call the Great Commission—tha ..read more

April 16, 2024 by: Vern S. Poythress This article is part of the 10 Things You Should Know series. 1. The Old Testament is all about Jesus. In Luke 24:44–47 Jesus himself says that the Old Testament is about him: Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for ..read more

April 15, 2024 by: Jen Wilkin God’s Transcendence I’ve heard it said that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. Now, I can see where that’s coming from. I understand, I think, what's motivating a statement like that. And it’s not a hundred percent wrong. It’s just that it’s probably not a big enough statement about what the Bible is, and it’s probably an emphasis that falls a little too much on us and maybe not enough on the author of the book itself. It’s probably more accurate to say that the Bible is God’s expansive and glorious declaration of “I Am,” of who he is. It’s that statement that ..read more

April 14, 2024 by: John Currie Leading from Your Knees Jeremiah Lanphier was a businessman who served as a missionary to New York’s Lower East Side. He was earnest in door-to-door evangelism and tract distribution, and as he made his evangelistic rounds each day, he would pray regularly, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”1 Lanphier decided to begin a noon-hour prayer meeting once a week for businessmen. One noon hour in the fall of 1857 he opened the upper lecture hall at Old Dutch Church on Fulton Street and knelt to pray—alone. Thirty minutes later he heard footsteps on the stairs and was ..read more

April 13, 2024 by: Paul David Tripp Be Alert You are a teenager: that means you are in one of the most exciting and most important times of your life! I want to alert you to seven questions you will face that will influence the shape and direction of the rest of your life. 1. What will be the meaning and purpose of your life? So far, your values—the things you think are worth living for—have been shaped by your parents. You begin to make that critical decision for yourself during your teen years. What will be the thing that will capture your heart and shape the direction of your life? 2. Will ..read more

April 12, 2024 by: Amy DiMarcangelo Two Ways to Perservere One of the most difficult things in ministry settings and seeking to live for the mission of Christ is that we have unrealistic expectations of what that might look like—how quickly fruit comes, how people will receive our efforts to love and care for them. And we’re not going to be very devoted to good works, we’re going to be tempted to despair, to be discouraged, to be frustrated, and to give up if we have this romanticized view of what mission looks like. So to start, we need to just have a realistic expectation—one that doesn’t p ..read more

April 10, 2024 by: Douglas Sean O'Donnell This article is part of the Tough Passages series. Listen to the Passage Read the Passage 1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would sen ..read more

April 10, 2024 by: Crossway Book of the Month The $5 Book of the Month is an exclusive promotion for Crossway+ members. Each month three hand-picked books are available at $5, $10, and $15 price tiers—all greatly discounted and available for one week only. Now through April 17, 2024, Crossway+ members can purchase the following three books of the month at a special price: $5: The Local Church by Edward W. Klink III (71% off) $10: Emblems of the Infinite King by J. Ryan Lister (60% off) $15: Rediscovering Holiness by J. I. Packer (44% off) Not a Crossway+ member? Sign up for free. The Local ..read more

April 09, 2024 by: D. A. Carson Follow Jesus, Not Self Everything depends on how people use the term. Individualism can be simply the focus on self. In certain contexts, it would be very difficult to have a deep difference between the two. Individualism may be a good thing in that it may be encouraging people to work out the shape of the gospel on individual lives—to be courageous, not to be shaped by the dictates of a passing cultural fad, be an individual and stand on your own two feet, stand up for Jesus. That can be a form of individualism. But it can also be a focus on self that forgets ..read more