Christward Collective

As we come to the end of the year and press into yet another new year, it is always beneficial for us to evaluate our commitments and priorities from the past year--noting the ways in which we have, by God's grace, grown in certain areas and the ways in which we desperately need to grow in...

There is something wonderfully unique about Christian parents. Christian parents seek to maintain a counter-cultural flavor even as we seek to prepare our children for entrance into that culture as fully-functioning adults. They seek to prepare their children for life on earth at the same time as...

What makes the church special? I don’t mean what makes a church special, there may be many answers to that question. What makes the church, the church of Jesus Christ truly special? The answer is simple: The church is the only place on the face of the earth where God reveals his glorious...

You’d think Pavlov invented it, that characteristic sound of a new instant message, the "buh-ding." That’s what Jack heard in his cubicle that morning, before caffeine had cleared the fog in his head. He clicked over to his messenger application as routinely as if distraction...

As we head toward another Christmas--and a renewed time of remembrance of the fulfillment of the prophecies that God gave for millennia concerning the Christ--it would do us good to step back and consider the fact that the Old Testament prophecies about Christ were often not time-specific, neatly...

When I moved to Savannah, GA in 2009 to plant New Covenant Presbyterian Church , I commited to planting a church that--along with a number of other important priorities--would observe weekly communion. It wasn't because I believed that the Scriptures command the weekly observation of the Supper...

A few weeks ago, I was stunned by the beautiful vineyards that filled the Vineland area of the Niagara region in Ontario. So much time, so much money, and so much effort must have been poured into these vines in order to produce the innumerable rich and juicy grape clusters. Beautiful fields full...

One of my seminary professors would routinely tell his students, "The most important thought that you will ever have is the first thought you have when you hear the word, 'God.'" I think that he is correct. Our first thought about God tends to dominate our lives and living more...

Does God speak to us, and if he does, can we understand him? This two-part question, much more than the question of the existence of God, is particularly relevant today. Most polls of religious views show that somewhere between seventy and ninety percent of Americans believe in God (74% in this...

Many years ago, I was teaching through a section of Romans that contains particularly difficult theological truths. No sooner had I finished teaching that an individual--who had been a member of evangelical churches for many years--came up to me and said, "Well, that's Paul; that's not...