Christward Collective

One of the most characteristic features of Calvin’s teaching on the Supper is the way in which he understood the Lord’s Supper to be “spiritual food." It is here where we find the most obvious influence of biblical wisdom theology. The Supper as Empowering Food The first...

Aren’t you due for a fresh round of evangelism penance? Chances are your church is already offering a healthy assortment of channels through which you can merit some level of atonement for your recent oversight in this area. You could at least take a minute out of your day to savor, like a...

When God gives us children, He entrusts to our care little eternal beings. Each one of them will spend eternity in either heaven or in hell. There is an unparalleled sobriety that rightly accompanies such delegated responsibility. We often fail to properly prioritize our responsibilities. Our jobs...

When you are part of a church for any length of time, you inevitably experience the ups and downs of church life. I attended the same church for two decades and saw leadership change many times over, membership rise and fall, and the life of the church thrive in some seasons and shrivel in others...

If you're anything like me, your mind has been drawn heavenward in recent months as you heard the news about the death of such precious saints as R.C. Sproul and Billy Graham. As I recently conducted the funeral service of a longtime church member and elder of the church where I serve, these...

When the Lord first redeemed me, I had a little bookshelf in my room with about 20 theological works on it. I carried around those 20 or so books throughout all the years of my rebellion. My parents had given them to me--hoping that I would read them--long before I was converted. After I was...

During my early days as a Christian, perhaps my favorite book of the Bible was Proverbs primarily because I felt that Proverbs was written for me – a young and impressionable teenager who was trying to understand life. I read through this book for the first time when I was about 15 years old...

A number of years ago , I defined legalism as, “an attempt to win God’s favor apart from the finished and sufficient work of Christ on behalf of sinners.” This is a doctrinal legalism which undermines the gospel. There also exists a practical legalism that is often ignored or...

In 1754 Benjamin Franklin published a cartoon called “Join or Die.” It pictured a snake cut into eights representing the British colonies in the New World. Franklin argued that unless the colonies formed one body they would never be able to resist the powerful threat of the French and...

Have you ever referred to another person’s weight without transgressing taboos, or creating discomfort? It’s a topic without a winning exit strategy. We’re all sensitive about our weight, and you can bet the person you’re speaking to is more conscious of it than you are. I...