It’s been a tough week. Three young men whom I knew — in their 20s and 30s — tragically died, all within days of each another. One took his life; another overdosed; the last passed away in his sleep. On Sunday morning, I showed up at the church where the first two men were active...

The mainline Protestant church doesn’t have much longer. At least, that’s the speculation of an April 28 article written by Ed Stetzer, who holds the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair at Wheaton College near Chicago. Stetzer cited a 2016 study from the General Social Survey, which has been tracking people who identify as Protestants with their church...

A young Indian man studying law in South Africa decided to attend church. Raised a Hindu, he became fascinated by the teachings of Christ and wanted to know more. One Sunday morning, as he climbed the steps of a local church, an usher rudely stopped him. “Where do you think you’re...

What is it about Jesus that fascinates so many people? He never commanded a vast army or sat on an earthly throne. He grew up in a middling town that was never mentioned in the Old Testament. Before his public ministry, people knew him as the carpenter’s son and little...

Did the resurrection of Christ really happen? Lee Strobel didn’t think so. When his wife started attending church, Lee set out to debunk this audacious claim of Christianity. Using his investigative reporting skills, he interviewed theologians, pastors, archaeologists, medical doctors and professors. In the end, he came to a conclusion he...

The Case for Christ is one of the best faith-based movies I’ve seen. The acting was good, the story compelling and the schmaltz was kept to a minimum. If you have never read the book that the film is based on, it was published in 1998, detailing the exhaustive research that led Lee...

When a preacher guy like me sees a headline that blares, “Clergy who don’t believe in organized religion?,” it’s like dangling a minnow in front of a bass. So naturally I took the bait, clicking on this March 30 Washington Times article by Julie Zauzmer. There I found a story that was...

  Some folks didn’t like an article that I linked on social media a couple of weeks ago.  It was entitled, “Sorry, but if you’re a Christian, you need to go to church. Regularly.” People fired off a number of reasons why they didn’t need to attend church. Most of the comments...

As we trek through the metaphorical wilderness of Lent, I am reminded that Jesus spent time in a real wilderness. Mark 1:12-15 reports that after Jesus was baptized, “…immediately the Spirit impelled Him (Jesus) to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by...

No one really knows the exact origins of Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.  A ritual for the “Day of Ashes” is contained in an 8th-century church document, but we know the influences for this solemn observance stretch all the way back to Old Testament times. Here are three...