Prejudice and discrimination are ongoing human problems and talking about them (especially with regard to the church) often makes us very uncomfortable. But God’s word addresses this issue in many ways and in many places, so God’s people need to think about it.... continue reading
Right now a lot of people are turning away from or changing their beliefs, not based on theology but based on compelling narratives that they’ve heard. Stories are literally shaping the way people think about God and sex and sin and money.... continue reading
Get a sneak peek at some of the books we’re excited to share with you this fall. We made note of a few tips for how to best enjoy or share each book, as well as any bonuses to look for!... continue reading
Dear God, your eyes see the images our eyes see—of falling bodies, of desperate mothers, of children tossed over razor wire. You see. You know.
Dear God, your eyes see the violent and vicious, the evil and barbarous, who roam now through neighborhoods in places we, in the West, like to put out of our minds.... continue reading
Writing about the Bible effectively for children is hard work. Depending on the age, you have to scale the vocabulary, the conceptual ideas being used or articulated and the number of ideas that kids can hold in their heads at any one time. Plus there’s the whole issue of how you handle gore and sex and death—subjects that frequently come up in the Old Testament in particular.
I encountered many cultural and story-telling problems while writing about the strange book of Esther for Esther and the Very Brave Plan.... continue reading
It struck me what enormous fun it must have been as God the Father and Jesus the Son spoke the universe and our world into existence. The deeper we go, and the more we are able to examine the structure, mechanisms and physiology of our planet and its creatures, the more we see a God who delights in the world he made.... continue reading
Andrew Wilson is a pastor and teacher, as well as the author of 1 Corinthians For You, an accessible study guide to one of Paul's most popular epistles. ... continue reading
The breadth and scope of 1 Corinthians are breathtaking. It is the most wide-ranging and complete letter Paul wrote; readers who are used to Paul taking several chapters of careful argument to make one or two points—like Gentiles and Jews should eat together (Galatians) or even thanks for the gift (Philippians)—will be amazed at the sheer variety of subjects that Paul tackles and the punchy clarity with which he speaks.... continue reading
Christian preaching is fundamentally foolish, at least in the eyes of the world. The world, in Paul’s day, had all sorts of wonderful techniques to make its messages more acceptable: wisdom, eloquence, intelligence, legal reasoning, philosophy.... continue reading
When God chose an animal to stand for his people in the Bible, he chose a sheep. Not a strong lion, or a wise owl, or a diligent ant. Not even his “favorite animal,” the dove. No, he picked a sheep. Sheep are idiots. They can’t run fast, they have bad eyesight, and they can’t defend themselves. They sometimes step into streams and drown, or walk right off of cliffs. If they stumble, they often end up “cast,” which is the technical term for being stuck upside-down. (Like turtles, if they end up on their back, they can’t flip themselves back over.)... continue reading
