Phil Steiger
The gospel is not good advice, it is good news.[i] This simple sentence helps us understand the core of the good news of Jesus Christ. In Hebrews, we find this promise, “for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:10). It is... Continue Reading →
Recently we learned about a crackdown in China in which more than 100 members and leaders of a church in Chengdu were detained. The pastor, Wang Yi, and his wife were charged with incitement to subvert the state and face real prison time. As it happens, Pastor Wang Yi prepared for this, and he... Continue Reading →
Just a few days ago I had a fascinating day demographically. That’s an awkward sentence, so here is what happened. I had the privilege of doing the early morning devotional for a men’s residential rehab program. It is a ministry attached to a local organization that works with the homeless community, but this group of... Continue Reading →
I have a background in economics (if a B.A. in the subject and a lasting enthusiasm count as a background) and have long been interested in the ways this discipline I enjoy intersects with my faith and vocation as a pastor. So, it has been encouraging to watch this connection become a fertile field for... Continue Reading →
Andrew T. Walker. God and the Transgender Debate: What Does the Bible Actually Say About Gender Identity? (The Good Book Company, Denmark. 2017) 174 ppg. The cultural issues swirling around the American and Western church require Christians and church leaders to have a new level of theological perception. If we believe our faith... Continue Reading →
Psalm 112 The righteous worker is: happy, delights in God’s law, lends generously, conducts business fairly, is unafraid, gives freely to the poor, he is gracious, compassionate, and righteous, and the wicked hate it. How do you think about the value of your labor? What do you think are the primary two or three... Continue Reading →
Skye Jethani. Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry In The Age of Church, Inc. (Moody Publishers, Chicago. 2017) 215 pgs. The American Evangelical church is easily tempted by shiny things. For decades now we have taught ourselves a theology of church and the spiritual life that is only tenuously connected to Scripture. In... Continue Reading →
Douglas Groothuis, Walking Through Twilight: A Wife’s Illness – A Philosopher’s Lament (Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Books, 2017) In his memoir, Walking Through Twilight: A Wife’s Illness – A Philosopher’s Lament, Douglas Groothuis combines several things often lacking in books written on suffering and God. There are good books out there on a theology... Continue Reading →
Bad theology leads to terrible conclusions when trying to deal with evil. We Americans are grieving again over another mass shooting. A few weeks ago it was a shooting in Las Vegas into a crowd of concert-goers, for which we still have very few answers. Last weekend it was a man who killed 26 worshippers... Continue Reading →
Colin Hansen, Our Secular Age: Ten Years of Reading and Applying Charles Taylor (Deerfield, Ill: The Gospel Coalition, 2017). Arguably the most ambitious philosophical work in the last decade is Charles Taylor’s, “A Secular Age.” It defies simple description, but in it Taylor dissects the move toward secularism in the last 500 year of... Continue Reading →
Every Thought Captive 