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Nobody Talks About Sin Anymore
As a biblical studies professor at North Park University in Chicago, I teach a class called “Jesus of Nazareth.” At the end of each class, we recite the Lord’s Prayer together. I do this with my...
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Why Doesn't Anybody Talk About Sin?
How the push to focus on grace has overshadowed the danger of sin.As a biblical studies professor at North Park University in Chicago, I teach a class called “Jesus of Nazareth.” At the end of each...
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Is There Hope After Suicide?
Tackling the tough spiritual questions about this difficult tragedy.I was in Atlanta to lead a Bible conference at a church. I was alone in the pastor's home, sitting on the couch in the den working on...
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When Everyday Habits Turn Deadly
Why things you do all the time can kill your spirit. "The Seven Deadly Sins" don't mean much to most of us. The term might make us think of a creepy Brad Pitt movie from the '90s, but beyond that,...
View ArticleFocusing on Sin Never Works
I have a problem with “accountability groups.” You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones where you and a small group of “friends” arrange for a time each week to get together and pick each other...
View ArticleThe Good in Grief
By the time I was 32 years old, I was already a three-time cancer survivor, and had experienced the loss of five children, two of which I held in my arms. My life has not been easy. I have endured...
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How to Keep People From Sinning
Hint: You really can't. So, then what?I’m a preacher/pastor, and my job description is to keep people from doing what they obviously want to do. I’ve often felt like a police officer at a rock concert...
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Where Is God in Tragedy?
Looking for meaning and hope in a broken world.EDITOR'S NOTE: In light of today's horrific elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., we're reposting this article on finding God in the midst of...
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The Cost of Lost Innocence
We rarely realize until it's too late that our lost innocence has a steep price tag.I don’t remember when, but at some point in middle or high school it became very clear that innocence wasn’t cool. In...
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Hello, My Sin Is ...
The problem behind the common Christian policy of “Love the sinner, hate the sin.”Most likely, many of us would not have become followers of Jesus if an us-verses-them philosophy had met us at the...
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Is Human Nature Good or Evil?
A Christian considers this age-old question by interviewing Holocaust survivors—and turning the mirror on himself. Gabriella Karin, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor, sits opposite me at a trendy...
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The Trouble With a Cause-and-Effect God
Delegate Bob Marshall’s comments on disability stirred a storm—and revealed a gap in our view of how God works.In the story “Disabled Children are God’s Punishment” dated September 12, 2012, Virginia...
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Confessions of a Proud Pastor
One pastor’s tension over a downplayed, yet soul-damaging, sin.As a preacher, it seems to be my job to tell people how they should live their lives. Each week I stand on a stage in front of large...
View ArticleValued and Broken—All at Once
"We are far more valuable than we think, far more broken than we think, and far more salvageable than we think."My pastor has been teaching on these three key aspects of The Good News, and while I...
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When Spiritual Leaders Are Stuck in Addiction
Why “falling from grace” is an insufficient picture of what’s really going on in ministry addictions. God’s disciple sits in front of his computer. It’s early afternoon, and already the familiar pangs...
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The Elephant in the Church
The real unspoken matter in the room isn’t sin—it’s a double standard. A group of about 50 pastors, teachers and counselors congregated in Annapolis, MD on October 17—but this wasn’t a leadership...
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Petraeus and Sin as a Spectator Sport
Why are we so fascinated by the carnal mistakes of other people? There’s no lack of angles to examine and uncover when it comes to the extramarital affair of former CIA Director General David Petraeus....
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The Gospel Is Not a Behavior Control Program
Why Christians need to stop keeping score on the sins of others.This week, the Supreme Court justices heard arguments challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), signed into law by Bill Clinton in...
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Jesus’ Other Role
Sure, He’s the Savior. But He’s also something else we may have forgotten. When I was in high school the most common word that I heard associated with Jesus was “Savior,” as in, “Jesus is my Savior.”...
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The Socially Acceptable Sin
It’s everywhere in our society and churches, yet almost never talked about.Most Christians today like to say that all sins are “equal” in the eyes of God, that there is no scale of less or worse sins,...
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