Resources by Topic: Christian Life

Many of the challenges and issues that pastors face in discipling and teaching those in their churches have remained the same since I was pastoring over 25 years ago. But there are also many new challenges for pastors, including helping Christians navigate digital technologies and social media platforms.

Philip Yancey, a writer I often appreciate, wrote an article about his own struggle to carve out focused attention for reading, and how his own personal experience reflects our culture at large. The decline in reading books is something I feel strongly about, as those who aren’t dedicated readers most likely won’t be dedicated readers of God’s Word.

I don’t believe in painting a broad brush over certain authors when we don’t agree with them in every area. 

In this article, Scott Hubbard, editor at desiringGod.org, shares some thoughts about the statement “All I need is God.” He writes, “Throughout Scripture, God’s people often need more than God alone—they need God through the things he has made.” Thanks, Scott, for this helpful clarification.

Randy Alcorn was interviewed by Greg Laurie about his new book Face to Face with Jesus: Seeing Him As He Really Is. In this audio clip, Randy talks about being more like Jesus. 

Randy Alcorn was interviewed by Greg Laurie about his new book Face to Face with Jesus: Seeing Him As He Really Is. In this audio clip, Randy talks about God's Word. 

Nanci and I love The Valley of Vision, which is a collection of brief and profound Puritan prayers compiled by Arthur Bennett. We find them powerful and penetrating.

Here's my suggestion for this year: tell yourself you will read a minimum of ten minutes before watching something or looking at a device. I guarantee you that if you do this every day, some days you will never turn on the TV.

Like many others, I deeply loved British pastor-scholar John Stott (1921-2011) and appreciate his books and contribution to the church of Christ. He had a great impact on me as a young Christian. 

We need to explain to our unbelieving friends that it makes no sense at all to reject Jesus because some of His followers, including us, can sometimes be hypocritical. What, after all, is the gospel all about? Is it about us? No! 

We’re continually bombarded by “news” (sometimes more sensational than informative) that dwells on the sufferings and tragedies of life. This unceasing avalanche of bad news, as well as rampant political tribalism, suspicion, and critical opinions, can quickly bury what Scripture calls “the good news of happiness” (Isaiah 52:7).

The “high places” is a shorthand term for places of pagan worship, usually (though not always) on hills or mountains to bring them closer to their false gods. They were centers of idolatry. The greatest time of compromise for God’s people in the Old Testament, the Israelites, was when in addition to worshiping Yahweh, the only true God, they worshipped false gods too.

Thomas Kidd recently shared these “8 rules of social media wisdom” from Alan Jacobs. May we all take them to heart and be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (James 1:19). 

One of the sharpest and most biblically grounded minds among evangelicals is Jen Wilkin. Not long ago she was a guest on Desiring God’s Ask Pastor John podcast, and was interviewed by Tony Reinke on the subject of Bible study.