Pointing to Christ

           Part of the beauty of the gospel is expressed by Paul’s words in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The gospel crosses ethnic and social lines. It cannot be confined to one culture, and the beautiful result of the gospel is that men, women, and children believers from all cultures can worship Christ together, without the ethnic or social prejudices that are common in every culture.         The question arises, however: should churches express a single ethnic or social identity or multiple ethnic or social identities? Should churches be formed around a single cultural identity that will attract others from that culture? Or should churches seek to be multi-ethnic? Ralph Winter argues that the question should be answered in terms of Christian liberty and, ultimately, evangelist...

By the fourteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church was in desperate need of reform. Previous attempts to reform the church had achieved little success and had only resulted in more legalism and hypocrisy within the church. The papacy was once again on the decline, grappling for power with the nations of Europe. Moreover, many priests and other church leaders were corrupt and abused their authority. For those in the lower-classes, Bibles were virtually unattainable, and only priests were allowed to partake of the cup in the Lord’s Supper. These abuses within the church produced a negative reaction, and some within the church began to press for reform. Among these were John Wycliffe and John Huss. Both denounced the corruption evident within the church and pressed for a return to the authority of the Scriptures. Their efforts were met with much resistance by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church would win for a time, but the legacy of both of these men would live on and...

Crazy Busy was written by Kevin DeYoung, a pastor in Lansing, Michigan. He is married, and he and his wife have six children. DeYoung is the senior pastor at University Reformed Church and is a much sought-after speaker and author. All of these responsibilities keep him very busy.                          At the outset of Crazy Busy , DeYoung confesses that he writes this book, not because he has busyness all figured out, but because he wants to learn how to change and not be crazy-busy himself. His aim is to write a book that is both “highly practical and accessibly theological” (17). He writes, “I don’t promise total transformation. I offer no money-back guarantees. My goal is more modest. I hope you’ll find a few ways to tackle your schedule, several suggestions for reclaiming your sanity, and a lot of encouragement to remember your soul” (18). DeYoung desires ...

              Jesus Culture began in 1999 as a conference, called the Jesus Culture Conference, led by Banning Liebscher, the youth pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California. [1] The music at these conferences were led by Kim Walker-Smith and the others who would become known as the Jesus Culture band. While many are aware only of their music, Jesus Culture is more than a band; it “is a movement with the purpose to ignite revival in the nations of the earth!” [2] While Jesus Culture is more than a band, it is their music that has grown in popularity. They even performed at the Louie Giglio’s Passion Conference in January of 2013 at which John Piper was a speaker. Many young Christians are familiar with the music of Jesus Culture, and many churches, Bible camps, and other ministries sing their songs in worship. However, Jesus Culture is not just a band; it is a movement that promotes false teaching and teachers, is built not on the Bible but on...