In January of 2023, air traffic in the United States was massively disrupted by a computer system failure, resulting in the redirection of thousands of flights. I was traveling to a conference with seminary students, and we were separated into two different groups during the reassignment for flights. Since I could only be on one flight, it would be several hours before I would know the whereabouts and well-being of an entire group of students under my charge. But one of the students in their number had served as a soldier in an elite military unit. I turned to him and said: “You are now on point; make sure they get to the conference. See you there.”

Elders Lead the Church Home

Christ has appointed leaders for His church and charged them to get His people home. These leaders are called elders. When the Apostle Paul gave his final charge to the elders of the church in Ephesus (Acts 20:17–35), he commended them to God and His Word, to the end that they would be built up to their inheritance in heaven along with all the saints (v. 32). The vision of Christ’s Apostle was that Christ’s holy people would get to the holy city (Eph. 5:25–27; 1:11; see also Rev. 21:1–27), and their elders would guide them there (Acts 20:1, 28; see also 1 Peter 5:12).

In the Old Testament, elders were leaders of tribes, men of wisdom who sat at the city gate and judged cases for God’s people. They were the “fathers” of the community. In the New Testament, we find that Christ’s Apostles instituted elders for the churches they planted and discipled (Acts 14:21–23; Titus 1:5) and acknowledged their crucial place in these congregations (Phil.1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1). These are the leaders the Scriptures exhort church members to respect and even obey as they do eternally important work, for which they are accountable to God (1 Thess. 5:12–13; Heb. 13:17).

Elders Lead Together

Elders are referred to by different titles in the New Testament, each of which identify distinct responsibilities of one group of men who lead the church together. Paul’s charge to the group from Ephesus identifies them as “elders” (Acts 20:17) and “overseers” (v. 28) and tells them to “shepherd” or “care for” (v. 28) God’s church. His instruction to Titus about church order demonstrates that the terms elder and overseer identify the same group of church leaders (Titus 1:5, 7; see also 1 Tim. 3:1; 5:17). The Apostle Peter also exhorts the elders to shepherd God’s flock as they exercise oversight (1 Peter 5:1–2).

First Timothy 5:17 shows us that, within this one group of leaders, there are two kinds of elders: those who govern and lead the church and those who are set apart and supported by the church to devote themselves to preaching and teaching while also leading with their fellow elders. These two kinds of elders are distinguished in some churches by the titles ruling elder and teaching elder, the latter of which is often called *pastor *or minister.

These various New Testament titles tell us that elders are to be men of spiritual maturity and wisdom to serve as examples and exercise sound judgment for God’s family. They are overseers because the Holy Spirit has entrusted them with the stewardship of Christ’s church, and they are shepherds who are to lead Christ’s flock to provision and protection within the green pastures of His will prescribed in His Word.

Elders Lead as Courageous Stewards

Elders always remain undershepherds of Christ Jesus. They will give an account to Him for how they lead His church (1 Peter 5:4; Heb. 13:17). This means they must lead like Christ and not like the world that rejects His lordship (Luke 22:24–27). Their motives and manners in leadership must evidence that they know they are stewards—not the Sovereign—of the churches entrusted to them (1 Peter 5:2–4).

Their calling is to give themselves for God’s people, not to gain all they can from God’s people (John 10:11; Acts 20:35). However, the servant mode of the elders’ leadership does not mean they should lack conviction. In fact, a primary way in which elders must be prepared to give themselves for God’s people is by getting between the flock and wolves who would lead Christ’s church astray through twisted doctrine (Acts 20:29–30). While Christ’s undershepherds are not to be quarrelers, they have been appointed to teach sound doctrine and correct false teaching (1 Tim. 3:2; 2 Tim. 2:24–26; Titus 1:9). The elder’s charge is to lead Christ’s church by building it up and protecting it through the clear and courageous ministry of God’s Word (Acts 20:31–32).

Elders Lead as Followers of Christ

In order to lead for Christ and like Christ, elders must walk with Christ. That is why the Apostle exhorted the Ephesian elders first to “pay careful attention to yourselves” (Acts 20:28, emphasis added). If his ministry is to be empowered by God’s Spirit and have integrity for God’s glory, an elder must be diligent to maintain vital personal communion with Christ and to continually mature in conformity to Christ’s character and commands. The Apostle who presented himself and his ministry as an example for elders (Acts 20:17–20, 35) depended on the power of Christ in him to execute his ministry effectively (Col. 1:28–29).

Elders who lead God’s people to their heavenly inheritance provide footprints of spiritual maturity for them to follow on the way (1 Tim. 4:12). May the head of the church continue to give to His church elders who take the Apostle’s charge to heart.

For many Baptists, the word catechism sounds Roman Catholic, Lutheran, or Presbyterian. They are shocked to discover that the word katēcheō appears in various forms at least seven times in the New Testament (see Luke 1:4; 1 Cor. 14:19). It simply means “to teach orally.” And Baptists have almost from their beginning written catechisms to assist their churches in systematically teaching God’s Word. Among all the catechisms Baptists have produced, one stands alone as foremost. Its formal title is The Baptist Catechism, Commonly Called Keach’s Catechism: Or, a Brief Instruction in the Principles of the Christian Religion.

This catechism arose out of the stream of orthodox, evangelical, Protestant, and Reformed teaching that traces its origins to the earliest centuries of the New Testament church. In those early centuries, the specific form of oral instruction that uses carefully worded, vital religious questions with succinct, biblical answers became standard practice among Christians. By the middle of the second century, this method was used to prepare new converts for baptism. The period for such catechetical instruction could last for a year or more. During that time, the catechumen would reflect on whether he wanted fully to submit to baptism, and the church could observe the sincerity of his profession of faith in Christ.

By the end of the fourth century, the practice of catechizing shifted to focus on those already baptized in preparation for their confirmation in the faith. During the centuries of the Middle Ages, the work of catechizing became less popular. In some places, it disappeared completely.

With the rise and spread of the Reformation in the sixteenth century came a renewed emphasis on catechetical teaching. Tom Nettles calls this era “the Golden Age of catechisms.” Martin Luther wrote both his Large Catechism and his Small Catechism in 1529 to help overcome the lack of basic biblical knowledge among those who called themselves Christians in Saxony. John Calvin was similarly motivated when, after three earlier attempts to provide simple doctrinal instruction for children, he produced the Catechism of the Church of Geneva in French (1542) and then translated it into Latin (1545).

When modern Particular Baptists arose in the seventeenth century, both Roman Catholics and their fellow Protestants confused them with various strains of Anabaptists because of their conviction that only those who have conscious faith in Christ are qualified to receive baptism as the sign of the new covenant. This led the Baptists to produce two confessions of faith, the first in 1644 (the First London Baptist Confession) and the second in 1677 (formally published in 1689 as the Second London Baptist Confession).

The latter became the most widely acclaimed confession among Baptists in the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth. This was particularly true of Baptists in the southern part of America. In the preface to the Second London Baptist Confession, its framers declare to “have no itch to clog religion with new words.” Rather, they readily admit their reliance on and great agreement with the Westminster Confession (1646) and Savoy Declaration (1658). By publishing their own confession, the Baptists desired to show their unity with other Protestants on essential doctrines while articulating their distinctive differences on the sacraments and the church.

In keeping with that same spirit and a desire to provide distinctively Baptist instruction for Baptist homes, the General Assembly of Particular Baptists in England passed a resolution in 1693 calling for the creation of a catechism by one of their own. The resolution resolves “that a catechism be drawn up, containing the substance of the Christian religion, for the instruction of children and servants; and that Brother William Collins be desired to draw it up.”

Collins was pastor of the Petty France Church of London. There is some evidence that the catechism was first published by the end of 1694, though the earliest extant copy is from 1695 and is identified as the fifth edition. The document exudes not only the same doctrine but also the same spirit of the Second London Baptist Confession. Just as the confession draws heavily from the Westminster and Savoy, so the Baptist Catechism relies heavily on the Shorter Catechism published by the Westminster Assembly in 1647.

The preface to the fifth edition of the Baptist Catechism explains the purpose and rationale for its production, describing it as “a short account of Christian principles, for the instruction of our families, in most things agreeing with the Shorter Catechism of the Assembly. And this we were the rather induced to, because we have commonly made use of that Catechism in our families, and the difference being not much, it will be more easily committed to memory.”

Why has it been regularly called Keach’s Catechism, after Benjamin Keach (pastor of Horseleydown Church in London), rather than Collins’ Catechism since Collins was commissioned to produce it? This remains a mystery hidden in the lacuna of historical records. It is widely assumed that Keach and Collins collaborated the catechism into existence.

One hundred of the Westminster Shorter Catechism’s 107 questions and answers are copied identically in the Baptist Catechism. The Baptist version has 114 total questions and answers with only the first question and the ones about the Lord’s Supper and baptism differing from its parent document.

Though details of its origins may never be discovered, its great value to Baptists over nearly three and one half millennia cannot be disputed.

“I know where babies come from!” Those were the words my eight-year-old son blurted out in the midst of a conversational lull during a family dinner back in 1994. Before asking him what he had learned on the topic, I awkwardly swallowed my mouthful of food and asked him about where he had received his information. With genuine enthusiasm he answered, “Donnie told me. . . on the playground!”

I’ll spare you the details of Donnie’s not-even-close-to-accurate sex-ed lesson, but Donnie’s miseducation had dropped in our laps a golden parenting opportunity for beginning a series of conversations with our young children about God’s good and glorious design for His gift of sex and sexuality.

That conversation took place thirty years ago. Today, it isn’t just “Donnie” on the playground. Kids are receiving a dangerous miseducation on sex and sexuality that runs at high volume on a 24/7 loop through smartphones, social media, streaming television, and more. Truth be told, this ever-present narrative washes over our kids, misshaping them from preschool right into adulthood.

When I think about our culture’s obsession with sex, I can’t help but ponder the wise words of Proverbs 14:12:

There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.

As parents, we are called by God to use our words and our example to teach our children and teens God’s good design for sex and sexuality, offering correctives to help them find their way through the cultural narrative’s lies. Here are three essential elements to lead them into hearing, believing, and following God’s will and way about sex that is right for all of His image-bearers.

1. We must teach God’s creational design.

If our sexualized culture is getting sex wrong, where do we go to get it right? We go to the Bible. God’s order and design for sexuality is clearly stated in the creation narrative (Gen. 1–2), reflected in the teachings of Jesus (Matt. 19:4–6), and maintained consistently throughout the Bible. God’s plan way back “in the beginning” (Gen. 1:1) reflects the way things are supposed to be. Because of humankind’s rebellion against God and fall into sin (Gen. 3), everything and everyone is broken. Because of sin, our default setting is to rebel against God’s good order and design for our sexuality. The cultural narrative is one of the great weapons of deception the enemy uses to steer our kids away from understanding God’s creational place and purpose for sex.

Our responsibility is to teach that God’s place for His good gift of sex is in marriage. God’s design and plan for marriage is that it is to be a committed, lifelong, monogamous, heterosexual, physical union between one man and one woman.

God also has a purpose for giving this good and beautiful gift of sex to be shared and experienced only within the context of marriage. The purpose of sex as God has given it to us is to consummate and seal the marriage relationship between a man and a woman, to foster continued mutual intimacy, to enable mutual pleasure, to respond to God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply” (procreation), and to reflect Christ’s relationship to His bride, the church (Eph. 5:22–33).

2. We must teach God’s design continually.

Most of us who grew up in Christian homes had parents who struggled to know what, how, and when to teach us about sex. There was a kind of awkwardness that made “the sex talk” something to be anticipated and approached with fear and trepidation. Whether the talk lasted for only a few minutes or for a few hours, parents and kids both would breathe a sigh of relief at the end and think, “I’m glad that’s finally over with.” But don’t think about your responsibility to teach God’s design for sex as a one-and-done endeavor. Parenting in a sexualized culture requires us to speak early and often.

The early is necessitated by the fact that our kids are being catechized by a culture that speaks about sex in seemingly every medium. With kids seeing and hearing sexual messages beginning in their preschool years, we must remember this basic reality: whoever speaks first to a child about sex has set the bar for truth. In other words, everything else they hear in life will be judged against what they first heard. This means that for those of us raising older teens, while it might seem too late since they’ve already heard so much, we need to realize their desperate need for a proper biblical sex-education.

The often is also necessitated by the fact that our kids are being catechized by a culture that speaks about sex incessantly. We must understand that “the talk” is never going to be enough. Rather, we need to engage in “the talking.” Helping kids navigate the sexualized culture is an ongoing activity rather than a once-and-done endeavor to simply check off our parenting list. And like anything else in life, the more we talk, the easier it becomes to keep on talking, and the more freedom our children will feel to come to us with their questions.

3. We must take advantage of “cultural prompts.”

If we were to summarize the culture’s narrative on sex, it might go like this: “When it comes to sex, you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, however you want, with whomever you want.” As you spend time with your children and teens, you will be hearing and seeing countless messages that communicate the culture’s erroneous understanding of the place(anywhere) and purpose(personal pleasure) for sex. Television shows, movies, music, social media sites, billboards, advertisements, and news reports all communicate the culture’s narrative explicitly and implicitly. If you’re looking and listening, you can’t miss these messages. Point those messages out, using their presence as an opportunity for a teachable moment where you can teach discernment by thinking with your kids about what they’re seeing and hearing. Ask them a series of questions: What is being said here about sex? How does that message agree or disagree with God’s Word on sex? Is this a message I should believe, or a message that gets it wrong?

Parents, we not only want our kids to know where babies come from, but we want them to know the Divine Designer of sex and sexuality. Don’t leave their sex education to chance, thinking that one day they’ll get it all figured out. “Donnie” and our sexualized culture will step in by default. Continually remind them about the truth of the loving God who has made them and the truth about His good gift of sexuality.¹

Fatherhood is full of challenges. Among the hardest is watching a wayward son or daughter —though raised in a Christ-centered home—walk away from the faith. Where do we turn?

The book of Proverbs offers encouragement and insight for navigating such perilous waters. It was inspired by the Holy Spirit,

To give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance (Prov. 1:4–5).

A father’s hope for his child’s well-being is first communicated through godly instruction. The opening chapters of Proverbs exhort sons and daughters to “hear instruction” (Prov. 1:8); to “receive my words” (Prov. 2:1); to “forget not my teaching” (Prov. 3:1); to “hear, O sons, a father’s instruction” (Prov. 4:1); to “be attentive to my wisdom” (Prov. 5:1); to “do this, my son, and save yourself” (Prov. 6:3); and to “keep my words and treasure up my commandments” (Prov. 7:1). Have we done what we can to instill biblical truths in their hearts and minds?

Fathers should also analyze carefully the prodigal’s ways. Proverbs reveals three dangerous heart conditions: the simple one who forgets God, the scoffer who ignores God, and the fool who rejects God (Prov. 1:22). Each is progressively more hard-hearted, more impervious to spiritual truth, and more imminently in danger. The key is to discern which voices they listen to most closely. With whom do they walk, stand, or sit?

The simple are naïve, listening to voices of temptation and easily swayed by bad company. Wisdom shouts for the simple to see the outcome of their choices and abandon those habits or friends (Prov. 7:6–27). The scoffer is more arrogant, mocking sin and ignoring all godly counsel. Wisdom challenges this one to listen to his father’s rebuke lest he come to ruin, shame, and disgrace (Prov. 13:1). The fool steadfastly rejects God and despises His Word. Wisdom warns such a person that by turning a deaf ear he brings destruction to himself, and his end is the way of death. Pray for wisdom in knowing how (and how often) to speak the truth in love.

What other practical steps are fathers encouraged to follow?

Prayer

A father’s first and highest resource is bringing the child persistently to the throne of grace. John Yates, a seasoned pastor and father with many children and grandchildren, writes from experience: “Very quickly, children begin to teach a man about his own limitations, that he doesn’t have all the answers, and that he frequently fails as a husband and a dad. . . . This is the beginning of a whole new way of life called prayer.”¹ Yates prescribes a very helpful resource—a prayer notebook to track specific needs and answers for each family member. The persistent prayers of a father avail much.

Penitence

A broken link in a lost or backsliding child’s spiritual walk might be the father’s fault. Have we told them recently how much we love them? Have we confessed humbly to them our own sins as a father? It is never too late for a genuine apology for angry or hurtful words or discipline that was lax, inconsistent, or overly harsh. Real men take the first step to ask for forgiveness.

Any confession is best delivered face-to-face, though a virtual conversation, phone call, or written note (in decreasing order) may be necessary. The note should be handwritten, as personal notes from your hand bear greater weight than an email or text message.

Patience

One pastor wrote an insightful book in 1876 about the Christian family. In it, he exhorts fathers to lead their flock with patience: “The object is not to break the will, but to educate it; not to bind its freedom by external force, but to teach it to control itself.”² Allow time for the often-slow work of grace to restrain what is wild, capturing the child’s heart not by assault but by a gentle siege.

Pleasantness

In the meantime, don’t be a nag or an ogre. Speak the truth clearly, but not every time you talk. Use words (pre-planned) that express love, not anger; patience, not frustration. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Keep the relationship strong by pursuing fun activities together when possible. Ask the Lord for a welcoming disposition and creative ways to build new bonds, finding joy in shared experiences.

Perseverance

Never give up. The wise father steadfastly pursues a genuine relationship to the extent the prodigal allows it. Unconditional love says, “I love you no matter what you have done.” The best illustration is found in Christ’s parable of the prodigal son. The rejected father maintained a constant vigil for his lost son, watching the horizon daily for his return. When he saw the boy limping home, he felt compassion and ran to embrace him. He forgave the young man his wasteful dissipation and welcomed him back into the family, “and they began to celebrate” (Luke 15:24). Let them know you will always leave a light on.

In the end, fathers, commit yourself and your child into the Lord’s hands. Redemption is ultimately His work alone, and His hand is never too short to save.³

“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

It can be hard to be still in a world filled with responsibilities, distractions, and struggles.

Yet as Christians, it is vital that we maintain a consistent time of Bible study—to reorient our gaze heavenward and to deepen the roots of our faith.

Tabletalk magazine can help you establish this habit. Each month’s issue provides:

• Daily Bible studies guiding you passage by passage through God’s Word
• Themed articles to aid you in a focused study on theological topics
• A Bible-in-a-year reading program, helping you engage with all of Scripture
• And more

When you give today, you’ll receive one year of Tabletalk.

Your gift sends trustworthy Bible teaching throughout the world, enabling more Christians to know what they believe, why they believe it, how to live it, and how to share it.

Give today to receive a discipleship resource for your own home, and to continue spreading discipleship resources to the homes of Christians throughout the world.

This offer ends on June 30.

The full biblical revelation of God is that He is eternally the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One and indivisible. The Father is the Father of the Son. His name is the Father. Only God can name Himself. The name the Father denotes that He generates the Son eternally in the unity of the indivisible Trinity. Father is His personal (hypostatic) name. It tells us that He does not name Himself by any element in the creation He has made. This is who He is.

The name is not a metaphor. Neither is it something we should conceptualize on the basis of what human fathers are like. It is the revealed name, given by God, for the trinitarian hypostasis (person) who begets the Son and spirates (or proceeds) the Holy Spirit. We are to view elements of creation in terms of God’s revelation, not vice-versa. Paul’s remark about “the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named” (Eph. 3:14–15) rules out thinking from created realities and applying them to God.

Although God brought all other entities into existence, it can be said only in a very loose way that He is the Father of all. He is Father of all only insofar as He is the Creator. The Bible indicates that it is an amazing reality that He is Father: “See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called the children of God” (1 John 3:1). This is entirely out of our hands, a sovereign bestowal of kindness and grace. It is patterned in some way on the relations between the Father and the Son.

We bear the family likeness because we are united to Christ, who is the eternal Son of the Father. This is evident insofar as Jesus was rejected by His contemporaries; they did not recognize Him for who He is. Similarly, the world does not realize who we are precisely because it did not realize who He was (1 John 3:1).

As the eternal Son, now enfleshed, Jesus’ customary way to refer to God was as His Father. It was highly unusual—some think it unprecedented—for an individual to call God “Father.” Due to sin, people typically see God as far off. Jesus encouraged us to pray, “Our Father,” since, as His disciples, we are united to Him, the Son, by the Spirit, and so come to bear the family likeness as His children.

Following from this, the Father—together with the Son—has poured out the Holy Spirit so that we cry, “Father!” (Rom. 8:15–16, Gal. 4:4–6). The expression “Abba! Father!” reads as Abba (Aramaic), Patēr (Greek). Both words mean the same thing: “Father.” Some preachers claim that Abba means “Daddy,” but this is not the case; it is an instance where a cute comment gets taken up and repeated ad nauseam.¹ Rather, the term means that whoever we are, Jew or Greek, whatever language we speak, we have the identical relation to God through Christ, are now His children, and have access to the Father. Moreover, the relation to the Father that we have been given is identical to that which the Son has in eternity; His by nature, ours by sheer grace.

In short, we have been made the adopted children of God in Jesus Christ. He is the natural Son, the eternal Son; we were not sons but we have been made so by grace.² Christ always was and is the Son; we were strangers and aliens but now we have been brought near.

We should banish from our minds, as far as we can, all personal experiences of our own human fathers. For some, these memories may be painful; for all of us they are misleading, for we all fall short. The one model—and the model for human fatherhood—is that of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as recorded in metaphorical language:

Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up by their arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them with cords of kindness,
with the bands of love,
and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,
and I bent down to them and fed them. (Hos. 11:3–4)

The image of the returning prodigal in Jesus’ parable springs to mind in which “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).

So, whoever we are, in Christ we have “access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18). Let us draw near, confessing our sins, in the sure and certain knowledge that He will receive us and lavish His kindness on us for the whole of eternity. The Father’s love will then be universally evident for, since we are His children now, when Christ returns in His unfettered glory, we shall see Him as He is and be like Him, to the glory of the Father (1 John 3:2).³

For the first time, Ligonier has released a nationwide Canadian survey. The State of Theology Canada reveals what people really believe about God. And the results are sobering:

66% of Canadian evangelicals agree with the statement, “The Holy Spirit is a force but is not a personal being.”

This is no minor theological mistake. It shows a widespread confusion about the foundation of the Christian faith. If we fail to know who God is in His triune nature, we risk undermining the gospel itself.

Interestingly, most Canadian evangelicals surveyed (93%) affirm the statement, “There is one true God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.” These contradictory responses highlight a deep theological confusion among many in the church.

Yet Scripture is clear on this matter: The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force—He is the third person of the Trinity.

Download the Free Study Guide

These survey results are serious, and they warrant serious discussion. Gather a group and download the free digital study guide for The State of Theology Canada. Each section includes discussion questions and biblical insight to guide your conversation.

More Resources on the Holy Spirit

R.C. Sproul founded Ligonier to help Christians know who God is and who they are. Here are several resources from Ligonier addressing the Bible’s teaching on the Holy Spirit.

• Who Is the Holy Spirit? booklet by R.C. Sproul
• Everyone’s a Theologian, book by R.C. Sproul
• The Holy Spirit, guide from Ligonier Ministries
• “What Is the Procession of the Holy Spirit?” article by Robert Letham
• “Another Helper,” episode of Things Unseen

A recently purchased piece of furniture came with an instruction booklet of the assembly required, complete with pictures of what to do and what not to do. The what-not-to-dos came from common pitfalls that had undoubtedly led the common Allen-wrench craftsmen astray from properly constructing a fine piece of particleboard furniture. Yet it was the what-not-to-dos that proved to be especially helpful, saving me from much hand-wringing frustration. Similarly, through His Word, the Lord provides instruction for fathers that can save us from soul-wrenching pitfalls—pitfalls that can lead to our downfall, as well as the downfall of our children.

The Scriptures are filled with divine instructions of what to do as fathers—as well as what not to do—as demonstrated by the Apostle Paul’s dual instruction, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Along with instruction, the Scriptures provide plenty of positive and negative examples of fatherhood. The negative examples seem to be particularly poignant, especially when we read of many godly men whose children did not follow in their father’s way or had major failings. The multitude of examples seems to demonstrate that there is a pattern for fathers to note. A prevalent and pernicious sin in a child, perhaps if it had been addressed by the father, might not have ended in the way that it did.

These Old Testament stories are given by God for more than just parental instruction, but at the same time, they are not less than that. Therefore, they offer us both warnings and opportunities to learn how to best lead our children (and ourselves) toward godliness. No, we cannot be our children’s savior. But by God’s grace, we as their fathers can proactively point them to Jesus Christ, who not only saves us from sins committed, but also from greater sins and consequences that might be prevented. Let’s look at several scenarios from the book of Genesis.

Adam: The Anger of Cain

It does not take long for Adam and Eve’s sin in Genesis 3 to show its effect amongst the first family. Their sons, Cain and Abel, are barely introduced before we see a domestic conflict at hand. Cain was angry at God’s acceptance of his brother’s offering over his own. Though God confronts Cain directly (Gen. 4:6), it is not enough to turn him from his anger, which had full vent in the murder of his brother Abel. Cain was destined to be a fugitive and wanderer for the remainder of his life. Were there signs of such a temper and anger in Cain that could have been addressed? Did Adam intercede, or did he sit idly by as he had done when Eve was deceived by the serpent?

Isaac: The Impulsiveness of Esau and the Deceitfulness of Jacob

The Scriptures tell us that hairy Esau “was a skillful hunter, a man of the field” (Gen. 25:27), yet he seemed to be as impulsive as the animals he killed. Selling his birthright to his brother for a pot of stew because he was worn out and exhausted from the field was not a wise decision (Gen. 25:30–34). Did he not think through the consequences of his decision before he agreed to the terms? Years later, Esau took a foreign wife, even though Isaac his father had instructed him to “not take a wife from the Canaanite women” (Gen. 28:6). Perhaps he did so out of spite for his father and the pain of deception he endured at the hands of his brother, yet he had to live with the consequences of dwelling with a foreign wife and living outside the covenant people of God. If his father, Isaac, had persuaded Esau to realize the consequences of his poor decisions early on, would the latter consequences have been the same?

The story of Jacob’s putting on goat’s hair and dressing in his brother’s clothing to deceive his aging, vision-impaired father is well-known. But were there not signs of Jacob’s deception beforehand, when Jacob cajoled the birthright from his brother? Was he not living up to the name given to him by his parents with the dual meaning of “heel grasper” and “deceiver”? When his twin brother, Esau, realized that he had been deceived, he exclaimed, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing” (Gen. 27:36). The greater irony of the story is that Isaac was deceived and lied to in the same way that he had deceived and lied to Abimelech (Gen. 26:7). If Isaac had confronted his own deception, what could he have taught his son?

Jacob: The Discontentment of Dinah and the Pride of Joseph

The only named daughter of Jacob in the Scriptures is Dinah. Genesis says that she “went out to see the women of the land” (Gen. 34:1). The land refers to the pagan, foreign city of Shechem. What drew her to leave her own household to find something from the women in the next city? In Shechem, she discovered the true wickedness of the land as she was horribly violated by a man who took advantage of her. Was Jacob too preoccupied with his own life that he missed the wandering eyes of his daughter, which led her away and ended in her experiencing this abusive act?

The young Joseph received two dreams: dreams of his being exalted, and dreams of his brothers bowing at his feet. These dreams fueled the anger of his brothers against him. How did they know about these dreams? They knew only because Joseph had told them. Was this youthful immaturity, or did this come out of a prideful heart—pride that was perhaps spurred along by Jacob’s favoritism of Joseph (Gen. 37:3)? Had Jacob not learned the consequences of such favoritism from his own experience with his parents and brother?

A Call to Fathers

If time permitted, we could extend our study to Manoah and Samson, Eli and his sons, Samuel and his sons, or David and Absalom. My purpose is not to cast judgment on fathers, nor to merely play the hypothetical game of “What If.” God used the sinful situations of these fathers and children for His plan of redemption, which demonstrates that His grace is truly greater than all our sins.

God’s being sovereign over all these actions does not lessen the pain and consequences these individuals went through, nor the wretched consequences of sin that we as families endure. All the sins mentioned, though not an exhaustive list, are not only sins of the past, but are ever present in our own children (and often in us as fathers as well). When we see similar sinful proclivities in our children, fathers should not idly sit by, hoping that nothing bad will happen to our children. The above stories indicate that this is not likely. Rather, we are to engage the hearts and minds of our children with truth, and when they do sin, to lovingly bring them back through forgiveness and repentance to the righteous path. We are called as fathers to be shepherds and guides for our children in the journey of faith. May we be to our children like the voice Isaiah mentions: “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left” (Isa. 30:21).

However, with all the examples of fatherly relationships in the Bible, let us not miss the one example of the one perfect Father-Son relationship that did not fall, has not faltered, and will never fail. Beyond the to-dos and not-to-dos of fatherhood, let us always rest in what is done—accomplished and finished—in Christ, who perfectly obeyed His Father even unto death. From that Father-Son relationship comes all the grace, mercy, and strength for us as fathers as we grow in godliness and desire for our families to do the same.¹

Faced with political confusion, economic turmoil, a global pandemic, and the disruption of just about every normal routine of life, many parents have felt ill-equipped to get through these times, let alone talk to their children about significant events. But as Christians have learned to expect, when we feel the most helpless, God is the most helpful. So what should we say to our children about events like those we’ve faced this year and similar events that I’m sure we will continue to face in the future? I’ll offer some observations, not as an expert but as a fellow traveler and father.

Far and away, the most helpful assistance a father can offer his children who are trying to understand noteworthy events is helping them to see the reality of God in every detail of this world and their lives. Everything around them is calculated to make God seem unreal, distant, and uncaring. The world invites them to consider reality as basically atheistic. A wise father will challenge this godless assumption by teaching his children to see every major happening that captivates their attention in the light of God (Ps. 36:9).

What, specifically, should we teach our children (even if they’re grown) about God? Chief among His many attributes we should highlight is the truth of God’s sovereignty. Children, not to mention adults, crave certainty. The world scorns this craving as an infantile, unobtainable desire. But God wants us to be sure about many things, not the least of which is His absolute control of all that comes to pass.

Again, our children are being bombarded with the message, “God is not sovereign. You are on your own in this harsh world.” To drown out this cacophonic jangling of falsehood, fathers must open their Bibles and walk their children through the countless passages that proclaim the life-giving truth of God’s sovereignty. Maybe we start with the majestic prose of Isaiah 40:12–17. Or maybe we turn to the blunt but pastoral teaching of James 4:14–17. Wherever we choose to turn in the Word, fathers who point their children to the reality of the sovereign God are offering them a bedrock for a lifetime of faith and trust.

But the question then becomes, “Why do we want to be certain?” One reason is that we live in a world that gives us good cause to be afraid. When crisis strikes or when world-altering events take place, our first instinct is fear. All of us want to know that everything is going to be OK. Focusing on God’s sovereignty helps us and our children understand that everything ultimately will be OK, even if it won’t be OK immediately. In short, we are calling them to put their faith in the One who controls everything that makes us afraid. We are asking them to listen to the Savior, whose favorite command is “Do not be afraid.” There is no one safer for us to listen to in uncertain times.

We must also remind our children of God’s inexhaustible love. A sovereign God who does not love is a tyrant, and a loving God who is not sovereign is pitiful and powerless. Fortunately for us, the Bible tells us that God is both sovereign and loving.

Therefore, the surest way to help our children understand monumental happenings is to bring them to the cross, where God’s sovereignty and love meet most perfectly. We tell our children the old, old story, but we apply it to their hearts specifically. We teach them that even something as horrifying as the death of the sinless Son of God was part of God’s sovereign plan (Acts 2:23). At the same time, it was the Father’s love that sent the Son to offer Himself by the eternal Spirit as atonement for sinners like us (John 3:16; Heb. 9:14). The cross of Christ is the beautiful, paradoxical intersection of divine sovereignty and love.

With the cross before them, we ask the Spirit to turn our children’s attention to the implications of the cross for significant events in this world. We teach them to ask questions such as, “If God’s plan included Christ’s death and that death takes care of my biggest problem (my sin), then how could this sovereign God fail to do right, ultimately?” We are doing with our children what Paul does with us in Romans 8:31–39. We are asking and answering rhetorical questions with them, the force of which is the conclusion Paul draws in this passage: because of Christ, all will finally be well for His people, no matter what happens to them or in the world around them.¹

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–92) is widely considered the greatest preacher of the nineteenth century. Few figures in church history enjoyed a wider reach in their day and few have enjoyed more popularity since their death than Spurgeon. Today, his name is practically synonymous with gospel preaching. He is regularly quoted in sermons, books, articles, and on social media.

Who was this great man, and what is his story?

Spurgeon was born in Kelvedon, Essex, about fifty miles east of London, on June 19, 1834. He was the first of seventeen children, only eight of whom survived infancy. He was born to godly parents, John and Eliza, who raised him in the fear and admonition of the Lord. His mother had an especially strong influence on him.

When Spurgeon was fourteen months old, he was sent to live with his grandparents in the village of Stambourne. He lived there until he was six. His grandfather, James, who was something of an old-fashioned Puritan preacher, played an enormous role in shaping the young Charles. Many of Spurgeon’s earliest spiritual impressions were formed while living with his grandparents and sitting under his grandfather’s preaching.

When Spurgeon was fifteen, he was powerfully converted. On Sunday morning, January 6, 1850, he set out from his parents’ home in Colchester in the midst of a snowstorm to attend a nearby church. He only made it a short distance before realizing he had to move indoors due to the severity of the storm. He turned down a side street and sought refuge in the local Primitive Methodist Chapel. He was greeted by a small band of a dozen or so who had braved the weather. The man who was to preach that day was hindered by the storm, so instead a layperson stood up to preach that morning’s message. This humble man became the unexpected instrument God used to save Spurgeon. He preached from Isaiah 45:22: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (KJV). As this Primitive Methodist layman pleaded with sinners to look to the Savior for the forgiveness of sins, Charles Spurgeon was born again and embraced Christ by faith.

Not long after his conversion, Spurgeon himself started to preach. Before long, he developed a reputation as the famous “boy preacher” of the countryside. So compelling was his preaching that at the age of seventeen, a Baptist church in the village of Waterbeach called him to be their pastor. At the time the church had only a few dozen in attendance. At the end of his two-year ministry there, the church had grown to over four hundred.

News of the young preacher eventually made its way to London to the deacons of New Park Street Chapel. They invited Spurgeon to preach and eventually extended a call to him in 1854. He was nineteen years old when he agreed to become the church’s pastor. He would minister there for the next four decades. When Spurgeon first arrived at the church, the congregation had 232 members. When he died thirty-eight years later, the membership sat at 5,311. The church received a total of 14,461 members over the course of his ministry, nearly three-quarters of whom were added through baptism. In 1861, the church erected a new building to accommodate the congregation’s explosive growth and changed its name to the Metropolitan Tabernacle. There, six thousand would gather morning and evening to hear Spurgeon preach.

Spurgeon’s preaching took London by storm. Not only did he preach in his church twice on the Lord’s Day but he often preached in halls and auditoriums across the city. Wherever he went, thousands flocked to hear the gospel preached as they had never heard it preached before. Christ was offered to the common people of London with such bold and free expressions of the love of God toward sinners that many could not help but be drawn to it. The old gospel of the blood of Jesus sounded forth with a force and power that made divine grace seem like an almost tangible reality. As Spurgeon preached, grown men wept freely, young and old were caught up in wonder, and hardened sinners became penitent believers.

Alongside his preaching, Spurgeon developed and administrated numerous other ministries as well. By 1884, sixty-six benevolent ministries operated out of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, addressing almost every area of need in London. Two institutions were especially dear to Spurgeon’s heart: the Pastors’ College and the Stockwell Orphanage. The Pastors’ College, established in 1857, was essentially a seminary for young ministers. Over the course of Spurgeon’s career, the College trained nearly nine hundred men for ministry. The Stockwell Orphanage, started in 1869, rescued 1,500 children out of poverty and destitution during Spurgeon’s lifetime.

Spurgeon was also a prodigious writer. He published more words in English than any Christian ever. His published sermons now span seventy volumes and have reached tens of millions worldwide. Spurgeon published roughly 150 books in less than forty years, including his devotional classics Morning by Morning and Evening by Evening, a collection of his addresses on pastoral ministry called Lectures to My Students, and his commentary on the Psalms titled The Treasury of David.

Today, millions still read Spurgeon, and his ministry continues to bear fruit all over the world. Like John the Baptist, it might be said of Spurgeon that he was a “burning and shining light.” Nearly a century and a half on, that light is still shining.

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Facing up to the harsh realities of living with the maladies of anxiety and depression is not easy. Yet we must learn with Charles Spurgeon to kiss the waves that cast us against the Rock of Ages. Anxiety and depression, those unwelcome visitors in the Christian life, often feel just like crashing waves, don’t they? They’re like an endless storm—waves rolling, winds howling, and no sign of relief on the horizon. Yet through the storm, we are not without anchor—our anchor is in the heavenly places, preserving us through the storm. Anxiety and depression serve as profound reminders that we are not home yet. They afford us an opportunity to tap into deeper communion with the Lord. They serve to increase grace in us. In short, these afflictions are, counterintuitively, advantageous.

The Path of Perseverance

If there is one thing that we must settle in our minds once more, it is this: Our goal is not freedom from anxiety at all costs. Our goal is faithfulness. The temptation when suffering affliction—whether bodily or psychological—is to fixate on relief, to seek a way out as quickly as possible. But, as we have seen, Scripture does not promise us the removal of all suffering in this life. Rather, it calls us to trust, to endure, and to walk forward in obedience even when we do not feel like it.

It is precisely in our moments of deep distress that we learn what it means to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding (Prov. 3:5). Faithfulness does not mean the absence of fear; it means the presence of the Holy Spirit. It means believing the promises of God even when fear is loud. It means praying even when prayer feels futile. It means pressing on even when despair tells us to give up. It means standing firm even when the storm of anxiety beats against us. It means continuing on in our predetermined agenda even when every part of us wants to collapse.

The Path of Providence

In our lowest moments, we must cling to this unshakable truth: God is sovereign over our suffering, and He is using it for our good. This is not just theological rhetoric; it is a bedrock promise. Every moment of anxiety, every dark night of the soul, and every tear that falls are accounted for in the eternal plan of a loving Father. There is no wasted suffering in the kingdom of God. Your anxiety or depression is no accident, and it will not go to waste in God’s economy.

Richard Baxter reminds us that melancholy is a real disease that God, in His wisdom, uses to bring His people into greater dependence on Him. Indeed, some of the greatest saints in church history—Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, William Cowper—walked through deep valleys of anxiety and despair. Yet it was in those valleys that they came to know the sufficiency of Christ in a way that they never could have known otherwise. I would venture to say, dear friends, that this is true of you and me as well.

If God has allowed you to struggle with anxiety, it is not because He has abandoned you. It is not because He is punishing you (though He does chasten His children). It is because He is refining you, sanctifying you, and drawing you ever nearer to Himself. What Satan means for evil, God means for good (Gen. 50:20).

The Path of Preparation

Perhaps the greatest comfort for the anxious Christian is this: Our suffering is temporary and preparatory. There will come a day when anxiety will be no more. Depression will be no more. Mental anguish will be no more. Christ Himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and sorrow will be swallowed up in everlasting joy (Rev. 21:4). The great danger of anxiety is that it tempts us to believe that this present darkness is all there is, that there’s no way out. It narrows our vision, causing us to see only our suffering and not the eternal glory that awaits. But as the apostle Paul reminds us, “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17). Even the heaviest burdens we bear now will seem as nothing when we stand before the face of our savior, clothed in the radiant splendor of His kingdom. Then, and only then, will our deepest distress be entirely sanctified to us.

In The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan’s Christian walks through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, beset by fears and terrors on every side. Yet he presses on. And at the end of his journey, he crosses the river and enters the Celestial City, where all his fears are finally put to rest. So it is with us. The valley may be dark, but we are not walking through it alone. The journey may be wearying, but it has an appointed end. And when we arrive, every fear will be forgotten in the light of our king’s glory.

I leave you with this: Do not give up. Forsake not the fellowship of the saints. Press on in faithfulness. Keep your eyes fixed on the savior. Endure for the sake of the Lord. Your battle with anxiety may last for a season, or it may last for a lifetime. But you are not alone, and you are not without hope. The same God who has sustained you thus far will sustain you to the end, as John Newton so wonderfully reminds us:

Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.¹

When you get to that home, you will walk in without the dreaded fear you carry now. Until you arrive, the same Jesus who wept in Gethsemane and bore the weight of your sin now intercedes for you at the right hand of the Father. He will ensure that you make it safely.

So take heart. Your suffering is not in vain. One day, when the dawn of eternity breaks, anxiety will be no more, and you will stand in the presence of the one who has carried you all the way home. That’s worth the temporary distress, is it not?

Your letter struck a raw nerve with me. I felt a sense of déjà vu. My mind snapped back to my own seminary days and subsequent early years of ministry.

The first memory it sparked was of occasions as a young man when I expressed my frustrations to older men who responded to me by saying, “You’re too young and idealistic to understand these things. Wait until you get more experience.”

That type of answer only fueled my frustration. I wanted cogent answers and sound arguments, not patronage from my elders.

My seminary experience was much like yours. I had professors who openly attacked the doctrine of Christ’s substitutionary atonement, the deity of Christ, and ridiculed anyone who believed the Bible was God’s Word. I experienced shock, hurt, and anger. When I expressed these concerns to older people in the church, they added to my dismay by insisting that I must be mistaken and that I was being a troublemaker.

Day after day in seminary classes I was exposed to a rigorous skepticism toward everything I held sacred. Fortunately (I should say providentially), I had one professor who brilliantly defended the biblical faith and who supported me in my trials. I really don’t know what I would have done without Dr. Gerstner.

There were two simple passages from the Bible to which I clung tenaciously. The first was from Psalm 37:1: “Do not fret because of evil men.” That hit home with me because I was doing a lot of fretting and it wasn’t helping my spiritual life.

The second passage was from Jeremiah. When the prophet complained to God bitterly and threatened to quit because false prophets were undermining his ministry, God rebuked him and said, “Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has My word speak it faithfully” (Jer. 23:28).

The application of those words to my life was simple. I realized that God was not going to hold me accountable for what other ministers said or did. Rather, He was going to hold my feet to the fire for what I say and do. I had my marching orders, and so do you.

When I hear your anguish, I have two conflicting responses in my heart. On the one hand I want to rush to your side and offer you whatever encouragement I can. I want to weep with you as you weep. On the other hand, as a battle-scarred veteran, I want to kick you in the pants and give you a “Pattonesque” bop on the chin. I want to say, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” The ministry is no place for cowards. You know as well as I do that this all goes with the territory. When was it ever any different? We are called to serve a Master who was despised and rejected of men. We join a company of those whom the world hated and slew.

I know what you’re thinking. Yeah, its easy to put up with the hostility of the world. We expect it. It’s getting shot in the back from within the church that is hard to take. Even then we tend to rise to the occasion when the issues are big and important. It’s the pettiness that wears us down.

Again, mature faith requires that we be willing and able to absorb petty slights and insults. How does it go for you on Sunday mornings? You stand at the door to greet your flock and fifty people tell you that they appreciated your sermon. Then one person expresses a criticism. What do you remember for the rest of the day? Right . . . me too. You tell yourself that you’re supposed to be able to handle criticism, but it still wounds. Chances are, if the person knew how much they wounded you they would be horrified. Most of the petty hurts we endure are unintentional. Understanding that can go a long way to salving the wound.

But there is a bigger issue to be dealt with from your letter. It involves our understanding of the church itself. You need to understand that the church is the most corrupt institution on earth. It’s more corrupt than the government. It’s more corrupt than the cosa nostra.

Surely I exaggerate? By no means. I am rating corruption according to a standard of giftedness. God says that to whom much is given, much is required. No institution has been invested with more divine grace than the church. Here is where both grace and the means of grace are particularly concentrated. Again, no institution on earth has such a holy vocation. If the church is the most corrupt institution in the world, it is because it is the most important institution in the world. All things being equal it is nowhere near the actual corruption of government or of the mafia. But judged by its gifts and its sacred vocation, relatively speaking its corruption grows in proportion.

Because the church is so important, it is the central target of hell. The devil doesn’t have to work up a sweat to induce the mafia to evil. Junior-grade demons can plunge a government into decadence. But the church—the bride of Jesus, the family of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit—that institution invites the unbridled assault of hell at every point. This isn’t a simple problem of wrestling with flesh and blood. It is a struggle with principalities and powers.

We know that there have been periods in history when the church was more or less pure. But it has always been what St. Augustine described as a corpus per mixtum, a mixed body. Our Lord described the church as an institution that included both tares and wheat. Sometimes the tares gain the upper hand and lead the church into apostasy. Some churches have degenerated to such a low degree that they cease being churches at all. But no church in any age has been utterly pure. It was the clergy who gnashed their teeth in hatred of Jesus and plotted His death. It was the church that condemned Luther, banished Calvin from France, and dismissed Edwards from Northampton. It was during the century of the Great Awakening in our land that Gilbert Tennant wrote The Danger of an Unconverted Clergy. The sheep have always suffered at the hands of wolves cleverly disguised as sheep themselves. But will not God vindicate His elect who cry unto Him day and night?

You gotta love the church. You can’t love Christ and despise His body. You can’t reject His bride. He has promised to present His bride to the Father without spot or wrinkle. Right now we may be discouraged. Her wedding gown has been torn to shreds as if by a wolf. But the groom will surely take care of all that. He will remove every spot, mend every tear, and smooth every wrinkle. Remember, it is we who are the spots and the wrinkles. If we despise them we despise ourselves.

Now it is time to gird up yourself like a man. Stir up the gift that is within you and look to the Author and finisher of your faith to rekindle a fire in your bones. It’s worth it.

Love as always, R.C.¹

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. (Col. 3:19, NKJV)

One of the great temptations a husband faces is to be bitter toward his wife. Bitterness and love are, in Colossians 3:19, opposite ends of the spectrum of how a husband might treat his wife.

The Temptation of Bitterness

Bitterness is the most sensitive of the tastes, and most of us find it harsh, unpleasant, and disagreeable. Case in point: Unsweetened cocoa. Do you remember the first time you discovered the shockingly harsh taste of unsweetened cocoa? It blows the mind of young children that anything bearing the brown Hershey label could taste so bad! You never find children sneaking cocoa…more than once.

Identifying relational bitterness is not as simple as a taste test. A harsh or bitter man will rarely admit it. He will call himself firm, melancholy, sober, principled or any number of pseudonyms for bitter. Here’s the reality: Most men treat their wives’ harshly. If men did not struggle with harshness God would not waste his time commanding against it. Unless you have been sanctified beyond the norm you regularly sin against your wife by bitterness.

If you are unconvinced, here are a few diagnostic tests:

• Does your wife enjoy spending time with you?
• Does she feel encouraged by you?
• Do you make her feel safe, physically and emotionally?
• Is she proud to name you as her husband?

Negative answers likely have bitterness to blame.

Expressions of Bitterness

One deadly form of the special sin of husbands is secret bitterness–an underlying attitude of intense displeasure toward another. Secret bitterness can be related to the failures of the wife. Virtually every married man has had a pity party over his wife’s sins, whether real or imagined. For some men, these pity parties are ongoing: “She has stolen my freedom. She’s not the woman I married. I try so much harder than she does.” Because of this attitude they fail to treat their wives with a love that expresses appreciation to God for his unique gift.

Then there is overt bitterness. Harsh men “persuade” their wives through physical, mental, or verbal strength rather than through love. They use harsh language with their wives. They treat them with a severity that others would find offensive if they could see it. This bitterness clearly fails to reflect the tender and faithful affection with which Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25–30).

Men, you and I need to repent of our bitterness. We need to trust more fully in Christ, who as our covenant head does not treat us with the bitterness our sins deserve.

What does it mean to be a Christian today? Teenagers hear many answers to this question—but are they the right answers?

If our children are to follow Christ in a confused world, it is vital that their faith rest on the right foundation. Not on the opinions of online influencers—or even the authority of their parents—but on the immovable foundation of God’s Word.

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Cyril of Alexandria (c. AD 376–444) isn’t often listed alongside greats like Athanasius and Augustine, but he probably deserves to be. His preaching and writing profoundly shaped the way the church thought about the person of Christ, and especially the glorious salvation He brings to His people.

Early Years

In 412, Cyril became archbishop of Alexandria. The city was known for frequent rioting and unrest, and Cyril’s early years as archbishop were marked by conflict. He weighed in on tension between Christian groups as well as tension with the Jewish population, and he had a longstanding feud with the city’s governor. Infamously, a pagan philosopher named Hypatia was brutally murdered by a mob at this time, and some ancient writers attempted to lay the blame at Cyril’s door. He has been easy to villainize as a result, and a rather inaccurate portrait of him as a power-hungry bully became very popular among modern liberal scholars. The truth is that Cyril spent the majority of these years doing the ordinary work of a bishop: preaching, leading worship, and writing biblical commentaries. His emerging reputation as an intelligent scholar of Scripture was about to be road tested.

Stepping into Controversy

In 428, a popular Syrian preacher named Nestorius became archbishop of Constantinople, taking the most influential pulpit in the world. Almost immediately, Nestorius sparked controversy because of the way he would speak about the person of Christ. Nestorius began preaching against a title traditionally given to Mary: theotokos (“God-bearer” or “Mother of God”). The title was designed to capture the extraordinary reality of the incarnation: A young woman had given birth to God the Son in human flesh (John 1:14). But Nestorius felt this was the wrong view of Christ. The baby born of Mary—naked, crying, and dependent on her for feeding and washing—could not be the eternal, unchanging God. Mary, he reasoned, was the mother only of the man Christ, not the Son of God. In other words, there had to be a clear dividing line between the man born of Mary and the divine Son of God. He spoke of Jesus as though He were a man uniquely joined to, or partnered with, the eternal Son rather than God the Son Himself come in human flesh. He preferred to speak of Mary as Christotokos (“Christ-bearer”).

Nearly seven hundred miles south in Egypt, Cyril was alerted to all this. He had spent years studying the Trinity and writing biblical commentaries, and he knew he had to engage. Cyril saw clearly what Nestorianism meant. If the One born of Mary and who later hung on the cross was not God Himself, then God had not come down to save us. Nestorius’ “Jesus” was a human man being raised up—a supercharged moral example, the ideal patron saint of those who intend to win salvation for themselves.

Getting Christ Right

Cyril was called to chair the Council of Ephesus in 431, where church leaders gathered and agreed to oppose Nestorius and his teaching. There was only one Lord Jesus Christ, and He could not be split in two, for our salvation had to be wrought by God Himself. A human empowered by divine assistance was no Savior. This meant that the person in action throughout Jesus’ earthly life—whether walking on water or falling asleep in a boat, whether healing the sick or suffering crucifixion—was none other than God the Son in the flesh. This was the identity of the baby born of Mary. The Council of Chalcedon in 451, seven years after Cyril’s death, crystalized all this further. God the Son had an eternal divine nature, and, to this, He added a true and full human nature in the incarnation. These two natures remain distinct in Jesus, but they are not separate persons or different sons, as was the consequence of Nestorius’ teaching. There was only one person working for our salvation in all the blood, sweat, and tears—the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God with Us

Cyril’s great contribution was not so much about getting the terminology right. He believed that the Jesus we imagine deeply shapes our view of God and the salvation He offers. Like Paul, Cyril saw that a distorted Jesus goes hand in hand with a distorted gospel (2 Cor. 11:4). Whereas Nestorius had a preconceived view of God and struggled to fit Jesus into it, Cyril started with Jesus Christ and allowed Him to unveil the Father and His heart. The God revealed in Jesus was pleased to draw near to sinful humanity in person (Col. 1:19–20)—not at arm’s length, nor through a proxy, but personally. God the Son came to us, clothed in our humanity, laid down His life, and took hold of us when we could not save ourselves. In Jesus, God truly loves sinners, up close and personal. The One who holds the world together is the same One who wept at the tomb of Lazarus, who grew tired after a journey, and who shed His blood on the cross for our redemption. He is Immanuel, God with us.

We have Cyril of Alexandria to thank for steering the church to worship and wonder at so great a salvation.

It is an unspeakable joy to be able to hold the very words of God in our hands and read them in our own language so we may know how to walk obediently. As Jesus Himself said in Luke 11:28, “Blessed . . . are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” May the Lord give Christian parents diligence to both model and teach a love for God’s Word. The stakes could not be higher.

Here are four tips that may help Christian parents engage kids with the Bible.

1. Lead by example.

Children should know that you love the Bible and that reading it is a vital part of your day. They should see you reading it or hear you talking about what you read today. Instill in them what a high privilege it is to have God’s Word accessible to us. God speaks to us through His Word and we must be eager to learn from it every day.

Children may be studying the Bible as part of school or church curriculum, but reading the Bible on their own is in a separate, vital category. As soon as your children are old enough to read, secure a personal copy of God’s Word for each of them so they can begin to treasure their own Bible and read it daily. Reading through the Bible is a worthy goal when children reach a certain age but establishing the habit of daily Bible reading early on is key. This is not to be relegated to a chore list so that it becomes simply a matter of checking another box along with making one’s bed. Don’t underestimate how the Lord will use a child’s reading of even a few verses a day on their own.

2. Develop a sense of wonder.

As you explore the Bible together, emphasize that it is not like any other book. Using age-appropriate words, explain how it is infallible, inerrant, sufficient, and eternal. Pray that they will grow up with an increasing sense of awe that God carefully preserved His very words for us for over two thousand years. Teach them the fascinating story of how the Bible was preserved and translated and how many brave men and women lost their lives in the process.

3. Memorize the Bible with them.

Children’s brains are like sponges. They can memorize easily. The more God’s Word is hidden in their hearts, the better it will serve them throughout their lives. Choose short verses to start, and soon you will have an arsenal of learned passages. If a child is having a particular struggle with fear or anxiety, for example, memorize key passages with him so that he can easily call God’s truth to mind at any time. Some families enjoy memorizing whole chapters or even whole books together as they work on it one verse at a time for however long it takes. Once memorized passages have successfully moved into our long-term memories, there is no limit to how the Lord will use His words to aid us in calming our own hearts and being able to speak the truth to those who are hurting and in need of the gospel.  

The Bible we hold in our hands does not just contain the word of God—it is the Word of God. This may be a helpful passage to begin with for memorization:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16–17)

4. Cultivate conversations that connect the Bible to life.

This can be done in limitless ways on any given day. Perhaps in your own Bible reading you cover the account of Balaam’s talking donkey—that would make interesting breakfast conversation! However, other passages deal with topics your child does not need to know about yet. Help them to realize that they will not understand every passage they read, and neither do you. Even the most learned scholars cannot understand it all. We must not be frustrated by that nor let it diminish our genuine love for God’s Word. The Lord will reveal truth to us as we genuinely seek to understand how He is at work from Genesis to Revelation to the praise of His glory.

Remember, the world wants your children to think the Bible is an old, irrelevant book. We know better. And we must continually be in conversation with our kids at every stage to eagerly show them how the Bible is indeed not only relevant but truly “a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.”

Time is running out to save on your registration for our 2026 Southern Ontario Conference, Thy Kingdom Come. The early-bird rate ends Saturday, June 13, so don’t delay. Register now and save 50% on the regular rate.

Join us on November 6–7 as we reflect on the profound significance of both Christ’s inaugurated rule in this present age and our hope in the consummation of His rule in the age to come.

CONFERENCE SESSIONS:

• The King and His Kingdom
• Preaching the Gospel
• Speaking the Truth in Love
• The World as God’s Mission Field
• Obedience and Rest
• The Kingdom to Come

We’ll also host a pastors’ pre-conference event, Standing Firm in the Truth, on November 6, 2026. This additional event invites pastors to reflect on Paul’s second letter to Timothy, offering guidance for ministers in Christ’s church as they seek to remain faithful to their calling.

PRE-CONFERENCE SESSIONS:

• Fan into Flame
• Guard the Deposit
• Endure Hardship
• Preach the Word

We hope you will join us for this time of mutual edification as we explore the biblical reality of God’s kingdom and the calling on every Christian to live under Christ’s lordship.

Register today to save before the early-bird rate ends on Saturday, June 13, at midnight ET.

Anxiety and depression mean different things to different people. Some people have experienced debilitating anxiety and despair that has found them in the back of an ambulance, in a psychiatric ward, or in a counseling center, while others have the occasional anxious or despairing thought that passes briefly through their minds before they fall into a peaceful sleep. For some, anxiety and depression can make it difficult to perform daily basic tasks. For others, they might come around only a few times every year and not significantly disrupt everyday life. This experiential range is demonstrated in the various ways in which people use the words. “I’m anxious” could mean no more than mild eagerness (e.g., “I’m anxious for the outcome of this basketball game”), or it could mean an unbearable distress. “That’s depressing” could be a reaction to an inconsequential alert (e.g., “It’s depressing that the Chicago Bulls lost”), or it could mean indescribable darkness.

Yet no matter where one finds himself or herself on the spectrum of this affliction, the reality remains: Anxiety and depression are not merely modern phenomena, nor are they outside the scope of God’s providential care. The Puritans spoke of the “dark night of the soul,” that period of despair when the assurance of God’s love feels as distant as the stars on a cloudy night. Nothing is more painful. Even the psalmist cries, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (Ps. 42:5). The experience of anxiety and sorrow is not foreign to the people of God, and yet Scripture does not leave us without comfort. Nor does it leave us without resources to press on in faithfulness.

For many Christians, the question of suffering—particularly suffering that arises from within—is among the most perplexing of theological challenges. Why, if I belong to Christ, does my soul still tremble? Why does peace, which He promised to leave with His people, seem so elusive? Where is the peace that surpasses all understanding that I was promised in Philippians 4:7? These are not questions that can be answered with mere sentimentality. They require a robust biblical understanding of both the nature of human frailty and the unwavering sovereignty of God.

To that end, it is crucial to acknowledge that anxiety and depression, while certainly influenced by spiritual realities, are also deeply intertwined with the way we are physically made. We are not souls trapped in bodies; we are embodied souls. The great minds of the Christian tradition—John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, and even the great theologian of joy, C. S. Lewis—understood that the human experience is one of profound complexity. The fall has wrought havoc not only on the will and affections but also on the mind and body. Thus, the experience of anxiety and depression is not necessarily a mark of weak faith but a mark of our shared human frailty.¹

What, then, shall we say? If anxiety is an unwelcome guest, should we seek only to expel it, or is there something to be learned even in its presence? The gospel speaks to our fears and our sorrows, not by offering a quick fix or a mere change of perspective, but by grounding us in the eternal realities of God’s unshakable love, His providential care, His sovereign power, and His glorious promises. The God who calls us to “[cast] all [our] anxieties on him” (1 Peter 5:7) does not do so as a distant deity unconcerned with the details of our distress. He does so as the one who took on human flesh, who wept at the tomb of His friend, who sweated drops of blood in Gethsemane, and who bore our griefs on the cross.

My new book Thy Deepest Distress is not written to provide a simple, formulaic solution to the struggles of anxiety and depression. In fact, it’s not even written to provide a “solution” at all. Rather, it is written to remind weary hearts that they are not alone—that the God who holds the universe together is the same God who upholds His children, even when their minds feel fractured and their hearts weighed down. It’s written to offer a different perspective on what might seem to you to be your biggest setback in life.

If you find yourself in the midst of anxiety’s tightening grip or depression’s dark shadow, take heart: This is not an accident. The one who formed you in your mother’s womb is the same one who sustains you even now. The Christian life is not a life free from affliction, but it is a life in which affliction is never meaningless—nor is it by accident. In the hands of our gracious and sovereign God, even our sorrows become instruments of grace. And in the end, we hold fast to the promise that though “weeping may tarry for the night, . . . joy comes with the morning” (Ps. 30:5).

One of the most dramatic moments in history occurred early one morning centuries ago as three men walked along a dusty road together. If you had been passing by on the other side, you would have seen nothing out of the ordinary—just three men talking together. But it was no ordinary day, and it was no ordinary man talking with those other two. For it was resurrection day, and the man was the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

The two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus were deeply discouraged, stunned that Jesus had died on a Roman cross. But they were also trying to make sense of reports from some women that the tomb was empty. They had no idea that the ordinary-looking man walking with them was the Lord. But Jesus is the Great Physician, and He heals more than just bodies. He ministered to their downcast hearts with a careful exposition of the Word of God, prophecies that made plain that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. And as He poured forth timeless truths into their ears, their hearts began to burn within them, hotter than ever before (Luke 24:32).

God calls His Word a fire (Jer. 23:29), and our hearts are the furnace in which it was designed to burn. One of the main purposes of Scripture is to save our souls from sin; salvation is knowing God and Christ (John 17:3) and loving God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength (Mark 12:30). Love is likened to a blazing fire, a mighty flame (Song 8:6). Scripture works knowledge into a love that blazes like a fire. Tragically, sometimes the world, the flesh, and the devil conspire to quench that fire temporarily. We become cold, distant, and hard. How can we rekindle our delight in God and His holy Word? Let me give five brief exhortations.

1. Acknowledge your coldness.

Start by being aware of how cold your heart has been toward Bible reading. Reading has been mechanical or entirely neglected. No light, no heat—that is, no insights and no passion for God. Cry out against your heart’s coldness. The Psalms are full of prayers concerning our own defective hearts. Three times in Psalms 42 and 43, the psalmist cries out against his own heart: “Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Hope in God” (see Ps. 42:5, 11; 43:5). If a depressed person can cry out against his soul, so can one whose heart is cold and distant from God.

2. Stop quenching the fire.

When our hearts were once on fire with scriptural truth and now they are not, we must realize that nothing has changed in the Bible; heaven and earth will pass away before a single letter changes in Scripture (Matt. 5:18). No, it is we who, by our sin, have quenched the Spirit and the fire of God’s Word (1 Thess. 5:19). Our sin soaks the wood of Scripture and makes it difficult to ignite. To regain a passion for the Word of God, we need to ask God to search our hearts and lives and show us the sin that is dousing the fire of God’s Word (Ps. 139:23–24). Follow carefully the steps of confession in James 4:1–10, and soon the fire will be ready to be rekindled.

3. Seek the Holy Spirit’s illumination.

The fire of Scripture comes through the Holy Spirit who inspired and illuminates it. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit descended onto each Christian in tongues of fire. So, as you are praying against your cold, passionless heart, specifically ask the Spirit to ignite the fire in your heart again. Open the Bible and pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened by the Spirit (Eph. 1:18). It is the Spirit who made the Word a fire in Jeremiah’s heart to begin with, a fire shut up in his bones, burning so hot he could not hold it in (Jer. 20:9). So the Spirit also worked in every author of Scripture, every word coming like a coal from a heavenly altar touching the lips of Isaiah, or Paul, or Peter, or John. Ask the Spirit to make His Word burn in you again.

4. Stack the kindling.

Fires start with small, easily combustible pieces called “kindling.” As you make your way back from cold deadness to a raging fire of passion for God’s Word, start with passages that clearly speak to your soul of God’s love for you in Christ. Go to the simplest passages that have burned in you previously. Christ, moved with compassion, healed the leper (Mark 1:41). Christ welcomed little children with open arms and tender touch (Matt. 19:13–15). Christ raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead with the words, “Little girl, I say to you, arise” (Mark 5:41). Milk that nourished your infant faith in Jesus can now become kindling to reignite His fire again.

5. Add the logs.

As your heart starts to burn again with insights given by the Spirit, expand to add the logs of weightier meditations. I would suggest a slow, prayerful journey through Romans 1–11. Dwell on the deeper doctrines that root your faith in eternity. Think about God’s eternal purposes for you in Christ, predestined to be conformed to His image (Rom. 8:28–30). Walk through the deepest doctrines with prayer and wonder, crying out, “Oh, the depth of the riches and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Rom. 11:33–36).

Soon, by God’s grace, you will be able to say, as did the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, “My heart is again burning within me as the Spirit opened the Scriptures to me.”

Ligonier Ministries joins with Christians around the world in thanking God for the life and ministry of Rosemary Jensen (1929–2026).

As the founder of the Rafiki Foundation, Rosemary labored joyfully to provide education and Christian discipleship to children, pastors, and communities throughout Africa. Her work was marked by a settled conviction that the greatest need of every person is to know God’s Word.

This commitment to the truth and life-changing power of Scripture led to Rosemary’s decades-long friendship with R.C. Sproul and Ligonier.

In 2001, Rosemary joined us at the Ligonier National Conference to reflect on how God uses His Word to bring His people to faith, transform their lives, and send them out into faithful service. Later, she wrote an article for Ligonier reminding Christians to live with values fixed on eternity, deploying our gifts and talents to further God’s everlasting kingdom.

Dr. Sproul shared Rosemary’s desire to see the church anchored in sound theology, with pastors well equipped to proclaim God’s Word faithfully for generations to come. This shared vision brought about a now-global outreach, Study Bibles for the World, gifting the Reformation Study Bible to the church where the need is greatest and faithful Christian teaching is least available.

Rosemary wanted 100,000 people throughout Africa to receive study Bibles before she died. In the Lord’s great kindness, she lived to see her vision achieved, with more than 114,000 Reformation Study Bibles distributed throughout the continent as of the end of May 2026.

Ligonier’s chairman, Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, shared these remarks following Rosemary’s death:

“By faith, Rosemary Jensen stopped the mouths of lions—at least metaphorically. She did so in her engaging way, making friends of many kinds and in many places to help her in her work of serving Christ. She was a clear-minded visionary seeking ways to encourage as many people as possible to study the Bible so they would know Jesus and grow stronger in faith. Unlike many visionaries, she was also a practical builder. She got things done at remarkable speed, whether producing Bible study materials for adults and children or building orphanages and schools where children could live, grow, and learn the Word of God.”

Chris Larson, Ligonier’s president, wrote this of Rosemary:

“I was brought into friendship with Rosemary because of her friendship with Dr. R.C. Sproul, a friendship that went back decades. Certainly, Rosemary cared deeply about missions, but never missions untethered from sound doctrine. She loved the church and wanted to see theologically faithful pastors strengthened, equipped, and encouraged to preach the Word of God with courage and conviction. She also cared deeply about the next generation of Christians, that they would be grounded in Scripture, formed by sound doctrine, and prepared to serve Christ faithfully in their own day. The Lord used Rosemary's faith to strengthen mine, and I praise God for her life and ministry.”

“God’s Word at Work.” Rafiki’s motto embodies the faithful testimony of Rosemary Jensen. Her confidence in Scripture and her devotion to serving others still bears fruit as God’s truth goes out to the nations.

Are you looking for a gift for Dad that can help deepen his knowledge of God’s Word and equip him for family discipleship?

This week only, receive steep discounts on more than 100 biblical discipleship resources—including select items available for as little as $1. Shop and save on a variety of books, teaching series, children’s titles, study Bibles, and more. Explore the collection.

Do you know someone looking for gift recommendations? Share this special sale with them. Don’t delay—this offer ends on Saturday, June 6. While supplies last.

Not sure what to get Dad? You can also purchase gift certificates to our online store ranging in value from $10 to $500.

Do our beliefs about God come from social media or Scripture? How do we learn who we are—by listening to influencers or to the inspired Word?

In a sea of swirling opinions, it’s vital that we build our faith on the Bible as our immovable foundation.

Join us in a city near you for an upcoming Always Ready event for Christians ages 12–18. Together, we’ll explore who God is, why we can trust the Bible, and how the gospel of Jesus Christ shapes our whole lives.

Save the date for an upcoming Always Ready event this fall:  

• Sanford, FL – September 19
• Santa Clarita, CA – October 10 
• Atlanta, GA – October 17

Group discounts are available—bring your youth group, young family members, and friends to one of our Always Ready events. Additional details for each event will be available soon.

Your support of Ligonier Ministries can help Christians take courage in our confused age.

Countless people are lost today. They wander through life without certainty and without hope. This confusion is not merely intellectual. It is profoundly spiritual. When we do not know who God is, we cannot rightly know who we are. Nor can we understand the world in which we live.

This is why theology matters.

For many years, Dr. R.C. Sproul reminded the church that everyone is a theologian. The question is not whether we think about God. The question is whether we think rightly about Him. Are our minds directed by the Word of God or by the spirit of the age? Are we guided by truth, or are we adrift in a sea of confusion?

R.C. understood that the church does not need less doctrine. The church needs doctrine that is clearly taught and faithfully applied. He believed that Christians require more than sentiment and passing inspiration. They must know God in all His holiness, sovereignty, and grace. Only the truth of God declared in all its fullness can lay the foundation for a faithful life.

This conviction has guided Ligonier from the beginning. I believe it is the conviction that our ministry supporters share. As Ligonier’s chairman, let me invite you to help people find direction in a disoriented world through trusted Christian teaching. Now, as this budget year draws to a close, your support by June 30 can accelerate the truth to more people.

As I reflect on the history of the church, I am reminded that in many periods of great confusion, God has raised up faithful witnesses to proclaim His truth. During the Protestant Reformation, the church found courageous leaders who defended the gospel of justification by faith alone. Later, as theological liberalism threatened the church, God raised up faithful teachers who would once again point His people to the authority of His Word.

In our day, the need is no less urgent. Many Christians are unprepared to answer the pressures of our culture. The rising generation is burdened by anxiety in a clamoring world. Pastors around the globe lack the training and materials they need to shepherd their people effectively.

Yet we are not discouraged, because the truth of God has not changed. The Lord Jesus Christ is still building His church (Matt. 16:18). The Word of God is still living and active (Heb. 4:12). And we continue to see God mercifully using the trusted Bible teaching of Ligonier to give courage and clarity to His people.

Driven by Dr. Sproul’s conviction that everyone is a theologian, the scope of Ligonier’s discipleship outreach extends to everyone. Today, Christians around the world are discovering the joy of theological learning and are finding security in the truth.

I often marvel at the global opportunities that God has provided for Ligonier to serve His church. R.C. planned for this teaching fellowship to have a worldwide impact on Christian discipleship, and these plans have borne extraordinary success. In the years since our founder went to be with the Lord, Ligonier’s ministry budget has doubled, while the reach of our Bible teaching has multiplied five times over.

Ligonier is not shrinking back. We are building momentum. By God’s grace, we seek to proclaim the whole counsel of God to the whole world.

This kingdom work is made possible through the prayers and generosity of friends who want to see R.C.’s vision realized. As Ligonier prepares to begin a new budget year, your support by June 30 has a direct influence on preparations for the next twelve months of outreach.

Your gift today can help:

• Accelerate the production of teaching resources and hold additional in-person training events so more Christians can defend their faith;
• Enhance the free Ligonier app and other digital platforms to give God’s people constant access to His Word in a confused world;
• Amplify the ministry of 500,000 pastors around the world by equipping them with the Reformation Study Bible;
• Strengthen the global church by translating a deep theological library into the world’s 20 most-spoken languages.

There are many worthwhile causes to support. Yet this one bears eternal significance as you help more people know the true and living God.

Even now, more doors for service are opening than Ligonier can presently enter. The same God who has blessed this ministry in the past is actively at work today. In His service, let us press forward together so more lives may be transformed in the knowledge of God.

Thank you for standing with Ligonier to proclaim the holiness of God to people of every age, in every stage of the Christian life, and in every nation.

What do Canadians really believe about God, the Bible, and salvation?

For the first time ever, Ligonier Ministries Canada and Lifeway Research have partnered to find out.

The State of Theology survey takes Canada’s theological temperature, revealing what people actually believe—both outside and inside the church.

The results are now in, and they’re sobering.

Many Canadian evangelicals affirm the authority of Scripture. Yet at the same time, widespread confusion is evident in the church:

• Nearly three out of four believe that people are born innocent in God’s eyes.
• Two-thirds think of the Holy Spirit as a force rather than a personal being.
• Almost half believe that Jesus was just a great teacher—but not God.

Time to Recover the Essentials

Decline is not inevitable, and confusion is not our only option. While these survey results are sobering, they show why clear, faithful Bible teaching is needed now more than ever.

Ligonier Ministries Canada exists to support the church in helping to reverse these problematic trends by equipping Christians with trusted theological materials. To that end, we hope The State of Theology can equip you with insights for discipleship in your community.

Respond to the Results: Free Study Guide

Gather a group from your church or community to discuss the significance of these results from the State of Theology Canada survey with the free digital study guide, found at the bottom of the webpage. Each section includes discussion questions and biblical insights to guide your conversations.

Engage with the Canadian State of Theology Survey:

• View key findings.
• Explore complete survey results.
• Take The State of Theology survey to compare your responses.
• Create a private group survey for friends or members of your church.

R.C. Sproul established Ligonier Ministries’ Military Chaplain Outreach to provide a spiritual supply line for servicemen and women around the world. Today, your donation can help men and women in the military to know God and His Word.

The support of friends like you has provided tens of thousands of books, Reformation Study Bibles, video teaching series, and issues of Tabletalk magazine to soldiers. And yet, we’re hearing from new chaplains each month asking for even more resources.

Your donation today can help meet the growing demand for trusted teaching, equipping military chaplains to serve the soldiers under their care. Your gift helps provide chaplains with custom care packages that include:

• Edifying Christian books
• The Reformation Study Bible
• Video teaching series
• Issues of Tabletalk magazine

Support the Troops

We seek to raise $50,000 to help fund our Military Chaplain Outreach for the next year. Your donation today helps ensure that each military chaplain can receive the discipleship resources they need to minister to the soldiers under their care.

By God’s grace, your gift of $25, $50, or $100 can help transform lives, equipping soldiers to know God and His Word.

Are you making plans for your fall Sunday school curriculum? Or looking for a trusted resource to help your church pass down the Christian faith to the next generation?

For a limited time, save an additional 20% on Growing in God’s Word, a Bible curriculum from Ligonier to help churches, families, and schools teach children the story of Scripture with clarity and confidence.

With 52 lesson plans, this teacher’s resource equips you to guide the next generation confidently through the Word of God. Use code GROW20 at checkout to secure your savings.

Everything you need to teach with confidence:

• A Teacher’s Guide
• 52 Bible Lessons
• Suggested Prayers
• Learning Activities
• Optional Catechism Questions

Whether you’re preparing for a new school year, teaching Sunday school, or looking for a new homeschool curriculum, Growing in God’s Word helps you engage children with the Bible’s transformative story.

Choose the format that best fits your classroom:

• A printed edition for in-person teaching
• A digital edition for flexible access and team use
• Additional licenses to equip multiple teachers
• Baptist and Presbyterian & Reformed editions to fit your church’s needs

Use code GROW20 at checkout to save an additional 20%. Don’t delay—this sale ends Tuesday, June 30, at midnight ET.

Ligonier Ministries has entered a joyful partnership with Joni and Friends as part of our Study Bibles for the World campaign.

Many of you are likely familiar with Joni Eareckson Tada. She has been a longtime friend of Dr. R.C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries, and she has given her testimony at our national conference in years past. The organization she founded, Joni and Friends, works to bring practical assistance and gospel hope to people with disabilities and their families around the world.

Now, through Ligonier’s Study Bibles for the World campaign, we have the opportunity to bring the Reformation Study Bible to pastors who are ministering to people with disabilities and their families.

Watch this brief video as president of Joni and Friends, Shawn Thornton, and I discuss this new avenue to equip the global church—all made possible through the support of friends like you.

In many parts of the world where living conditions are challenging and false teaching is rampant, few pastors are well equipped to preach a biblical theology of suffering. For Christians struggling with disabilities, this can be devastating.

Now we have the opportunity to send a one-volume theological library through Joni and Friends’ extensive distribution networks to equip pastors on the front lines of the Great Commission.

1 John 3:17–18 conveys the importance of rendering assistance as a show of our Christian unity and our love for one another in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’re honored by this opportunity to support the pastors and leaders who are ministering to our suffering brothers and sisters around the world.

Will you pray for this new partnership with Joni and Friends as we seek to serve God’s people in more places? Thank you for your support of Ligonier as we seek to strengthen the global church together.

God calls His people to pass down the Christian faith to the next generation. As we teach the Bible to our children, we invite them into the captivating story of redemption.

Now available in a digital edition, Growing in God’s Word is designed to assist you in this calling. With 52 lesson plans, this teacher’s resource helps churches, families, and schools lead elementary students through an overview of the Bible.

Flexible Options for Your Classroom

Whether you need the complete K–5 set or just one learning level, the digital edition of Growing in God’s Word is flexible to fit the needs of your classroom.

• Purchase the complete K–5 set or individual learning levels
• Choose the Presbyterian & Reformed Edition or the Baptist Edition
• Add additional digital licenses to share with teachers, volunteers, or families

Your Digital Curriculum Includes:

• A Teacher’s Guide
• 52 Bible Lessons
• Suggested Prayers
• Learning Activities
• Optional Catechism Questions
• 5 Digital Licenses—Print One Copy or Share with Others

Order your digital copy today.

More Digital Supplementary Materials

Find more free downloadable resources on GrowingInGodsWord.org to adapt for your classroom and enhance your lesson preparation. These free materials include:

• An adaptation guide showing how to use the curriculum in different settings
• Coloring sheets for each lesson that you can print and share with your students
• Lesson summaries with the main idea and passage taught in every lesson
• Scope and sequence listing all lesson subjects, verses, and catechism Q&As
• Activity material list with recommended classroom items for every lesson

Purchase a digital copy of Growing in God’s Word today and engage children with the Bible’s transformative story.

Time is running out to save on your registration for our 2026 London Conference, Chosen by God. The early-bird rate ends Saturday, May 16, so don’t delay. Register now and save 40% on the regular rate.

Join us on September 25–26 as we explore how the doctrine of election reveals the riches of God’s mercy, the certainty of His purposes, and the ultimate hope of eternal fellowship with Him.

CONFERENCE SESSIONS:

• Before the Foundation of the World
• The Potter and the Clay
• Chosen for Holiness
• Christ, the Chosen Cornerstone
• The Golden Chain of Redemption
• God’s Purpose in Election
• A Chosen Race, a Royal Priesthood
• Panel Discussion
• Two Q&A Sessions

We’ll also host a pastors’ pre-conference event, Shepherding and the Sovereignty of God, on September 25, 2026. This additional event is designed to help pastors reflect on their calling as shepherds of God’s flock serving under the ultimate authority of Christ, the Chief Shepherd. Learn more.

PRE-CONFERENCE SESSIONS:

• The Chief Shepherd’s Reign
• Strength in Weakness
• Preaching Christ with Conviction
• The Steadfast Pastor
• Q&A Session

We hope you will join us for this time of mutual edification and fellowship as we reflect on the glorious reality of God’s electing grace.

Register today to save before the early-bird rate ends on Saturday at midnight ET.

My other favorite Reformer, partly because I love his name, is Johannes Oecolampadius. His name literally means “house lamp,” but he was a brilliant language scholar. He wrote a Hebrew grammar. He wrote a commentary on Isaiah that became the model for Luther, for Calvin, and for all the Old Testament work of a whole century of scholars. Every time we pick up our English Bible, we know that a boatload of scholars made that possible. Some of them gave their blood for us to have an English Bible. Oecolampadius was one of those guys. He died young, but he filled his life as much as he could. And what a great name!

This text doesn’t literally mean we should never do anything other than pray. It’s clear the Scriptures call us to all sorts of other things. But prayer should be a regular, recurring part of our whole experience, such that there are not only, perhaps, set times of prayer for us but that we turn to the Lord throughout the day. We don’t have to pray at great length all the time, and I think that’s part of the reminder here. This text calls us to cultivate a sense of the presence of God with us, along with us turning our hearts, minds, and cares to Him regularly throughout the day.

It’s an encouragement to think of ourselves as a prayer-filled people. That’s the call, and it’s a valuable call for us to hear.

To know who you are already in Christ is invaluable. You belong to Him. Any persecution you experience, any demeaning you experience, yes, it will be sore, but you can look up to Him and say: “Lord, I belong to You, I’m Yours, and I know this is about You. You will help me cope with it.”

The other thing I would say is really get to know your Bible. Psalm 119 was written for people your age. That’s why it says, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” (Ps. 119:9). Psalm 119 teaches us that if we hide God’s Word in our hearts, it will not only protect us from sinning, but it will make us wiser even than our teachers. That doesn’t mean you’ll know more than a rocket scientist, but it does mean that you have the clues to the meaning of life and that you learn in Scripture first principles that will enable you to negotiate your way through life. That is such a tremendously stabilizing force.

I would also advise that you really seek to understand Christian doctrine. Understanding Christian doctrine gives you a framework of reference, and most of your peers have no idea of their framework of reference. They don’t have any roots. They don’t have any first principles of which they are conscious. They are awash. They’re blown around, as Paul says, by any teaching that comes along. There is “cool” teaching that you’ll come across—for example, it’s cool to be an atheist today just like it was cool to smoke fifty years ago. But just like it was cool to smoke fifty years ago, being an atheist is going to kill you.

There is a tremendous strength in the Christian gospel, and one of the things our conference time does for youngsters is give them a sense that the gospel has its own intellectual power, and we don’t need to be ashamed of it.

There are people in the visible church—that is, they attend church and may even be members of the church—but they are not members of the invisible church. They may even make a profession of faith, but we don’t know the heart. We can’t see into the heart. In some denominations, in order to be a member, you have to have a credible profession of faith. They are looking for evidences, but even then they don’t know if someone is genuinely saved.

To sum it up, false converts are not converts who then become not converts. They were never converts. This is not something that’s new for us; it’s there in the epistles of John and in the New Testament church.

I started reading the Bible when I was nine. I had read John 5:39–40 before, but I was fourteen when it hit me. That verse applied to me in this way: I thought being a Christian meant reading the Bible, saying prayers, helping old ladies cross the street, and doing good things, but that verse hit me like a hammer. I thought: “This is exactly where I am. I’ve been searching the Scriptures and reading them diligently. In five years, I’ve probably missed only five days of reading the Bible.” It really came to me with great power and awakened me. It didn’t convert me; it awakened me. A number of months afterward, I was brought to a living faith through John 8:12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Those are reasons why I love John’s gospel from my mid-teens, but there are many other reasons. One of them is simply because of the sheer wonder of the portrayal of Christ in it. There are also sections of it that I particularly love. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve loved John 13–17 particularly, but there is no part of it I don’t love. Every time I read it or preach on it, I think, “This is absolutely endless.” The early fathers used to say that John’s gospel was like a sea that an elephant could swim in and in which a lamb could bathe—it’s just so rich for all believers. So, I think my favorite book of the Bible is John’s gospel.

I remember when I was converted as a high school student and first found myself worshiping amongst the Dutch Reformed, we always prayed the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” We can debate the translation, and it can go either way, but I think our Lord is reminding us that He withstood temptation for us and overcame the evil one. We pray that He will continue to preserve us so we don’t face temptation as He faced it and that we would be delivered from the evil one to live for Christ. I think that’s at least part of what’s going on in the Lord’s Prayer.

REEDER: I love the translation, “Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” I actually think it’s a better translation because that’s exactly where this is aiming: we are reminded of Christ having endured temptation for us, and therefore, we are delivered through His faithfulness in all of life under the assault of the evil one.

On the other hand, the notion of testing itself is not evil. On the contrary, God uses testing. Further, God can sovereignly take that which the world, the flesh, and the devil would use to ensnare us, and the Lord can use it instead to disciple us and develop us. But we are to flee temptation. I’ll make two comments.

First, Christians make a big mistake in this area by saying that we resist temptation and flee Satan. I think the Bible would have us do the opposite. The Bible does not want us to flee Satan; the Bible wants us to resist Satan, and he will flee from us. But that which is designed to ensnare us into sin, we are to flee that temptation and pursue the environment of holiness and the means of grace that build us up.

Second, having said that, when God brings tests, they are not designed to ensnare us. Rather, they are designed to edify us. A test from the divine hand does three things. It’s kind of like my algebra teacher in the eighth grade. I was convinced she gave me tests to flunk me. I have always told people: “You never have to worry about prayer in school. As long as you’ve got algebra tests, you’ll have prayer in school, I can promise you.” But a test in the hand of the Almighty is there to show us what we know, to show us what we don’t know, and to show us what we need to know. That is from the hand of the Lord. But we flee that which is designed by the world, the flesh, and the devil to bring us down.

PARSONS: I think it is confusing for everyone when we hear that translation. Part of the issue with the way it’s translated into English and the way we understand that portion of the Lord’s Prayer is that it’s a bit of a Hebraism. It’s a way of speaking. It’s a manner of getting a point across to say: “When we are tempted, Lord, lead us away from it. Get us out of it. Help us to flee it.” I know that sounds like the opposite of what it is saying, but that is the way the Hebrews thought and spoke. We see Hebraisms throughout the Gospels, and I think that’s what it’s getting at.

The second thing I would say is that many Christians have been taught to have prejudices against the Reformed faith, but often they don’t know what it is. However, if they are really the Lord’s people, there is one person they are not supposed to have a prejudice against, and that is the Lord Jesus. So, immerse yourself in the teaching of Jesus.

Our late friend, James Montgomery Boice, once preached a sermon on the radio, which I think was called “Was Jesus a Calvinist?” He got more bad press for that sermon than for anything else, but that is actually quite a good question because we can get prejudices about “isms,” but if we are the Lord’s people, we love the Lord Jesus. We know even at the instinctive and emotional level that if He taught it, we should listen, and if He believed it, we need to learn to believe it.

So, a great tool for us in keeping friendships and helping our friends is our own study of the way in which Jesus Himself taught about the grace of God, the depravity of man, the nature of the atonement, and the sovereignty of God. It’s all in the Gospels. I think that will enable you to maintain friendships, or if you lose them, they will be lost because alas, people won’t listen to Christ Himself. That is very sore, but I think it does mean that you have not been the offensive one. That’s one thing that I’ve found helpful.

The Spirit primarily does two things in us, and if you understand these two things, you’ll understand how the Spirit helps us pray. First, the Spirit illumines us. He opens our eyes to see who God is truly, and we then find our minds turned. We have a complete misunderstanding of what God is like, and then the Spirit opens our eyes, and it’s a mighty aha moment that carries on as we carry on being educated by the Spirit. So, the Spirit renews our minds as we think: “Oh, that is what God is like. I did not think God was like that.”

Second, by renewing our minds, the Spirit transforms our hearts. He takes away a heart of stone to give us a heart of flesh. That is an initial work that He does, but it’s also an ongoing work. The Spirit gives us a new mind and a new heart, but He also ongoingly educates us and affects us. In regard to prayer, that means that as the Spirit works in me, my mind is enabled to know what to pray for.

As a young Christian, I naturally tended to have a prayer life like a shopping list of blessings for me, my family, and my friends, and it was pretty self-centered. And then I’d remember that I ought to do some less self-centered prayers. But as the Spirit works in me and transforms my mind, and I see reality differently, as I start seeing the centrality of God and not me, then my prayers start following that change. My prayers start becoming more God-centered and less me-centered. That’s the Spirit’s re-education work.

Further, through the Spirit’s re-education work, He is also transforming my affections and desires. It’s not merely as the Spirit works in me that I know, “Yes, I really ought to be more God-centered and less self-centered.” Rather, the Spirit is doing a deeper work. He’s actually making me want to be and enjoy being God-centered so this just becomes natural to me. I’m not trying to work at it. It just comes out of who the Spirit is making me to be. Therefore, I begin to desire to pray God-centered, God-loving, and God-adoring prayers.

The Spirit educates and affects me such that I begin to desire to pray, to desire long communion with God in a way that I did not think about before. Initially, prayer was just one of those things that I ought to do every now and again. But the Spirit’s work runs so deep that I begin to enjoy communion with God.

So, it’s those two things that the Spirit does. He educates me, transforming my mind, and He transforms my affections so that I enjoy prayer and begin to pray more intelligently and more Christian prayers.

The basic principle is to make sure that you have space in your day, then space in your week, and then space in your month set aside for reading. I remember the late John Stott saying that he tried to read one hour a day, a morning a week, a day a month, and a week a year. If you keep that up, or some such program, even though it seems slow, you will eventually get through a lot of books over a longer period of time.

This is not a matter of setting a pattern or a standard for everyone. Some of us read very quickly, and some of us read more slowly. Some books should be read quickly. Others should be read slowly. I think the thing that helps is breaking the back of our sloth and indifference and saying, “Even if I have to start small, I will do it.” And if you keep going, it’s amazing how much you can get through.

I would also recommend paying attention to the style. If you read something and think, “That is really good,” then don’t just go on to the next thing. Look back and ask yourself: “Why is this really good? How is this person doing this?” Then, see if you can build some of these principles into your own use of language. I think we often forget that we use language in ministry, and the better we can use it, the better it will be. In a sense, the better our language is, the better we will be able to glorify God with words—not just cheap, easy words and slang but words that exalt God and lift the spirits of those who listen to us.

In the ministry of Christ and the seventy, when they came back from their mission, Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). An aspect of Satan’s control over the world was affected by the ministry of Christ, His death and resurrection, and the day of Pentecost, which suggests that now the gospel is to be preached in all the world.

That being said, Satan is still referred to as the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). He still has power. He does not have as much power as he did under the old covenant, but he is still to be reckoned with: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). In his Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis said something along the lines that you can make too much of the devil, but you can also make too little of him. He hasn’t yet been cast into the bottomless pit that the book of Revelation speaks of in Revelation 20. So, he is very much to be reckoned with, even in the new covenant.

GODFREY: I certainly agree, but we have to be very clear: Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords now. I think Lewis is exactly right: we can’t make too much or too little of Satan. On the “too much” side, sometimes we talk about Satan almost as if he were a minor god. He is a finite creature, which means he can’t be everywhere at once. He can’t be the Holy Spirit, so he has minions who serve him.

Sometimes we talk as if there is the Holy God and then there is the evil god, Satan. Satan is not God. He’s a finite creature. He’s limited by his finitude as well as by God’s sovereignty. He is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but he is chump change compared to the sovereign God. He has been defeated, and he will be destroyed. Our calling is not to let him destroy us before he is destroyed.

FERGUSON: We all try to answer questions by saying the same thing in different ways, and there are two things I’ve found helpful in this context.

The first is what Bob has alluded to in Matthew 28:18–20. Jesus is saying in Matthew 28:18–20 that as the second man and the last Adam, He has won back the dominion on earth that Adam lost. Adam lost his dominion. He fell to the tempter. Christ has overcome the tempter so that He now says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” We might instinctively think, “He’s the Son of God—of course all authority in heaven and on earth is His.” But Jesus is speaking in a particular context, saying that the dominion Satan won in the garden of Eden has been overthrown, and that authority is now His.

The second is to pick up what Derek said: the limiting context of the expression regarding the binding of Satan is that he would no longer deceive the nations. It isn’t just a general statement, “Satan is bound,” but that Satan is bound in this particular respect: until the resurrection of Christ, the sending of the Holy Spirit, and the coming of the last days, Satan was deceiving all the nations except the one nation God was undeceiving in His mercy. On the day of Pentecost, the crowd that gathered was analogous to the crowd that gathered to build the Tower of Babel in an attempt to pull God down. God judged the nations at Babel and committed them to the deception of Satan. But from the day of Pentecost onwards, the nations are being undeceived by the preaching of the gospel. That is symbolized by the gatherings of the people at Pentecost and has now been experienced for two thousand years.

This is just another way of saying that we always need to look at the context in which phrases are used. We don’t just see a phrase and then make up ourselves what it means. In specific ways, the Scriptures help us to see these statements within a particular grid and context. So, when the Scriptures say that Satan is the god of this age, we realize that those who are not Christians are living in this age. However, the end of the ages has dawned on believers, and the preaching of the gospel continues to invade this age to bring people into the new age, which will continue until the Lord comes. And then, whatever your eschatology, comes the end.

I was seventeen in 1965, a first-year student at university, and I encountered the first reprints of John Owen’s works. They were big—six hundred pages per volume, and there were twenty-four volumes. I was able to buy them for fifteen shillings a volume, which is about eighty cents or something like that. When you are Scottish and young and you can get six hundred pages for under a dollar, you buy it. Of course, I’m being humorous. But when I started to read him, I realized this was a different order of teaching altogether. Owen’s works were so theologically rich and spiritually profound that they made some of the other things I was reading seem very superficial. So, that was how I started reading John Owen, and I have kept reading him ever since.

If somebody asked me, “Which theologian taught you to think?” I would say John Calvin because I bought his Institutes when I was a teenager as well.

BINGHAM: Was it expensive or cheap?

FERGUSON: I got them cheap. However, they were more per volume than John Owen. I probably got my first set of Calvin’s Institutes for about $4.50. But Owen helped me to apply theology and to see the way biblical theology flows out into the experience of the church and the Christian life.

Some of Owen’s books in particular helped me, and the one I have treasured most is his book Communion with God, which focuses on communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are also helpful volumes in his complete works. He talks about Christ in volume one, sin in volume six, and justification in volumes four and five. There are twenty-four volumes. I go back to reading him and sometimes think, “Why do I bother reading anybody else?” It is so rich. He is not an easy read, but it’s worth persevering.

The world takes confidence in all sorts of things. It takes confidence in its own accomplishments. It takes confidence in the various ways it avoids having to think about reality. It’s sometimes prideful. Sometimes it’s just indifferent. Christian confidence, on the other hand, is attuned to the Word of God, the promises of God, and the assurance of what God has said.

Recently, I was talking to some friends about a dear saint in our church who is on her deathbed. They reported that she is full of confidence that Jesus has eternal life for her and that death is not the end. It is critical that we have confidence like hers as we face the struggles, difficulties, and from our limited perspective, uncertainties of life. We can have confidence that God’s promises that will prove true.

Machen was a brilliant scholar. He had a bachelor’s from Johns Hopkins, was Princeton-trained, and then became a Princeton professor. Machen lived during the time of modernism in American culture, as the twentieth century was a time of optimism and growth. Of course, it had World War I, but that influenced Europe far more than it did America because it took place on European soil. France lost 2 million people in World War I, while America lost 170,000 soldiers, which is terrible, but the differences are known. But it was still a time of modernism, and Machen lived during the “Roaring Twenties,” as we call it. It was a culture that was ready to move away from God. That’s modernism: “We don’t need God anymore. We built skyscrapers, and He is holding us back.”

Much of the church didn’t want culture to keep moving past them, so they said: “Hold on, you don’t have to leave just yet. We’ll make our doctrines a little more palatable. If you don’t like sinful man, let’s say that humanity is basically good. If you don’t like the idea that Christ had to die and you must have a substitute, let’s turn Christ’s death into just an example that you are empowered to follow every day. Isn’t that beautiful?” That’s liberalism. It compromised the doctrines that actually define Christianity in order to stay at the “cool table” of culture.

Along came Machen, and he wrote a book, Christianity and Liberalism. He essentially said: “This is not Christianity. This is a Christianity without a cross, which is not Christianity. Christianity without the message of sin is not Christianity. Christianity without an authoritative Bible standing over us that we are accountable to is not Christianity. If you don’t have those things, you don’t have Christianity. You are American. You are free to believe whatever you want to believe. We love liberty, but you can’t believe something that’s the total opposite of Christianity and call it Christianity.” Machen took a bold stand.

I mention all of this because I think it’s true of the story of American Christianity, which is a tale of two cities. We love our culture in America. Sometimes, we want to be a part of it so much so that we’ll compromise our convictions. It has happened. We all saw it. It’s happening right now. Whole denominations are selling their birthright to keep up with culture. That’s one city. Or, we can be a church of conviction that says, “No, we are going to follow God’s Word.” Machen is a good example of being a Christian of conviction.

So, that is one incident I find interesting and informative.

Later on, I used a different pattern and then I started using the kind of “Through the Bible in a Year” type pattern and there are various forms of that. I have used one that was written by Robert Murray M’Cheyne, Scottish minister in the nineteenth century that is very well known. You read four chapters a day from Old Testament, New Testament. You get through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice in the year. And so, getting through the whole Bible each year I think is a helpful practice.

I’ve also, in addition to that, focused from time to time on certain books and given them more concentrated study. The material I actually recommend, I think I find myself recommending most, is actually Tabletalk, Nathan, for two reasons. One is because it does give you that help of a disciplined program of Bible reading. It gives you help in the notes that help you to expound and understand and apply the text, and there are also some great articles that go along with it. And it’s a terrific bargain. So, product placement is Tabletalk.

I know people who have used the same pattern all their lives. I have tended to vary the patterns I’ve used just because knowing the way I’m wired, that’s what I’ve found most helpful. And then, I have surrounded that with various things. You know sometimes I’ll have used some kind of prayer book just to help me, you know, to get the engine started. Sometimes I would sing.

Last year I did something I had never done before. I’m a speed reader and I felt I was speed reading instead of meditating, and so I started chanting the Psalms to myself, now not quite in the old Anglican way, but what I found in the English Standard Version was I could slow myself down by chanting out loud. And one of the things, I think, both my wife and myself have found is that speaking the Bible out loud is a very good help to Bible study because it was actually written to be heard and not just to be read.

So, those are some of the things that I have found helpful.

For those who want to pretend that God doesn’t exist and want to act as if He doesn’t and claim that He doesn’t, I still say to begin with Him. At the end of the day, people are not converted by the way in which we evangelize but rather by God who works in their hearts. So, objectively, begin with God. Begin with His standard, His character, who He is, and what He demands.

At the same time, I would also say that it depends on the conversation. I am engaged in conversations with non-Christians all the time, whether at restaurants, where I am in the community, at the gym, and so on, and it’s fascinating to me: people are incurably religious. They are religious at the very core of their being. Even people who don’t go to church, who are not a part of any organized religion, are religious. We see it every Sunday: clubs, communities, people coming together, being spiritual, being people of faith, whatever they are. So, start wherever they are. In one sense, you can meet people where they are. If they’re thinking about their children, if they’re thinking about their situation, if they’re worried about things, if they have guilt, if they feel the pressures and the anxieties of life, start there.

I would also say this: engage in conversations with them as human beings in a genuine and authentic way because you actually care about them. Yes, you want to communicate and proclaim the gospel to them—but communicate with them because you care about them.

That’s one of the things we see Jesus doing in His ministry. We see the Apostles doing that in their ministries. They have a love for people and a care for human beings. It’s true that their love for God and their desire to glorify God exceeds all of that, but they actually do care about people. They engage with people because they care about them. They care about their souls.

We evangelize not so that we can tell our Christian friends that we have evangelized; we evangelize for the glory of God and for the sake of the souls of those to whom we speak.