For the first time in the Gallup poll’s eight-decade history, in 2020 church membership in the United States fell below 50 percent in America. From World War II all the way to the mid-1990s, church membership among adults was nearly always above 70 percent. The...

“All these years I’ve been slaving for you.” Two Ways to Find Happiness Jesus uses the younger and elder brothers to portray the two basic ways people try to find happiness and fulfillment: the way of moral conformity and the way of self-discovery. Each acts as a lens...

I just finished a haunting historical description of the church in my lifetime. I’d like to offer a suggestion. But, before I do, let me give you an excerpt from the book: From 1870 to 1895, church attendance more than doubled, from 13.5 million people to 32.7...

Albert Einstein published his equations of general relativity in 1915, and a Dutch astronomer named Willem de Sitter discovered a solution to them that predicted an expanding universe. The importance of these discoveries showed the world that the universe was...

According to linguists, abracadabra is the most universally used word that doesn’t need translation.[1] It’s a word employed by magicians, but the etymology is more spiritual than magical. The ancient words A’bra K’dabra mean “As I speak, I shall create.”[2] In other...

I live on a street where the men have a habit of watering the front lawn by hand with a garden hose. I’m sure their wives are asking, “Why can’t you use a sprinkler?” The men probably argue that a sprinkler wastes water. But, deep down, the real reason is that it...

SOME YEARS AGO we planted a tree on the west side of our house expecting it to grow and eventually shade us from the afternoon sun. We were disappointed because, for some reason, the tree didn’t grow. It didn’t die, but neither did it grow. Possibly, it was because it...

God’s Gift of Specialists Up to this point, we have explored the foundations of our new life in Christ and the process of transformation into His image. But, as we’ve seen, the specifics of God’s design involve other members of the team, the church. As Paul turns from...

Deep in our souls, like the woman at the well, we thirst for joy, security, meaning, unconditional love, and belonging. Our thirst for these things is not wrong. The places we seek them are. The glory of God is the water for which we thirst. His love is the security...

Truth #4: Every person will spend eternity in heaven with Christ and fellow believers or in hell separated from God forever. The Scripture is emphatically clear about the reality of heaven and hell. In recent days, some evangelical leaders have challenged the idea of...

As an Asian kid, when I was growing up, I never noticed roof racks on cars. That’s because Asian parents aren’t big on roof racks. They have no need to own roof racks because they don’t go surfing or camping. The whole reason your Asian parents make you study so hard...

If you’ve spent any time watching home-improvement shows on TV, you’ve seen plenty of examples of transformation. Often a married couple or partners in real estate and renovation, both with enormous know-how and creativity, take an out-of-date, sometimes dilapidated...

When the elder brother hears from the servants that his younger brother has returned and has been reinstated by his father, he is furious. Now it is his turn to disgrace the father. He refuses to go in to what is perhaps the biggest feast and public event his father...

Tim Keller says that when we experience the inevitable disappointment that comes from drinking out of a broken cistern, we respond in one of four ways: Blame the idol. We assume that we simply chose the wrong idol and resolve to make a better choice next time. “Well,...

Typically, as we engage in conversation, we’ll naturally progress through the interests and values layers to reach the final worldviews layer. If we earn enough trust in the interests layer, we’ll be allowed to progress to the values layer. If we navigate the values...

Truth #3: Every person will be judged and granted the extended capacity to fulfill in eternity the deepest yearnings and desires of their hearts while on earth. Let’s unpack Truth #3 phrase by phrase. First, every person will be judged. Believers and nonbelievers will...

There is an inverse relationship between the size of the group and the amount of life change. The smaller the group, the greater the change. DISCIPLESHIP MEANS LIFE CHANGE We are not out to make smarter sinners.We are out to make disciples. People who love the Lord...

A lot is packed into Ephesians 4:7–10, the four verses we’ve covered in this chapter. They present the basis of our transformation in the cross and resurrection of Jesus, the resounding victory He declared and implemented in the dark, obscure time between those two...

Artist-musician Madonna made a career out of pushing the limits of morality. Every few years she seemed to come out with something more outrageous. Tim Keller references a statement she made in an interview with Vogue magazine where she explained why: My drive in life...

“There was a man who had two sons.” The Lost Younger Brother Jesus’s story might best be named the Parable of the Two Lost Sons. It is a drama in two acts, with Act 1 entitled “The Lost Younger Brother” and Act 2 “The Lost Elder Brother.” Act 1 begins with a short but...

I got a clear picture of this transformation process pretty early in my Christian experience. My dad was brought up in a strong, moral, “culturally Christian” home, but he was not a Christian. He grew up during the Depression, his father died when he was thirteen, and...

Both older brothers and younger brothers are with us today, in the same society and often in the very same family. Frequently the oldest sibling in a family is the parent-pleaser, the responsible one who obeys the parental standards. The younger sibling tends to be...