The mystery and the wonder of this day too often vanishes from our minds. We celebrate today the most wondrous eruption of reality, and for us it has become ordinary, a ritual shorn of its profundity and mystery. That God should break into his creation as one of the mortals, suffer a wretched death as the reward for perfectly acquitting himself before God and man, and then come bursting forth from the grave in which they buried him is not only extraordinary, not only supernatural; it is as earth-shaking as the convulsions that tore the veil at his last breath. Read on, intrepid explorer →

Most of us feel regret, to some extent or another, after we sin. Whether it’s being rude to a friend, fantasizing lustfully, envying a neighbor’s car, or gossiping, we all know the way our conscience pricks us in the aftermath. We often respond – rightly – with regret over our actions.

Then, having regretted our sin, we call it a day. We move on.

And a day, or an hour, or a minute later, we’re doing the same thing again.

Regret, as it turns out, is not the same as repentance. Read on, intrepid explorer →

Readers may have noticed a bit of a trend in the last few quotes I’ve posted here: they orient on race. I’ve been increasingly aware of the role of race in our churches – and particularly, of just how poorly American evangelicals have handled race issues – over the past year or so. PJ King tackled the topic for Pillar on the Rock back when we were still writing regularly there, and I think his thoughts on history and trajectory are accurate and important.

In the interval between then and now, I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading various books and blogs that have highlighted in equally various ways just how central the issue of ethnic diversity is to true gospel ministry. Read on, intrepid explorer →