When we hear the expression, "the good, the bad, and the ugly," we naturally conceive three separate categories. Good things happen in life. Bad things happen in life. And while the bad and the ugly categories may bleed together at times, ugly thingsuniquely bad, life-altering thingsunfortunately occur with sufficient frequency as to require a distinct category. But can t...

Sunday is Easter, the Christian celebration of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Christians gather the first day of every week for this same celebration, but tomorrow marks the anniversary of the event. Or does it? "Not so," some Christian authors insist, "not the anniversary of the event, simply the commemoration of your personal experience of itwhatever 'it' means to yo...

These considerations were offered byPastor Dan Millerto the members of Eden Baptist Church in May 2016 as preliminary groundwork for helping certain members discern the Lord's direction regarding their potential involvement with a church plant. The points have been altered slightly to reflect their general application to churches in any context who may be facing a similar ...

A young woman was contemplating marriage to a young man. He had not yet proposed, but they continued to discuss the prospect of matrimony. He had chosen pastoral ministry as his life's vocation. She wisely discerned that marriage to a minister would constitute something other than a normal life. A level-headed woman by nature, she determined to weigh her future rationally,...