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Articles by Dee Brestin
Atomic Habits and Bible Intake: How Tiny Changes Add Up
In his best-selling book Atomic Habits, James Clear tells the story of a friend who lost over 100 pounds through diet and exercise. Clear’s friend began with a goal of going to the gym for five minutes daily. (He even set a timer and faithfully left the gym each day after five minutes.) By making his goal achievable and repeatable, he became someone who went to the gym every day.
Did My Sin Cause My Suffering?
In the midst of suffering, we often want to know the reason for our trial. Sometimes our most painful suffering is directly caused by our sin (1 Cor. 11:30–32). But often it isn’t (John 9:3; 2 Cor. 12:8–9). So how do we know if our suffering should be met (1) with patient endurance or (2) with immediate repentance? Advertise on TGC Two Categories Both categories are true. God sends some suffering for us to evaluate our lives (Heb. 12:6).
Jeremy Treat on the Transformative Power of the Atonement
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Collin Hansen Well, the Gospel brings many benefits. We think about forgiveness, about victory, about redemption, and all kinds of other benefits. But the greatest benefit of the gospel is, of course, God himself. The cross removes the barrier that separates sinners from God.
Jesus’s Love Warns
When I was in my early 20s, my family took a trip to Yellowstone National Park. One afternoon, we saw the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, the largest waterfall in the Rockies, twice as high as Niagara Falls. As we walked out to the main overlook—a steel platform girded with four-foot rails and crowded with camera-toting tourists—I saw another overlook that seemed to have a better view. The trouble was, this second overlook was blocked by a fence with signs warning, “Extreme Danger.
Pets Aren’t People
“I like dogs more than people.” So goes a slogan (or some variation thereof) one can find stamped on T-shirts, coffee mugs, and bumper stickers everywhere. Advertise on TGC Honestly, I can relate. I really love my dogs. Although all pets have particular and ongoing needs, they aren’t as demanding as people. My dogs don’t argue with me. Even when they steal my seat, they move if I ask them to (although often I don’t). They don’t pick movies to watch that I don’t like.
One Way to Share the Gospel During Ramadan
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims worldwide are praying, fasting, and reading the Qur’an in hopes of drawing near to God and earning their way to heaven. Islam requires adherents to pray five times a day, and during Ramadan there are six daily prayers. These are preceded by a ritual washing, or wudhu. Supplicants rinse hands, mouth, nose, face, ears, arms up to the elbow, hair, and feet, typically three times. Advertise on TGC Perspectives on Purification Islam emphasizes purity and cleanliness.
How I Learned to Share My Faith on the Pickleball Court
I don’t live in a field fertile for evangelism. My earthly home is Door County, the beautiful Wisconsin peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan. Our year-round population is mostly white, wealthy, and elderly (all negative predictors for evangelism). Yet the white bobbing heads remind me of fields white unto harvest. I’m helping to plant a home church with the Evangelical Free Church. Half our congregation is made up of people we met at pickleball.
Why Ligon Duncan Is Still Building Institutions
If anyone ever asks you which living theologian you’d most like to have lunch with, you may want to consider choosing Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) chancellor and CEO Ligon Duncan. Here’s why: Ligon is warm, engaging, and quick to laugh. He remembers your name, tells funny stories, and can talk about nearly any topic, from the covenant idea in ante-Nicene theology to NASCAR. He’s friendly and easy to be friends with.
The Gospel Coalition 2023 Book Awards
“Of making many books there is no end” (Eccl. 12:12). Qoheleth’s proverbial warning is a reality for many bibliophiles. The flood of recently published books is generally good news for evangelicals. However, so many helpful books come out that it’s hard to know which to invest in and which new book to read next.
The Forgotten Influence of Martin Luther
In the early hours of February 18, 1546, Martin Luther confessed to his close companions around him that he was ready to die, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ and thanked God for revealing his Son in whom he had believed. A few hours later he suffered an epileptic stroke that first took his speech and, within a few hours later, his life. At the time of his death he left a world turned upside down.
Teach Children the Bible Is Not About Them
Editors’ note: The new Jesus Storybook Bible Curriculum by Sally Lloyd-Jones and Sam Shammas contains 44 lessons revealing how Jesus is the center of each Bible story and how every story whispers his name. It includes activities, notes for teachers based on material from Timothy Keller, memory verses, handouts for children, a hardcover copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible, and three audio CDs containing David Suchet’s reading.
Give Up Your Weak Definition of ‘Disciple’
Sermons, talks, and books on discipleship usually give a basic definition of disciple as “learner.” But the New Testament gives us a more thrilling and dynamic definition of a disciple and the cost that follows. Take for example the parable of the soils in Matthew 13. How do we know a disciple from merely a “learner”? Matthew 13:23 says, “He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” A disciple is, by nature—-by definition!—-a multiplier.
Massachusetts Eliminates Gender Distinctions in Public Schools
The Story: Parents across Massachusetts are concerned about new public school rules that would not only allow transgender students to use restrooms and locker rooms of their choice but would also punish students who refuse to affirm or support their transgender classmates.
9 Things You Should Know About Duck Dynasty
Duck Dynasty is a series on A&E that shows the lives of the Robertson family, a Louisiana clan who became wealthy from their family-operated duck call business. Here are nine things you should know about reality television’s most gospel-centric family. 1.
7 Traits of False Teachers
“There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1) There are no “ifs, ands, or buts” in Peter’s words. It’s a clear and definite statement. There were false prophets among the people (of Israel in the Old Testament). That’s a matter of history. False prophets were a constant problem in the Old Testament, and those who falsely claimed to be prophets of God were to be stoned.
Why You Should Consider Canceling Your Short-Term Mission Trips
Editors’ note: I have seen with my own eyes or know of houses in Latin America that have been painted 20 times by 20 different short-term teams; fake orphanages in Uganda erected to get Westerners to give money; internet centers in India whose primary purpose is to ask Westerners for money; children in African countries purposefully mutilated by their parents so they would solicit sympathy while they beg; a New England-style church built by a Western team in Cameroon that is never used except...
Forgive Us These Faults
For decades Kathy and I have profited immensely from the pastoral wisdom of the converted slave trader John Newton. As an 18th-century Anglican minister, Newton was a good preacher, but it was as a pastor, counselor, and adviser that he excelled. His pastoral letters are a treasure chest.
Battling Sinful Sarcasm
A friend recently introduced me as her “sarcastic friend.” She said it was my sarcasm that convinced her we’d hit it off. Isn’t that how Jesus said we would be known? You know, by our sarcasm? Over the course of a few email exchanges we pegged each other’s sense of humor. By the first time we met face to face, she felt like a sister. She says sarcasm is her “sixth love language.” For years it’s been mine too.
FactChecker: Divorce Rate Among Christians
Editors’ note: FactChecker is a monthly series in which Glenn T. Stanton examines claims, myths, and misunderstandings frequently heard in evangelical circles. “Christians divorce at roughly the same rate as the world!” It’s one of the most quoted stats by Christian leaders today. And it’s perhaps one of the most inaccurate. Advertise on TGC At bottom, it is used to explain that Christians are not doing well in living out their faith.
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