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Articles by Garrett Kell
How Much of My Suffering Should I Share with My People?
Abstract: Garrett Kell offers nine questions to help pastors discern how much of their suffering to share with their church. Kell’s questions are based on biblical principles as well as his experience of walking through intense suffering in his own family. While every pastor and every church are different, pastors should consider how sharing might affect their wife, their children, and their church’s focus on Jesus Christ. As pastors we live in plain view of God’s people.
I Was Helped by a Hypocrite
I’d been a believer for a year when I met Walt. He captivated a crowd when he preached. His counsel was pivotal in my life, and God used him to strengthen my young faith. But Walt turned out to be a hypocrite. After proclaiming God’s glory, he’d visit prostitutes on his way home to his wife. After his divorce, he stole another man’s wife. Walt’s downfall disoriented me. How could I be so helped by a man who was such a hypocrite? Sadly, it wouldn’t be the last time I faced this question.
Satan Wants You Alone This Sunday
A war is raging in your church. I’m not alluding to drama among the deacons or complaints by a few congregants. I’m talking about a battle that is not “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” (Ephesians 6:12). Satan wars against our faith, but God promises to hold us fast. And one of the ways he sustains us is through the church’s weekly assembly.
The Stand That Saved My Life: Read (and Share) This Amazing Testimony
This is the story of the stand that saved my life. On Halloween night, 1998, I threw a party in my apartment at Virginia Tech. I was 20 years old and was in the wildest season of my life. I had three girl roommates, a live-in girlfriend, and I spent most of my spare time smoking weed, doing lines of cocaine, and drinking. On that Halloween night, I was geared up for what I expected to be a good time.
Good Lovemaking Is About God
Years ago a friend named John met with a group of young men. He was the only married man at the time, and the rest were dabbling with pornography. In a moment of brutal honesty, one of them said to John, “I just don’t understand how you can have sex with the same woman all the time. That seems boring.” Without hesitation, John said with a straight face, “I don’t have sex with the same woman all the time.” Their silent stares begged for an explanation.
What If He Won’t Lead? To Women with Passive Husbands
When God unites a husband and wife, he forms a unique partnership with one primary aim: to glorify God by helping each other to heaven. Until death separates them, husbands should lovingly lead their wives in following Jesus, and wives should tenderly help their husbands to do the same. They are pilgrim partners traveling to glory. In sweet seasons, you will take strong strides together. But at times (or even much of the time), you may feel like you’re dragging your spouse along.
7 Pitfalls to Avoid in Your Discipleship
We are responsible for how we minister to others, but not how they respond. People will sin, even when you warn them not to. Some will fall away despite your pleading. Some might betray you, despite of your love for them. As you get going in discipleship and doing spiritual good to others, consider a couple of pitfalls you should avoid. The following list isn’t exhaustive, but hopefully it will help you approach the discipling task with wisdom.
7 Pitfalls to Avoid in Your Discipleship
Pitfalls to Avoid As you get going in discipleship and doing spiritual good to others, consider a couple of pitfalls you should avoid. The following list isn’t exhaustive, but hopefully it will help you approach the discipling task with wisdom. 1. Don’t Be Possessive Well-meaning people can be tempted to approach discipling with an unhealthy possessiveness.
Tortured, Imperfect, and Held by Jesus: One Mother’s Journey Across the Dark River
My two earliest memories of my mother couldn’t be more different. The pleasant one is our evening routine: She’d pull me onto her lap to recite the Lord’s Prayer and sing “The Old Rugged Cross” until I fell asleep. The other is her sobbing in her bathroom, telling me how badly she wanted to die. This perplexing tension between Mom’s two sides carried on for 40 years or so until my mother went to be with the Lord earlier this year. Tortured Soul Mom’s childhood was marked by mingled joy and pain.
Hope for Struggling Christians during Pride Month
You’ll certainly see more rainbows during June. When you do, remember what the rainbow really means. Long before the LGBT+ community used the rainbow to communicate their message, it belonged to God, and he was sending a different message. June is Pride Month. For some, that means nothing. For others, it means everything. And for many Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction, the hurricane of emotions is precarious to navigate.
What Does It Mean to Walk in the Spirit?
I was preparing to begin a four-month series on the Holy Spirit and one of my older pastor friends said, “That’s great. How many people do you think you’ll lose?” He wasn’t entirely joking, and I knew we had important but challenging conversations ahead. It’s an unfortunate reality that division, confusion, and disunity exist around our views on the Spirit. But one of the Spirit’s primary roles is to bring unity to believers and churches.
God Is Dead. Long Live the Gods.
“I call myself a cultural Christian, but I’m not a believer,” stated the famed atheist Richard Dawkins in a recent interview with Rachel Johnson of LBC News. “I love hymns and Christmas carols, and I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos,” he continued. He wants the cathedrals and parish churches that speckle England’s landscape, just without the faith nonsense that informs them. This interview is yet another signal that culture is changing.
Hope for Struggling Christians During Pride Month | Christian News | Before It's News
Lion’s Mane Mushroom Mushrooms are having a moment. One fabulous fungus in particular, lion’s mane, may help improve memory, depression and anxiety symptoms. They are also an excellent source of nutrients that show promise as a therapy for dementia, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Hope for Struggling Christians During Pride Month
June is Pride Month. For some, that means nothing. For others, it means everything. And for many Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction, the hurricane of emotions is precarious to navigate. Rainbow propaganda floods our streets and screens, tempting some to wonder if “love is love” after all.
Hope for Struggling Christians During Pride Month
Hope for Struggling Christians During Pride Month By Garrett Kell The Gospel Coalition May 31, 2024 June is Pride Month. For some, that means nothing. For others, it means everything. And for many Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction, the hurricane of emotions is precarious to navigate. Rainbow propaganda floods our streets and screens, tempting some to wonder if "love is love" after all.
The Case for In-Person Church
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Afshin Ziafat Well, it’s so good to be here with my brothers, Miguel and George and you brothers have been pastoring longer than I have been pastoring, you’ve been pastoring for about 30 years. And now you’re in Memphis as a pastor, and you’re in Santa Domingo pastoring for over 25 years.
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School: Returning to Its Roots
Editors’ note: On March 5, 2024, Trinity announced its president, Nicholas Perrin, had resigned and was being replaced by Kevin Kompelien, who’s leaving his role as the president of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) to assume this position. We asked Bill Kynes, a Trinity graduate who served for 36 years as a pastor in the EFCA and is a member of Trinity’s board of regents, to address what this change means for the institution.
8 Edifying Films to Watch This Spring
Though occasionally punctuated with big-budget blockbusters like Dune: Part Two, springtime is usually a sleepier season for new-release movies. But it can also be when lower-profile, hidden gems sneak into theaters (or onto streaming platforms). This includes movies that’ll appeal to Christian viewers looking for more edifying fare than what’s typically offered. As I did in the fall, I’ve compiled a list of current or upcoming movies you might consider watching either at home or in theaters.
Did Paul Preach a Different Gospel than Jesus?
One evening while scrolling social media, I came across a video of a pastor saying his church sides with Jesus’s gospel on the numerous occasions where Paul’s gospel contradicts it. I was less shocked by his comment than by the Christians who were. This is not a brand-new way to think about Jesus and Paul. Does Paul create a “theological” story about Jesus that contradicts the “social and ethical” gospel Jesus preached?
Review: ‘Family Unfriendly’ by Timothy P. Carney
What if parenthood was a means of sanctification and could accelerate our progress toward something higher than self-satisfaction and hedonism? How would that change the way we view obstacles to parenting in our culture? This is the ground Timothy Carney surveys in Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be, a rare work that combines rigorous social science and cultural analysis with Roman Catholic wisdom and wit.
‘New City Catechism’ Surpasses 500,000 Sales Milestone
More By Staff Shane & Shane to Lead Worship at TGCW24 Books to Give Kids (and Teens) for Christmas 2023 The Gospel Coalition 2023 Book Awards Now Available: 50+ Hours of TGC23 Conference Sessions TGCW24: Behold and Believe Video Trailer Editors’ note: From now until the end of March, all New City Catechism products are 50 percent off in the TGC store.
The FAQs: Abuse Allegations Against SBC’s Paul Pressler Ignored by Texas Politician
What just happened? Baptist Press, the official news service of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), recently ran an article highlighting the abuse allegations against Paul Pressler, a seminal figure in the SBC. For example, the church where he served as a deacon, Houston’s First Baptist Church, “rebuked Pressler in 2004 for being nude at his home with a young man from the congregation.” That same year, Pressler settled a lawsuit by Duane Rollins, who had accused him of sexual assault.
God Is Good and Does Good-Even in Our Pain
George Mueller is one of the saints from church history who has most inspired me to trust God. He’s famous for his work with orphans and his dependence on the Lord in prayer. His autobiography is filled with hundreds of pages of prayers and the record of God’s faithful answers (he reports over 50,000 answers to prayer). He has been the subject of many biographies, and for good reason. Mueller’s life of faith was characterized by a deep trust in the goodness and sovereignty of his God.
The Porn Talk
Parents are to teach their children about God’s good designs. Assure them that God is the one who created intimacy, orgasms, and romantic affection. Remind them that in marriage, God has provided a place to enjoy and explore our sexual desires. The world offers our children a mirage of cotton-candy pleasures, but God’s designs are good and satisfying. While directing desire toward a spouse is appropriate, desire’s ultimate aim goes further. Our children may never marry.
The Porn Talk: Nine Ways Parents Can Lead Children
Pornography is not new. Archeological discoveries testify that fascination with sexual portrayals is nearly as old as humanity. Yet our times present new challenges. Technological advancements coupled with moral corrosion are increasing the accessibility and normality of pornography at a dizzying rate. This poses a tremendous threat (and opportunity) for parents. We are raising children in a more pornographic world.
Counting Sheep: A Case for Regenerate Church Membership
Our church was once a viper pit. Members gathered in Christ’s name, but little else distinguished them as Christians. They devoured one another during disagreements. Emotionalism, political preoccupation, diluted doctrinal affirmations, and lack of discipleship left the flock spiritually anemic. The congregation withered, leaving only a few faithful members. One of the clearest causes of our church’s near-death experience was unregenerate church membership.
Do All Babies Go to Heaven When They Die?
This is part of my own testimony. My wife and I have had a number of miscarriages. We've had to consider this question. What you don't find is any clear teaching in the Bible about what happens to a child when they die or some other kind of situations that are similar to this. In moments like this, what do you do? Has God gone completely silent? I don't think so.
Will God Provide for Your Needs?
Will God provide what I need? We’ve all wrestled with the question—and not abstractly. It can provoke real fear and real pain.
Did Jesus Christ Descend Into Hell Before He Was Resurrected?
Garrett Kell 2023 27 Jan We always wonder what happened to Christ for those three days after he died on the cross. What appears to happen is that when Christ died on the Cross his spirit descended to Hades or the place of the dead. I don’t think it is right to call it hell. That seems to be something that is coming later. Hell isn’t something that is now it is the Lake of Fire that will one day come.
The Toughest Conversation I Don’t Regret
We weren’t sure when Granddad woke up, but we knew it was long before sunrise. My earliest memories of him revolve around a small kitchen table where he sat each morning, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. The walls of his basement were decorated with World War II honors and pictures of his hunting victories. I learned my first curse words from Granddad, who was sure to drop colorful language every few sentences.
Wasn’t My Body, but It Was My Baby
In the summer of 1998, a friend and I spent an evening together. A few weeks later, she told me she was pregnant and the baby was mine. Neither of us expected it or felt ready to raise a child together. We weren’t in love, and we thought it would be better to go our separate ways with a clean slate. We gathered $400 from a friend and went to an abortion clinic that prescribed a pill. We drove to someone’s empty home where we would spend the night. I got her a glass of water to take the pill.
The Pastor’s Progress: Why I Keep Reading John Bunyan
“Next to the Bible,” Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “the book I value most is John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. I believe I have read it through at least a hundred times. It is a volume of which I never seem to tire” (Pictures from Pilgrim’s Progress). This describes my own experience well. Years ago, I picked up a copy of Pilgrim’s Progress, and I have never set it down. A bookmark steadily moves through its pages each year.
There’s Power in the One Who Hears: International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians
Pastor Aquil picked up the phone. It was a woman’s voice on the other end. She was a refugee from Syria, living in a camp where the pastor and members of his church visited weekly to deliver aid and represent Jesus. “I need you to write down the prayer you prayed for my son,” she requested. Months earlier, a donor had contacted Pastor Aquil (not his real name), offering to fund an outreach to Syrian refugees flooding into Jordan. Pastor Aquil politely declined. His schedule was full.
What Can Pastors Do About Political Division?
Midterm elections are around the corner. For many pastors, this time of year brings up fear and dismay. A pastor recently told me a congregant came to him to say he couldn’t stay at the church because he had different political views. I heard another story of an elder team that was divided over how to address cultural issues. I heard still another story of a pastor who left his church because the political division was overwhelming. Most of you know similar stories.
3 Questions to Ask When Anxiety Strikes
Life in a fallen world can be, to put it mildly, difficult. Natural disasters hit. We get sick. Relationships break. We struggle to make ends meet. And even if life seems to be going well right now, there’s always the nagging thought that everything can change in an instant. We’re fragile, vulnerable, and terrifyingly not in control. And perhaps counterintuitively, the failure to recognize these realities isn’t a sign of maturity or self-actualization but rather a sign of delusion.
‘Real Bling Ring’ Warns About Digital De-formation
Netflix’s new three-part documentary The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist explores the infamous group of teenagers who broke into the mansions of celebrities like Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, and Lindsay Lohan in 2008–9, carrying off $3 million in clothing, cash, and jewelry. The story’s jaw-dropping particulars—high-profile victims, well-to-do kids pulling off professional crimes, and their brazen reactions after being caught—ignited a tabloid-friendly firestorm that’s burned for over a decade.
God Cares About Your Body
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Sam Allberry So why is the gospel good news for your body? I’m from the UK, as I think is probably apparent. And I the last few years, I’ve been back and forth between the US and the UK and I began to sort of mentally do some comparing.
20 Quotes from Tim Keller on Forgiveness
In an age in which everything is permitted and nothing is forgiven, Tim Keller’s Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? (Viking, 2022) is a powerfully timely book. Here are 20 quotes on the freedom that real forgiveness provides a bitter and broken world. (You can also listen to a recent Gospelbound interview with Keller.) Advertise on TGC Forgiveness is a form of voluntary suffering. In forgiving, rather than retaliating, you make a choice to bear the cost.
Young Pastor, Don’t Look Down on Your Elders
When I was first called to minister in a church, I was a young man—a boy really—of 28. As I think back over nearly a decade now in the same congregation, I sometimes can’t believe they were willing to take a risk on a young man like me: single, untested, and directly out of seminary. It was an extraordinary honor to be called to shepherd this congregation. Almost 10 years later, it still is. But it was also an extraordinary challenge.
Do We Love Politicians Enough to Discipline Them?
President Biden “is not in communion with the Catholic faith” and “any priest who now provides Communion to the president participates in his hypocrisy.” That was the claim made by retired Archbishop Charles Chaput last Saturday at a Catholic symposium. In his remarks before other Catholic leaders, Chaput also accused the president of “apostasy on the abortion issue.” “Mr. Biden’s apostasy on the abortion issue is only the most repugnant example,” said Chaput. “He’s not alone.
Basics of Missionary Disciple-Making
On a Sunday afternoon, I sat with a handful of Central Asian brothers and sisters following our worship gathering. Alp (not his real name) asked how Christians can resist temptation after conversion. Recently, Alp had confided to me his ongoing fight to resist pornography, so I sensed that struggle informing his question. I responded by reminding him about how Jesus resisted temptation in the wilderness. Jesus relied on the Word of God in the power of the Spirit.
Sinclair Ferguson on John Murray’s Classic Commentary on Romans
Among the evocative expressions once common in Scotland, one is a particularly appropriate description of Professor John Murray. He was a “lad o’ pairts”—clever and talented—a boy from a modest Highland home whose special gifts were recognized and, in the tradition John Knox had established during the Scottish Reformation, were to be developed as far as possible. The story of that development can be told simply.
Young Adults, You’re More than a Job Title
The level of confidence with which the words burst forth surprised even me: “I’m a nurse!” In the seriousness of the moment, the words hung in the air as heavily as the humidity of the nearby ocean. I didn’t know how else to rapidly prove my qualification to intervene in this situation. The child’s mother stepped back, allowing me to assess the injury of her son. A large metal frame had fallen on his foot, and after blurting out three short words, I was entrusted with his care.
Play Ball! (Like a Christian)
It was 11 p.m. and I was nearly asleep when Jaret, a teammate on the University of Oklahoma baseball team, texted me for help with our economics homework. Having only been on the team for a couple of months and still looking for new and better ways to serve others in the gospel, I reluctantly got out of bed and sat down at my desk to FaceTime him. After working through the homework, he changed the topic: “Mike, I looked through your Instagram earlier.
Gospel Hope for the Homeless
It doesn’t make sense that the homelessness problem is getting worse. After all, the federal government—and many states—issued eviction moratoriums during the months of the pandemic when most in-person jobs couldn’t be done. The Biden administration pumped trillions of dollars into food assistance, health care, extra unemployment benefits, tax credits for kids, rent assistance, rescue payments, and payouts to small businesses.
Digital Life in the Slow Lane
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Collin Hansen In the digital age, it feels like life moves too far too fast. That’s why we need wise guides such as Jay Kim, author of analog Christian, cultivating contentment, resilience and wisdom in the digital age. New from IVP.
Remembering Steve Douglass (1945-2022)
Steve Douglass is one of the most influential Christian leaders you may never have heard of. God used his life and ministry to affect millions. Steve entered his eternal reward on Saturday, October 29. After graduating from MIT and Harvard Business. he served on staff with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) for more than 50 years. Most notably he served as the organization’s second president, taking over from founder Bill Bright in 2001.
The Night That Changed My Life
On Halloween night in 1998, I threw a party in my apartment at Virginia Tech. I was 20 years old and in the wildest season of my life. I had three female roommates and a live-in girlfriend, and I spent most of my spare time smoking weed, doing lines of cocaine, and drinking. I was geared up for a good time. Because the party was going to be “epic,” I invited an old friend from high school down for the weekend.
How a Friend’s Stand for Christ Made an Eternal Difference
ShareTweetPinPocketFlipboard On Halloween night 1998 I threw a party in my apartment at Virginia Tech. I was 20 years old and was in the wildest season of my life. I had three girl roommates, a live-in girlfriend, and I spent most of my spare time smoking weed, doing lines of cocaine, and drinking. On that Halloween night, I was geared up for what I expected to be a good time. Because the party was going be so “unforgettable,” I invited an old friend from high school down for the weekend.
How a Friend’s Stand for Christ Made an Eternal Difference
I’ve not met Garrett Kell in person, but we’ve interacted some online, including him reaching out last year to say he was praying for my precious Nanci. That meant so much to us. Garrett is an author and the pastor of Del Ray Baptist in Alexandria, Virginia, and also posts great things on Twitter, including video clips (sometimes quite funny ones), which he pairs with spiritual insights. I’m grateful for his life and ministry and encouragement.
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