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Articles by Greg Lanier
He Came to a World of Folly
During Advent, then, we remember with great joy that Jesus came to a world of folly to show us how to live with wisdom from God. When we follow his paths—when we listen to his teaching—we gradually become more and more like him, the true Wise One from on high. O come, O Wisdom from on high, Who ordered all things mightily; To us the path of knowledge show And teach us in its ways to go. Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
He Came to a World of Folly: O Wisdom from on High
O come, O Wisdom from on high, Who ordered all things mightily; To us the path of knowledge show And teach us in its ways to go. Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. “That was a silly mistake!” “How could I have been so dumb?” “Stupid is what stupid does.” Each of these phrases captures what we all know to be true once we’ve spent about half an hour in the real world: humans are not always the brightest! Yes, we have electric cars and send people into space.
2 Reasons You Should Pay Attention to the Use of the OT in the NT
Pop Quiz Name that Bible verse: “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.” “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” “You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan.” Scratching your head? That is understandable. These would not make anyone’s Top 10 Bible Verses list. If you had to choose, you would probably wager that they are from the Old Testament (OT). And you would be correct: Exodus 13:2, Job 5:13, and Amos 5:25–27, respectively.
How Fingernails Changed My Relationship with the Church
Fingernails changed the way I relate to other church members. Shortly after my wife, Leah, found out she was expecting our first child, the doctor told us our baby had them. I couldn’t care less about keratin, but that little collection of proteins represented something greater, something glorious. It represented life. Advertise on TGC So when the doctor mentioned the fingernails, here’s what I didn’t think: But why can’t she talk yet? When will she be able to do long division?
‘Girls State’ Highlights Abortion’s Role in Growing Gender Divide
Christians and especially church leaders should pay attention to this trend—not as intel for political maneuvering or campaign calculations, but as a window into the passions, fears, and identity narratives shaping young women and men today. What drives them—and what is driving them in seemingly opposite directions—matters for Christians trying to reach them with the gospel and disciple them in biblical living.
Tim Keller’s Legacy and Vision for Cultural Engagement
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Collin Hansen Welcome to the gospel coalition 2023 national conference. We are thrilled that you’re here. So that you’re here in person that you’re watching here on the livestream around the world, believe it or not, the planning for this event began in 2019. I remember that very vividly it was, feels like a world ago, before a global pandemic.
Review: ‘The Anxious Generation’ by Jonathan Haidt
This book almost wasn’t. At least, it’s not the book Jonathan Haidt originally intended to write. It was going to be only the first chapter of a book exploring another subject—the destructive effects of social media on American democracy. However, the more he researched, the more aware he became of the depth and extent of the adolescent mental health crisis. This was not just an American phenomenon but one that was evident in many western nations.
Why Cancel Culture Needs the Breathtaking Mercy of God’s Kingdom
Last year, Vito Perrone was formally offered the job to lead the public schools of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Perrone was well qualified as the former Easthampton High School principal and as the interim superintendent of schools in nearby West Springfield. Unfortunately for Perrone, he sent an email to the school committee over contract negotiations that caused an uproar. Perrone’s sin? He addressed the women as “ladies,” which he meant as a sign of respect.
What Missionary Grandparents Give Up-and Gain
When an invitation came to go to the Middle East and establish student ministries on Muslim campuses, Leeann and I prayed. We researched, gathered a team, and readied a plan. But the greatest obstacle I faced—the one I least expected—wasn’t the perceived danger of the place or the high likelihood of failure. It was my father’s response. When we told him of our decision to go, he refused to meet my eyes.
Review: ‘Crisis of Confidence’ by Carl Trueman
What should Christians do when it seems the world has gone mad? Many believers in the West face that question daily. Action seems more effective than theological precision when dealing with the madness of crowds. Isn’t theological precision a luxury for when the church is prospering? That question presumes that rigorous theological reflection and insistence on tightly formulated doctrine is a nicety but not really what the church must pursue for the spiritual well-being of God’s people.
Is the ‘Silent Treatment’ a Godly Approach to Conflict?
Otou and Katayama Yumi likely hold the record for awkward silence. Otou reportedly lived in the same house in Japan with his three children and wife yet never spoke to his spouse, Yumi. While Yumi continued to talk to her her husband, for more than twenty years he would only nod or grunt in response. Otou later explained he had been giving his wife the silent treatment out of jealousy for the attention and care she gave the children. “Yumi up until now, you have endured a lot of hardship.
10 Lesser-Known References to Jesus in the Old Testament
Sings that Point to Jesus The Old Testament contains “types,” that is, symbolic personages and things and events that point forward to fulfillment, especially the climactic fulfillment in Christ. Some types are obvious because the New Testament talks about them at length. For example, the priesthood of Aaron and his sons, described in the Mosaic law, is fulfilled in the heavenly priesthood of Christ, according to Hebrews 5–10.
How Small Churches Can Serve a Global God
In 2016, our church plant consisted of a small core team. We wanted to reach our community, but we knew that when God sent us to plant, he had his eyes on the nations. We wanted to participate in his global mission as early as we could. When a potential supporting church asked how they could help us, we asked if we could join them on their upcoming mission trip.
How the Pill Obscures God’s Truth in Creation
In summer 2016, a group of scientists published a new set of world maps. They didn’t chart new shipping routes or plot unknown parts of the deep sea. Instead, they depicted the world’s light pollution. The news wasn’t good. The maps showed that 80 percent of Americans can no longer see the Milky Way thanks to man-made light. Artificial light is a blessing in many ways. But something is lost when we can no longer look up and see our galaxy.
The Money Problem in Cross-Cultural Partnerships
When our family moved overseas, the ministry we joined was a dream scenario. We were going to help a young church with members who hungered for solid, biblical teaching. Pastors throughout the region visited the church to receive training. It looked like the kind of ministry God could use to bring revival and reformation to a nation plagued by the prosperity gospel.
Does the Old Testament Really Point to Jesus? Jesus Thought So
Jesus Is the Authority on Scripture Does the Old Testament really point to Jesus? To answer that question, we should ask an expert. Who’s the leading authority on Bible interpretation? It’s not the dear person who first shared the gospel with you, as knowledgeable as he or she may be. It’s not your pastor either, despite his wisdom and experience. It’s not even a biblical scholar who has devoted an entire academic career to the study of Scripture.
Advent Longing / Christmas Joy: New 100-Song Playlist
More By Brett McCracken Harrison Scott Key Tells the Most Insane Love Story Ever Told ‘Journey to Bethlehem’ and Christmas Cringe Playlist: 100 Songs for New Christians ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and Stewarding Hard Stories One thing I love about the Advent season is that it welcomes the whole range of human emotions. Advent fully embraces our agonized longing for hope on the other side of present pain. Our world is rife with sin, sickness, and suffering. We groan—along with all creation (Rom.
Sean Lucas: ‘I’m Grateful for the PCA’s 50-Year History’
In August 1971, the leaders of the conservative movement within the southern Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) announced plans for a “continuing Presbyterian church.” It was a difficult decision that carried great risk and brought great opposition. As one of the new denomination’s founders, Paul Settle, remembered, “Before the final vote, [the leaders] dropped to their knees and prayed.
Reintegrating the Atonement in Missions
After a long day of travel on a dusty mountain road, a local pastor and I finally walked toward his village. He described how the gospel first came to this remote area two decades earlier. His parents had been devout followers of Hindu gods, but that changed when they were unable to conceive children. They tried various remedies to appease the spirits, whom they viewed as the source of the problem, but nothing worked.
Making Sense of God
In his message at TGC Netherlands 2023, Collin Hansen discusses Tim Keller’s insights into cultural apologetics and mission in a post-Christian era, focusing on the background of Keller’s book Making Sense of God. Keller, influenced by thinkers like James Davison Hunter, Charles Taylor, Alasdair MacIntyre, Philip Rieff, and Robert Bellah, critiques the Enlightenment and its inability to provide meaning and justice in the absence of Christian resources.
Advent Meditation: Christmas Was Made for Laughter
Read You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. (Ps. 4:7) Reflect When I was younger, Christmas seemed to have a split personality. Religious Christmas was deep and serious. It was weeks of waiting, candles in the dark, and four-stanza hymns. It was extra church services and listening to Luke 2 (again) before opening gifts.
Should I Obey When I Don’t Feel like It?
I recently chatted with a godly young woman in her 20s about what the Lord was teaching us. She pondered a question aloud: “What if I don’t feel like changing, or being obedient, or acting kind? Should I do something when my heart’s not in it? Isn’t that being fake?” I appreciated her honesty. It’s a question worth grappling with, and it’s become a common one as our culture kneels at the altar of authenticity. Even those of us who know the answer can admit we struggle to apply it.
Why I’m Hitting Retirement Running
A few weeks ago, I retired from a more-than-full-time job. For decades, I was an endocrinologist, first in New Jersey and then in Santo Domingo. As I told people I was retiring, it was interesting to hear the similarity of their reactions: “Great—you’ll have more time to relax.” “Now your schedule will be less intense.” “Finally, you can slow down.” Advertise on TGC In some sense, they’re right. My physical body is getting older. The longer I live, the more slowly I’ll move.
Advent Meditation: Hope Fulfilled
Read Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45) Reflect One of our favorite family stories is about the time my husband’s cousin made a particularly ambitious Christmas list. He copied down practically every item from a thick toy catalog. Then he added one final request: surprises. Advertise on TGC Many of us go to great lengths to pull off a Christmas morning surprise.
Is the Trauma Narrative Helpful?
In recent years, trauma has become a dominant lens for how we interpret and communicate our experiences to one another. We find it in books and podcasts, therapy and counseling offices, and everyday conversations with family and friends. Given its widespread influence, it makes sense to pause and consider: Is viewing trauma as the defining characteristic of our lives helpful? There have been echoes of concern as the wider culture wrestles with this question.
Harrison Scott Key Tells the Most Insane Love Story Ever Told
Rare are works that viscerally capture the gift and goodness of marriage. But that’s what makes Harrison Scott Key’s How to Stay Married so refreshing. In a culture that holds matrimony in ever lower esteem, Key’s book makes a case for marriage in perhaps the unlikeliest of ways. He sketches the pain and struggles of being married with unflinching detail and yet celebrates it anyway as good and commendable. I don’t think I’ve read (or rather, listened to) a more engaging book this year.
What Motivates Us to Preach the Word?
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Ray Ortlund Welcome back to your not crazy gospel sanity for young pastors. I’m Ray ortlund. I’m with my friend, Sam, all Barry, and we’re glad you’re listening in. Thank you, we really appreciate it. Now, we’re going to think our way through Second Timothy chapter four verses one through eight.
Gen Z Is Looking for Friends
Just outside the city of Minneapolis, my small blue Toyota Corolla trundled into the extensive parking lot of one of the largest high schools in Minnesota. Locking my car among a sea of vehicles, I secured my mask and walked through the piercing winter wind with the throng of faceless individuals into the school’s main doors. In the fall of 2021, COVID-19 protocols still lingering in public schools, I was a student teacher in an 11th-grade classroom.
Tim Keller and American Neo-Calvinism
More Episodes Tim Keller and American Neo-Calvinism The Pietistic Influences on Tim Keller Embracing God as Our Heavenly Father Draw Wisdom and Strength from God’s Word In his message at TGC Netherlands 2023, James Eglinton delves into Tim Keller’s evolving relationship with neo-Calvinism. He recommends Center Church as the primary source for understanding Keller’s mature theological voice and the biblical basis for his ministry.
Why Were American Evangelicals Late to Adopt C. S. Lewis?
C. S. Lewis and G. K. Chesterton are two of the most often quoted Christian writers. That’s not because they both used initials for their first two names. It’s because they, among all the Christians one might quote, had a superior ability to pithily communicate the truths of the faith. Both show up continually wherever and whenever Christians write or speak. We like to bring them alongside to bolster our own messages.
How to Give Thanks When You’re Far from Home
One of the basic experiences of exile is the longing for home. Whether it’s Tolkien’s Pippin musing on “second breakfasts” or a refugee missing home as he struggles to adjust to a foreign land, the longing for home defines the hardship of exile. Holidays, with their expectations of joy and togetherness, can magnify the exile’s ache. The Americans I know in Kenya often enter a trance of sorts as they describe the different types of food they miss from back home.
What We Can Learn from Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Conversion
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a woman who has fallen victim to some of the worst of religious fundamentalism. At age 5, she experienced the horrors of female genital mutilation, performed at the wishes of a family member in Somalia. At 34, she experienced the brutal death of a friend when a Muslim extremist shot her filmmaker, Theo van Gogh, before pinning a note to his dying body with a knife. It was a note to Hirsi Ali, informing her of her impending execution as an apostate to the Muslim faith.
We Need Obadiah
The opening chapter of J. L. Myres’s 1923 classic The Dawn of History reminds us that millions have lived without a sense of history. Many people think things are what they are and that they’ll never change. In their view, there’s no arc of history bending in any direction. To believe otherwise, they say, is delusion and breeds false hope. We only imagine differently because our society remains ingrained in Christianity.
Darrell Bock on Israel’s Role in the Land Promise
Abstract: In this essay, Darrell Bock discusses the nuanced understanding of God’s land promise to Israel. He highlights that the New Testament doesn’t dismiss the promise to Israel but contextualizes it within a larger narrative of inclusion and reconciliation among nations. The promise is rooted in God’s commitment to Abraham and extends to encompass a broader divine blessing through Christ, the ultimate seed of Abraham.
True Blessing Comes from Countercultural Living
The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Collin Hansen Jesus hears and cares about the things that make your heart heavy and your cheeks wet. That was perhaps the most moving line and Aleister Beggs new book, The Christian manifesto. Jesus’s life changing words from the Sermon on the plane published by the Good Book Company. It’s a challenging book. It’s a sensible book.
11 Free Courses on Christianity and Classic Literature
If you’re looking for a great book to read this summer but paralyzed by the number of options before you, perhaps the best place to start is with the Great Books. The classics. The books “that multiple generations and multiple cultures have all agreed are worth reading,” as Fred Sanders puts it. Yet the classics can be intimidating—both for their distance from us in language and custom and for their often formidable length (it took me over a year to get through Augustine’s dense City of God).
The Newborn Temple: How Jesus Fulfills Our Longing to Worship
Ever since I was a kid, worshiping on Christmas Eve has been a given. I didn’t always want to do it, of course, because it made time slow down and, thus, delayed the long-awaited gift opening. Indeed, one year I may have opened a gift, played with it, and rewrapped it before the Christmas Eve church service without my parents’ knowledge! But the habit of worship imprinted on me immeasurably important lessons about Christmas.
4 Ways Feminism Misunderstands Motherhood
I recently came away from a job interview wishing I hadn’t spoken so much about motherhood. When asked to outline my experience in balancing competing projects and deadlines, the best examples I could think of were from my family life. But on reflection, that probably came across as unprofessional. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job. In the world of work, it’s often best to pretend that we aren’t mothers at all. In fact, it’s illegal for prospective employers to ask if we are.
How to Tell If You Are Blessed
Most nonfiction books have an introduction. This is typically a brief but essential section at the beginning of the book. One of its purposes is to present the information necessary to comprehend what the book is about. The author answers the question, What does my reader need to know to understand the rest of this book? The book of Psalms is no different. While the Psalms has been known as the prayer book of the Bible, it doesn’t open with a prayer but with an introduction.
Is Numbers 5 Unjust to Women?
When we read the Old Testament laws, it can seem like women get a raw deal. It’s hard to see a gracious God behind the laws that deal with rape, incest, and adultery, like the law we find in Numbers 5. But, as we take a closer look, we see that God has abundant mercy for women on display—even in these laws. In Genesis 3:15, God warned that Satan would be at war with the woman because, though sin had entered the world through her, so too would the Savior.
4 Ways to Avoid the Catastrophe of Self-Appointed Authority
The internet is like one giant digital buffet line. You control what your newsfeed feeds you. You can pick and choose depending on your momentary desires. Other than advertisements here and there, nothing is digitally forced upon you. You see what you choose to see. The same can be said about our digital mentors. If you use the internet as your primary source of spiritual input—as your primary source for sermons and teaching—you’re submitting to authorities of your own choice.
Review: ‘Political Gospel’ by Patrick Schreiner
I speak with multiple pastors during any given week. Nearly all of them are theologically conservative evangelicals of the sort that would resonate with most of the articles published on The Gospel Coalition. Many of these conversations relate in some way to the pressures, frustrations, and even fears related to pastoral ministry. A perennial topic of conversation is the influence of politics on the church.
Welcoming the World’s Oldest Babies
Three weeks ago—on Monday, October 31—Rachel Ridgeway gave birth to the oldest babies in the world. Nearly 30 years ago, Lydia Ann and Timothy Ronald were conceived in a fertility clinic. Hours later, they were frozen. Advertise on TGC “This is a new record for the transfer of the longest-frozen embryo resulting in a birth,” said Mark Mellinger, marketing and development director at the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC).
Finding Gratitude When You’re Feeling Stuck
Deep in the mountains of New Hampshire sits the Polar Caves, a hundred-year-old attraction that takes visitors through granite caves formed long ago. As I child, I used to marvel as my family wound its way through these rocks that formed deep crevasses and tight passageways through the White Mountains. Could my slender 10-year-old frame squeeze through “The Lemon Squeeze” to the other side?
Pursue a Talent-Without-End Discipleship Strategy
When the German Football Association (DFB) won the World Cup in 2014, they reaped the harvest of a seed planted at the turn of the millennium. Fourteen years earlier, an aging squad whimpered out of the first round of the European Championships, and at that point, the Germans made a decision: They’d no longer rely on the mercurial presence of a golden generation. Instead, they’d invest in every generation.
Final Answer? Jeopardy, Paul, and Hebrews
I was sitting in the airport burning time before a delayed flight when I started seeing online chatter about the final Jeopardy from November 16. Something about Paul and Hebrews. So naturally I was curious.
God's Word Is Living and Active (Even Genealogies)
The Lineage of Redemption The scene is familiar to many of us: we wake up in the morning with an awareness of our need for the word of God. We want to see the world through the lens of the word, and we want to be led into prayer by the word. We are also conscious of the limited time we have before the demands of our day creep in, so we roll over, grab our Bible, and open to the place we left off the day before.
How to Teach with Passion and Personality
Episode No. 001 Subscribe RSS Apple Spotify Google Stitcher In her message at TGC’s 2022 women’s conference, Nancy Guthrie delivers a strategy on how to teach the Bible with both passion and personality. She encourages us to teach with passion—in a way that our love for the Scriptures is evident. And with personality—where the aim is to develop a relationship with our audience.
‘How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics?’ by Jonathan Leeman & Andy Naselli
The day before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, a small book by Jonathan Leeman and Andy Naselli was released: How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics? Nobody knew at the time how much we’d need it. Faint cracks in relationships between Christians have become deep chasms as we disagree over one political issue after another. There is a detail hidden in the title of this short book that’s key to its wisdom: it’s a book about loving church members.
5 New Stats You Should Know About Teens and Social Media
How often does your teen use social media? What social media platforms are most popular among the students in your student ministry? Probably a lot, and probably YouTube and TikTok, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. Advertise on TGC We know why this matters for teens—we can see how they’re being discipled through their relationship with social media. But it also matters for the rest of us, because how teens use social media often drives how everyone uses social media.
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