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Articles by Matt Boga
Before You Record a Video Lesson
Whether you’ve been in ministry for a day or a decade, you know many pastoral decisions involve navigating the gray, foggy middle with wisdom. Ministers must often operate within the wisdom categories of good, better, and best, not the moral categories of right and wrong. One wisdom issue facing many local churches today is whether and how to use video teaching in discipleship.
Review: ‘The Secret Place of Thunder’ by John Starke
When I was a kid, my family was camping in northern California when lightning struck 50 feet from our tent. The crack of the lightning was unbelievably loud, but it was nothing compared to the weight of the thunder. It felt like our campsite was pressed into the ground. In that moment, the thunder was terrifying, and it felt heavy, but it didn’t crush us under its weight. It only left us quietly lying—shaking—in awe of the power we experienced.
Your Rights as a Christian in a Public School in 2023
As the school year begins, many parents, students, teachers, and coaches have questions about what they’re legally allowed to do in relation to their Christian faith. Below is information related to grades K–12, taken from various resources that provide a broad overview of what is and isn’t allowed in public schools.
Reviews: ‘The Toxic War on Masculinity’ by Nancy Pearcey and ‘Manhood’ by Josh Hawley
Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Jesus and John Wayne attempts to explain “how white evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured a nation.” Her answer is a story about how John Wayne came to be seen as “an icon of Christian masculinity,” and it’s easy to see why it became a bestseller. Its anecdotes of Christian hypocrisy are like car wrecks, and you can’t avert your eyes. There’s much for Christians to mourn in the pages of her book.
Christians Should Marry Christians-but Why?
In my years of discipling college students and 20-somethings, I’ve received a consistent question: “Can I, a Christian, date a non-Christian?” Because I’m persuaded the reason Christians should date is to identify their spouse, I believe the fundamental question being asked is “Can I marry a non-Christian?” The Bible presents a simple answer to this question: no. However, over the years I’ve found the simple answer is simply unsatisfactory for many.
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.
How Hebrews 10 Connects Gathering and Encouragement
Though Christians took different approaches to COVID-19 precautions, there were times when distancing, quarantine, and isolation left us all feeling lonely and lacking. When we or our friends and family took precautions, it kept us from community. Even going to the grocery store was a lonelier experience than it had been a few years ago. And though many precautions were good and necessary, they kept many of us from gathering with the church far longer than was good and necessary.
Putting Flesh on the Bones of ‘Hope’
Hope is a hard-to-define word today. When we say it, we often do so with fingers crossed. For instance, if you ask me if I think the Warriors will win the NBA Finals next year, all I can say is “I hope so.” What I really mean is “I don’t know, but there’s a chance!” We apply “hope” to things we’re not sure are actually going to happen. But that’s not how the Bible uses the word. Overwhelmingly, when the Bible uses the word, it’s in the context of sure deliverance.
How to Be a Christian in the Mainstream News Media
After Randall Palmer graduated from Columbia University journalism school in 1981, he had a hard time finding a job. “Everybody wanted experience,” he said. Except for a paper in Saudi Arabia. Advertise on TGC Before the job interview, “I called the Saudi embassy to see if it was a real paper,” he said. They said yes.
‘Deep Discipleship’ by J. T. English
I’ve heard it said that the worst handyman comes off as a master craftsman when putting together Ikea furniture. If you have the right pieces, the right tools, and a clear set of instructions, you can build just about anything. Except for a small Swedish man on each page, this is precisely what J. T. English accomplishes with his new book, Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus.
The Brightness of Life in the Shadow of Death
In the movie The Matrix, just before Cypher betrays Morpheus and Neo to Agent Smith over dinner, he says, “I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, do you know what I’ve realized? Ignorance is bliss.” With his book, The End of the Christian Life: How Embracing Our Mortality Frees Us to Truly Live, author J.
Dwelling on Death
Run hard in this life. As it did for Paul, life now means the continuing opportunities of fruitful labor for the joy and progress in the faith of others to the glory of God (Phil. 1:22, 25-26). The worldly view would have you toiling now to enjoy only this life because if this is all there is, then you should live life and put death out of mind—over there.
Dwelling on Death
In our culture, we do everything we can to avoid thinking about death—at least in a positive sense. We do, however, spend a lot of time thinking about how we can delay or avoid it. We pour our money and time into gym memberships, diet plans, and self-help books in hopes of staving off death, and maximizing our enjoyment in what we know we have—this life. Our Western world is starving itself of the life-giving implications of death.
Gazing On The Gospel
Gazing itself isn’t necessarily wrong, as long as we evaluate the object of our gaze. When we see something we like—when we see something we love; something that resonates deep within us—we don’t just look, we fix it with our stare, observe and contemplate it. This is the thing that, if jeopardized, we will defend the most vigorously, what will reveal what’s profoundly true about who we are and what we value. About a year ago, my wife and I watched the movie The Greatest Showman and loved it.
The Mod: Don’t Be Deceived By Experiences
Jesus is telling us that the only way to build our life in a way that the storms we experience around us won’t bring the house down is to build the house on the rock of ages himself. Jesus Christ is the truth (Jn. 14:6), and our lives need to be built within sanctifying design the great architect himself has given us through his word (Jn. 17:17). The culture of the 21st-century west is one that not only encourages, but compels you to follow your heart and live your truth.
Africa Infested by Health and Wealth Teaching
Jeff Atherstone has witnessed the spread of prosperity theology in Africa over the past decade. Atherstone serves as president of Africa Renewal University (ARU) in Uganda. He’s served in that Sub-Saharan country as a missionary since 2006 and was among the founders of ARU. Before moving to Uganda, Atherstone served as a church planter on staff at Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California.
10 Reasons Big Easter Giveaways Are Unwise
We are nearing the day many Christians look forward to all year. Yes, there’s the somber reflection and penitence of the Passion week, culminating in the resurrection of Jesus to celebrate on Easter Sunday, but there’s also some fabulous cash and prizes. Every year some churches seek to outdo themselves — and their local competition — by luring unbelievers (and I suppose interested believers) to their Easter service(s) with the promise of big shows and in some cases big giveaways.
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