I have a review of Kent Dunnington's new book, Addiction and Virtue: Beyond Models of Disease and Choice in this month's Christianity Today magazine: "The Antidote to Alcohol and Drug Addiction." It begins:

A friend of mine, let's call him Bob, was a faithful and lifelong churchgoer. ...

I had the chance to hear Tim Keller speak last weekend on "The Gospel in a Pluralist Society." It was a great talk, in which he referenced theologian Lesslie Newbigen's book by the same name. At the end of his talk, someone asked whether Christians must be fanatics. He replied by saying that the people ...

"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is one of my very favorite hymns. We sang it during Penny's baptism, and I'd happily insert it into every other monumental worship service, from weddings to funerals. It's honest and hopeful and beautiful. I sang it again recently, and I was struck by the lines:

Prone ...

A lot of my friends describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious." I think I know what they mean. I think they don't want some of the restrictions that come with religiosity–the rules that mandate saying certain prayers or feeling lots of guilt. They don't want to find themselves in the category ...

In John 10:10, Jesus says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

It's easy to settle for a less-than-full life, whether by assuming that relationships will end in disappointment, or that God doesn't really answer prayer, or ...

I just read a book by a pastor of ours from our college days, Ian Morgan Cron. It's a story of conversion to Christianity. It's a story of deep hurt and longing for an at times abusive, at times absent, father. It's a story of a little boy growing up. It's a story of God's faithfulness. And it's a story ...

Yesterday morning, I wrote a response to an NPR report about evangelicals disparate beliefs about whether or not Adam was an historical figure. Many of you weighed in with comments and questions, both here and on Facebook, and I'd like to address a few of them now.

First, I've written before about my ...

I read the Bible literally. Which is why I don't believe in an historical Adam and Eve.

NPR ran a long piece yesterday morning about the controversy among evangelicals regarding the historicity of Genesis 2. I commend Barbara Bradley Hagerty for even-handed coverage of the story, and yet I listened with ...

Because I was away, I missed the opportunity to express my gratitude for John Stott's ministry after his death on July 27th. But I wanted to take a moment to draw attention to two of the many wonderful tributes written about his long and full career as a worldwide evangelical leader.

First, Christianity ...

The only time I go running with my husband Peter is when he is pushing at least two children in a jogging stroller. I remember one time, many years ago, when we were running side by side and I told him I needed to rest. "You can do it," he said. "I know you can." I could hear the good intentions and ...

To conclude some of the thoughts I've shared about prayer this week, I want to offer the suggestion of using prayer cards. For a fuller explanation, go to Paul Miller's A Praying Life, but the basic idea is to think of people or recurring ideas in your life that you'd like to talk to God about. Make ...

Our children are always surprising me. There's William making "art" in the front yard out of a plastic lawnmower, red cones, and a host of tennis balls. Or Penny's determination in the swimming pool. Marilee's recent willingness to inhale large amounts of prunes.

So the other night, I was helping William ...

Prayer is exciting. Prayer is tough (at least for me). But as I mentioned in yesterday's post, honesty with God matter more than getting it right when we pray. We can bring our doubts, fears, shame, guilt, anger, sorrow, joy–we can bring our real selves–to God in prayer.

Penny and William routinely teach ...

I wrote yesterday about the excitement of prayer. And much as I believe that prayer is everything I said–an ongoing opportunity to know God, a chance to see God's work in the world, and a source of gratitude–I still have a hard time praying. Why?

First, there's the distraction endemic to everyday life. ...

I write about prayer a lot (I've included a list of past posts at the end of this one if you want to read more). Enough, in fact, that you might get the erroneous impression that I pray a lot. But in reality my "prayer life" is sporadic, like a car in traffic, sometimes lurching forward, often sitting ...

From Mark Galli's new book, God Wins, on the nature of asking questions of God (He begins with the contrast between Mary and Zechariah in Luke):

Mary's question is about God. Zechariah's question is about himself.Mary's question assumes God will do something good and great, and seeks to know how it will ...

When it comes to nature and nurture, the important point is that we choose neither one. We are each constructed from a genetic blueprint, and then born into a world of circumstances that we cannot control in our most-formative years. The complex interactions of genes and environment mean that all citizens—equal ...

For a long time, I thought church should be a place where I could invite my friends who don't believe in Jesus. Actually, I should be more specific. I thought Sunday morning church services should be places where I could invite my friends who don't believe in Jesus. I don't think that anymore.

When the ...

In case we needed another reason to love our neighbors as ourselves, it turns out that it might just come in handy. As this NPR story reports, "A researcher's data suggest that ambulances, firetrucks and government aid aren't the principal ways most people survive during and recover after a disaster. ...

I wrote earlier this week that I would be taking Tuesday and Wednesday as spiritual retreat days. Some of you offered suggestions for how to spend that time. Others simply wished me well. Thank you!

I spent the past two days trying to avoid my phone (but still succumbing to temptation far too often and ...