The Gospel Coalition

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. —Ephesians 4:17-32

Fall arrived, along with the annual neighborhood bonfire. Amid conversations about school beginning and how families were doing, someone lamented the landscape of fallen spiritual leaders. The onslaught of news felt oppressive. A voice interrupted, “But isn’t it nice to know that we’re not alone, that others mess up too? I find more solidarity when Jonah runs from God than when he gets things right.” This cultural proverb isn't new. Almost 300 years ago, Puritan Thomas Brooks warned that Satan prowls like a lion roaring, eager to “make all others eternally miserable with himself” through deceitful devices that encourage God’s people to sin (see 1 Pet. 5:8). One device is that we’ll glorify the misdeeds of Old Testament heroes, allowing them to lull us into spiritual complacency. Brooks explained we must study closely the full timeline of the saints’ sin and repentance if we want to resist sin. Scripture declares not just the moral failing but also the seriousness of sin, the weight of sin’s suffering, the humility of repentance, and the beauty of forgiveness. 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 Brooks provided four remedies for when we miss Scripture’s truer story of sin and repentance......

In Christian ministry, it’s difficult to think of a greater occupational hazard than pride. But of course, pride can manifest itself in both “loud” and “quiet” ways. How, then, can pastors avoid the perils of pride? This episode of "The Everyday Pastor" focuses on practical tips for cultivating humility in the service of Jesus Christ. Watch the full episode below or listen to The Everyday Pastor wherever you get your podcasts.

The Nordics are among the most progressive places in the world with regard to gender differences, and The Gospel Coalition’s position on men's and women's service roles in the church is often considered a more controversial theological stance. So we thought it important to clarify and elaborate on what we mean by complementarianism as we develop a local Nordic branch of TGC. By "complementarianism," we mean the broad approach that says men and women are created equal in value and in God's image and yet different physically and spiritually, in such a way to complement one another and to reflect the relationship between Christ and the church (Gen. 1:27; Eph. 5:32). Practically speaking, this limits the role of elders (including pastors) in the church to men and encourages men to take initiative as the head in the home. This contrasts with the egalitarian position, which holds that men and women share the same function and purpose in the church and home. This isn't just an issue for progressive northern Europe. As complementarianism is increasingly cast aside throughout the world, churches and organizations everywhere will have to wrestle to maintain biblical fidelity when it comes to gender. We hope our approach will provide a useful template for others in the coming years.

Few things so encourage a pastor as eager listeners and learners. “I am so looking forward to Sunday’s sermon!” I remember a church member saying this to me, and the effect on my prayer and preparation was electric: “If they are so eager to hear, the least I can do is get out of bed in the morning and labor hard at the Word, so there is something worth hearing!” —Christopher Ash

About 10 years ago, a couple of pastors broke into one of Boston’s most famous churches. “It’s 8:00 p.m. and we’re walking by Tremont Temple,” said pastor Curtis Cook. “The lights are off. The doors are closed. And Mark’s like, ‘Can we go in?’” “Mark” is Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC). He and a friend were having dinner with Cook when the conversation turned to Tremont Temple Baptist Church. Tremont Temple is massive, in both size and history. The 186-year-old church seats nearly 2,600 in a gorgeous, ornate building. One of the first churches in America to be racially integrated with free black members, it has hosted speakers such as Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. By 1929, its diverse congregation of nearly 4,000 members had a vibrant Sunday school, choir, Bible class, baseball team, and bowling league. But nearly a century later, attendance at Tremont Temple had shrunk to around 70 on a good week. The preaching wasn’t expositional. Financially, it was failing. “It costs about $20,000 a month to keep the building going,” said longtime member Phyllis DaRocha, who was on the finance committee. “Utility bills alone are in the thousands. Nothing is cheap, and that’s not counting insurance or salaries.” Area pastors worried about its slide. Across New England—the least religious area of the country—church buildings are being turned into restaurants, bars, and condos. “We were afraid the gospel would no longer be preached there,” Cook said. He and Dever tried a few doors until they found one unlocked. “We go walking in the church,” Cook said. “We found our way into the sanctuary, and we prayed for God to provide a way forward.” It’s been about a decade. These days, a former CHBC intern named Jaime Owens is the lead pastor of Tremont Temple. He preaches expositionally to about 100 to 120 weekly attendees. They have small groups, a plurality of elders, and 15 men learning to preach. And they’re financially solvent. “It has to be God’s miracle,” said DaRocha. “Our church is flourishing.” “It’s exciting, because you can see God’s hand working in how he makes these things happen,” said Norman Crump, who has been a member since 1995. “We are blessed that God has given us a good building to be in. But the richness of the teaching surpasses the richness of the building.”

Over the last decade, the two of us have embarked on journeys to understand what a good mom really is. If you’re familiar with our ministry, Risen Motherhood, you might know that as sisters-in-law and friends, we talked regularly in the little years, discussing our everyday experiences as new moms. While we asked each other questions about how God’s Word applied to first foods, naptime routines, and work, we didn’t realize we were asking something even deeper. Ten years into our motherhood journeys, our deepest questions started to crystallize—we didn’t want to know only what to do in motherhood but who to be.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. —John 3:16

Here is my The Gospel Coalition review of the new movie ‘Conclave.’ The film’s release right before the U.S. presidential election is no accident. This is a movie about the high-stakes, contentious selection process of a new leader at a time of widening political division. The drama of ‘Conclave’ includes candidates, campaigning, endorsements, ballot boxes, a “college” of electors, secret conversations in dimly lit halls of power, and even jarring attempts to undermine the democratic process. Sure, ‘Conclave’ isn’t about selecting a new president; it’s about selecting a new pope. But the parallels are obvious and intentional.

We lose something of our humanity by militarizing discussion and debate; and we lose something of our humanity by demonizing our interlocutors. When people cease to be people because they are, to us, merely representatives or mouthpieces of positions we want to eradicate, then we, in our zeal to win, have sacrificed empathy: we have declined the opportunity to understand other people’s desires, principles, fears. And that is a great price to pay for supposed ‘victory’ in debate. —Alan Jacobs