Articles

During my short time in ministry, I’ve served overseas with the International Mission Board (IMB), worked at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS), and have now served on staff as the

Have you ever thought, “If I were to pray right now, it would make God want to vomit. After the mess I have made and the sin I have sought

During my 25 years in collegiate ministry, I’ve interacted with thousands of students, pointing them to Jesus, discipleship, and the local church. This generation is simultaneously the least church-attending and

You’ve most likely heard that children are the future of the church. Indeed, if there are no children, the church has no future. Many aging churches are finding themselves with 

Many pastors don’t realize they are burning out until they can barely pray, preach, or care for their families. Pastoral ministry is one of the most rewarding callings, yet it

I have been a baseball fan since I was a kid. In recent years it has become common to see teams play the “shift” against hitters who can only pull

From time to time, I like to ask my fellow worship ministers: Why do people come to church? Why do your church members gather for worship each week? I get

Originally published January 10, 2020. Are the categories of transcendence and immanence important considerations for worship planning and design?  The answer is a resounding yes.  Not only are they important,

What are we really doing when we gather for corporate worship each week? For some today, the main purpose for which we gather is evangelism; every service is designed to

Luke beautifully weaves four hope-filled canticles (songs) into his first two chapters: Mary’s praise (Magnificat 1:46-55), Zechariah’s Prophecy (Benedictus 1:67-79), the Angels’ song (Gloria in Excelsis Deo 2:14), and Simeon’s

Why do we sing hymns in Christian worship? Is the singing of hymns optional? Is it something churches do simply because it is an enjoyable to affirm biblical truth that

Automatic doors, elevators, ramps, and even hearing loops have become common in public buildings in the United States. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has created and is still creating

1976 marked three important events in the history of “American Evangelicalism.” First, evangelicalism came to the attention of the American public with a splash. Time, Christianity Today, and The Christian

A perennial question faces the evangelical movement when it looks in the mirror: Who are we? What exactly is “evangelicalism”? In an essay for the 1993 volume, Southern Baptists and

The Baker Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Edited by Tremper Longman III and Mark L. Strauss. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2023, 1159 pp., $54.99. Editors are Tremper Longman III, Professor

A century ago, Walter Binwell Hinson (1862-1926) preached a sermon at First Baptist Church (now Hinson Memorial Baptist Church), in Portland, Oregon, on the inerrancy of Scripture. Though relatively obscure,

Safety, wisdom, and counselors are a frequent grouping in Proverbs (11:14; 15:22; 20:18; 24:5-6; 27:9). It is wise to seek insight from a multitude of counselors for it increases the

A Judeo‑Christian Appraisal of Major Theories of Truth. By Joseph B. Onyango Okello. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2025, 206 pp., $28.00. What is truth? This question, famously uttered by Pontius

Benjamin Keach, the seventeenth-century Baptist pastor and theologian, has much to teach us about the task of preaching.  As I have explored elsewhere, by examining Keach’s sermons and writings through the

So many times people have asked me a simple question: “What is Steve Gaines really like?” My answer was always the same…he is exactly who you see him to be. While I

Text-driven expositional preaching transcends style but serves as a lightning rod for the conviction that the Holy Spirit speaks through the text. Moreover, the text of Scripture informs the sermon’s

Five years ago, my wife and I stepped out in faith to plant Living Water Church in Gladewater, Texas. Right around that same time I finished my DMin in Preaching

After more than 40 years in Jewish ministry, both in Israel and in the US, and having recently published a study of the messianic offices of Prophet, Priest, and King,1 I

In an era dominated by podcasts, TED Talks, and viral sermons, preaching often gets reduced to a set of techniques: How do I craft a killer outline? How do I keep