Is my child addicted to video games?
I once knew of a boy who came home from school and played video games constantly. Not only that, he had a separate TV in his room as well that he could use to watch cartoons at the same time. Despite that, this boy did well in school. He was on the Scholar’s Bowl, and...
Why Christians Need to Talk About Video Games
Christians often struggle when it comes to pop culture. It seems like we tend to either be all-in or isolated entirely. We will produce Christian media, but usually, the only people reached by Christian media are…well…other Christians. The world just isn’t really...
The Pastor and the Apologist
The position of Pastor (shepherd) is a calling, and for those who do it well, it is both “a blessing and cursing.” Ideally, they love the people they serve, but they are also, at times, exasperated by the people they love and serve. That is often the way in human...
Testing the Spirits: Reflections from My Forty-Six Years of Counter-Cult Apologetics and Spiritual Discernment
When I learned that my church would be giving a preaching series in John’s First Epistle, I asked to preach on 1 John 4:1-6, which speaks of “testing the spirits” in light of the truth of Christ. These truths have been of enormous importance to me over many years of...
Prayer: Not a Waste of Time
We have sometimes been told that witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and others in cult groups is “just a waste of time.” “They don’t listen.” To be sure, witnessing to people in cults can be quite frustrating. It can be draining. So why do we do it? That is...
Stray Thoughts
You know how it is. There you are, sitting in a Bible study, watching a video of some middle-aged Christian celebrity pastor, probably with an earring and a tattoo, saying something that just doesn’t sit right with your discernment meter. You are the only one in the...