The greatness of God is most clearly displayed in his Son. And the glory of the gospel is only made evident in his Son. That's why Jesus' question to his disciples [in Matthew 16] is so important: "Who do you say that I am?"

The question is doubly crucial in our day, because [no one is as popular in the U.S. as Jesus]—and not every Jesus is the real Jesus. …

There's the Republican Jesus—who ...

In his book When Charity Destroys Dignity, Glenn Schwartz describes how he confronted unresolved inner conflicts. During his time as a missionary in Zambia, Glenn had struggled with the approach his mission administrators took. He vocalized his difference of opinion and came into conflict with other missionaries and church leaders. Once home, Glenn began to experience physical symptoms that doctors ...

Thousands of Chinese Christians were killed during the Boxer Rebellion—a nationwide effort to snuff out any foreign influences in China that were political, cultural, economic, or religious. Though the rebellion was relatively short, the intense persecution it started persisted for years—most notably under the later Communist leadership of Mao Zedong.

A Christian evangelist who called himself ...

The movie Freedom Writers is based on actual accounts and the book The Freedom Writers Diary. It tells the story of a young teacher, Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank), who inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

After a fund-raiser, the class uses the money to bring Mrs. Miep Gies (Pat Carroll), the woman who hid Anne Frank from ...

Editor's note: Though you might not be persuaded by the information below, it still has great illustrative potential. D'Souza's article might provide an intriguing way into a sermon that deals with why God allows bad things to happen. It might be something you want to contend with or elevate as a possibility. It might be a way to raise several other questions about why bad things happen. Or, taking ...

What would it be like to go through an entire year without purchasing anything new?

That's the question a small West Coast group of environmental activists asked themselves a year ago. At the beginning of 2006, ten friends declared a sabbatical from American consumerism. "The Compact"—as they lightheartedly called their agreement—bound them in a mutual pledge to abstain from shopping sprees ...

This past summer, a friend of mine named Greg put together a mini high school reunion when he went back to Indiana to visit his parents. He hadn't seen many of his classmates in over 17 years. Needless to say, they had a riot reliving their glory days and finding out what was currently going on in everyone's life.

As the night was winding down, Greg noticed that his friend Debbie was getting teary-eyed, ...

The gospel message says: "You don't live in a mechanistic world ruled by necessity; you don't live in a random world ruled by chance; you live in a world ruled by the God of Exodus and Easter. He will do things in you that neither you nor your friends would have supposed possible."

Two weeks after the [2008 presidential] election, I traveled to India to meet Christian pioneers seeking to overturn India's institutional form of discrimination, the caste system. One scholar said to me, "You Americans are celebrating the election of a black man after only 250 years of slavery. We are still waiting for liberation after 4,000 years of living under caste." The Dalit Freedom Network ...

In February 2009, Alex Rodriguez, all-star third baseman for the New York Yankees and the highest paid player in baseball, admitted taking banned substances in 2001, 2002, and 2003. In an interview with ESPN baseball columnist Peter Gammons, Rodriguez said:

I did take a banned substance. … I do remember thinking in my bed in Arizona, it was like, What am I doing? Wake up. Stop being selfish. ...