Church

In the midst of efforts to reconcile with longtime critics, Harvest Bible Chapel fired its founder and senior pastor James MacDonald for “engaging in conduct … contrary and harmful to the best interests of the church.” Harvest elders announced this

Ed: It’s hard to deny that we are living in challenging times culturally. The church’s influence is fading, and we are struggling to find answers to some hard questions. What’s your take on the health of the church today, especially

Ed: You've been a pastor for many years—and a remarkably successful pastor at that. We often joke that you're the Christian godfather of Chicago, and yet you're wanting to pursue more theological education. Can you tell us why? James: Ed,

1 – “Eventually, left unattended and unchecked, the knot comes undone” (Page 9). 2 – “It’s way easier to tie the marriage knot together at the altar on that perfect but expensive wedding day than it is to do the

“That is impossible. We have limited resources.” These are words I hear quite frequently in response to the challenge for national churches of low to middle-income countries to accelerate their participation in global missions. It is unfortunate that many vibrant

Margaret Feinberg longs to see Christians awaken to the culinary themes in Scripture. “Once you start looking for food in the Bible,” she says, “you discover that it pops and sizzles on nearly every page.” Her spiritual-gastronomic journey began a

“Rise mercifully upon our darkened hearts, and deliver us from the trench warfare of yet another government shutdown,” Senate Chaplain Barry Black prayed on the final day of the outgoing Congress at the start of the year. Three weeks into

Mark was one of the most talented pastors our church had ever hired. He had two advanced degrees (two more than anyone else on staff), but he was no out-of-touch academic. Gregarious and personable, he was equally confident preaching or

At the climax of the 1992 classic A Few Good Men, Colonel Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson) famously screams, “You can’t handle the truth!” Responding to questions from Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) about a military cover-up, he confirms his role

Many frequently joke about the turnover rate in church planting leadership. It seems that whenever I’m at a conference or church event, someone new will come up and say, “Hey, Ed. I’m the new leader of church planting at [insert