The concept of a mission evokes images of deployed and disciplined soldiers and the Great Commission mirrors that with its revolutionary objective. A military mission seeks the subjugation of territory through physical force, but Christ’s mandate focuses on gaining ground through transformation of souls through the sword of the Spirit. In the military, an order is absolute. Similarly, the Great Commission asserts its Commander: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt...

Few tasks may be as humbling as sending out a mass mailing. The act involves a significant investment of time, resources, and hope. When the response to that effort is silence, it can feel like a failure. However, through a theological lens, this silence is not a void; it is a space where the principles of faithfulness, the free exercise of the gospel, and the divine law of sowing and reaping converge. In a results-driven culture, we often confuse faithfulness with effectiveness. We...

In Matthew 16:11, Jesus asks His disciples: “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?” While they were preoccupied with their physical hunger and a forgotten grocery list, Christ was concerned with the spiritual contagion of false doctrine. For the modern professing believer, this verse serves as a sobering call to spiritual discernment and a warning against the “leaven” of a...