The apostle Paul perfectly expresses the most earnest desire of every true follower of Christ: "That I may know him" (Phil. 3:10).

"Knowing Christ," in the Pauline sense is not the sort of mystical relationship many people imagine. Paul wasn't longing for some secret knowledge of Christ beyond what is revealed in Scripture. He wasn't asking that private messages from Christ be whispered into his ear.

In fact, the knowledge of Christ Paul sought was anything but mystical. What he longed to know...

With all that is going on today, can you help me gain a basic understanding of Islam? How does it differ from biblical Christianity?

Islam is actually a word that means “surrender” or “submission.” Islam claims to be fully surrendered to the will of Allah. And the will of Allah, Muslims believe, was revealed through his prophet Mohammed. The revelation is written down in the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

There are six basic articles of faith in Islam and five duties. A simple Islamic doctrinal statement would look something like this...

Ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the already ecumenical climate in America has reached new heights. In an effort to distinguish between the extremist Muslim terrorists and the mainstream Muslim population, the media has called for an even higher level of tolerance and acceptance of the religion of Islam than usual.

In a 2002 issue of Newsweek, for instance, religion editor Kenneth Woodward asserts that “mere tolerance of other religions is not enough” and that “even the acceptance of...

In these postmodern times, tolerance is the supreme virtue of the public square. Tolerant people can be broad thinkers, open-minded, and charitable to every worldview—every worldview, that is, except biblical Christianity. The authoritative demands of Jesus Christ are beyond the threshold of postmodern tolerance.

In this postmodern era, one virtue is esteemed above all others: tolerance. As a matter of fact, tolerance may soon be the only virtue secular society will embrace. Many traditional virtues (including...

The saturation in today’s world of television, movies, and other forms of visual media has had an adverse effect on our ability to listen, think, and reason. It’s as if the entire society is suffering from attention deficit disorder. Sadly, many preachers decided to make major accommodations to the appetites of a generation weaned on media and entertainment; but they left biblical preaching behind.

Have you ever noticed how may television commercials say nothing about the products they advertise? The typical jeans commercial...

If you've ever visited the great cathedrals in Europe, you'd think the apostles were larger-than-life stained-glass saints with shining halos who represented an exalted degree of spirituality. But actually, they were very, very common men.

It's a shame they have so often been put on pedestals as magnificent marble figures, or portrayed in paintings like some kind of Roman gods. That dehumanizes them. They were just twelve completely ordinary men--human in every way--and we shouldn't lose touch with who they really were.

So what qualified those men to be apostles?

Let me give you a simple but profound statement about the church: The church is the only society in the world in which membership is based on a single qualification--the candidate must be unworthy of membership. Therefore, every local church is an assembly of sinners who have been saved by God's redeeming grace, and you and I are among them.

It should come as no surprise that there are problem people in every church. In fact, if you assess yourself biblically, you'll have to agree that every Christian is a potential problem--it's a difference of maturity and obedience. But there are some in the church who are perpetually difficult. And others...