With a little more than a week left until Christmas, and assuming there are still some people on your list to shop for, I offer my 10 favorite books of 2017, in no particular order. 

In August, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood released a document called “The Nashville Statement” (read it here) that, in 14 concise articles of affirmations and denials, presents the traditional Christian position on human sexuality. 

We live in a day and age that offers many opportunities to learn through the use of the ear, and one of those is the Podcast. In Sunday's sermon I recommended three Podcasts. To those three I have added another three that I listen to with some regularity, and I recommend all six to you now...

After the events in Charlottesville this past weekend, most rational people have found themselves sickened by the overt displays of white supremacy that we all observed. But I wonder how many people have thought very carefully about precisely why white supremacy is wrong.

Much has been written lately about the potential negative effects of smart phone use and social media. To me, one of the most pressing concerns is that, in our anxious scramble to always keep up with what is new on Twitter and Facebook, we neglect the value of what is old. In particular, I am thinking of the benefit of reading books from the distant past.

During the week of June 13, I was blessed to be able to attend the General Assembly (GA) of our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), in Greensboro, NC. It’s always a pleasure to reconnect with pastor friends (from Maine, Illinois, Florida, Colorado and Pennsylvania!) and seminary classmates, and personally I always find it rewarding to participate in the work of the body of Christ at the highest court level.

Back in 2011, New Life released a strategic plan in which the elders of the church proposed a plan for planting our first daughter congregation, as part of an overall movement of church planting taking place in our denomination and in our local presbytery. By God’s grace and as a display of his faithful provision, we are now on the cusp of getting this first church plant started.