Joshua Sharp examines biblical teaching on church discipline and challenges churches to be stewards of the practice.

Even pastors feel lonely sometimes. Zac Harrel shares how the Lord’s Supper helped him when he felt lonely.

There has to be a better way to talk to each other about abortion. Joshua Sharp provides some perspective from a pro-life position about ways others opposed to abortion can talk with people on the pro-choice side.

In a world of hurt, are we creating scars or healing them? Gaynor Yancey, a professor at Baylor University, remembers the Civil Rights Movement and a painful childhood experience with a bicycle.

Author and teacher Rich Mussler applies a story from the Gospel of John to the opportunities we have to share Christ with friends, co-workers and family members.

Books expand our vision of the world. Books open the world up to us much more than our phones and the ever-shrinking community and influences we have on social media. Books can push us out of our comfort zone and help us think about this world in a new way.

There is a calm humility associated with kneeling, and I wonder what we could learn, receive or do as a result of this heart posture.

Rather than being distracted by what words people use to celebrate this time of year, Baptists need to remember they arose in response to religious persecution and have been proponents for religious liberty for 400 years so they can continue to be a leading voice for religious liberty now.

Are we paying attention to the whole Christmas story, or are we glossing over the less tranquil parts? Are we writing the real nature of God breaking into the world out of our Christmases merry and bright?

Christmas is not a happy time for all people. Cultural and societal pressures turn Christmas into a time of stress, anxiety and disappointment for many, especially those without the means to buy Christmas as it’s portrayed. Where is the joy, peace and promised liberation of Christmas?

As pastors, we are not immune to the sting of sorrow, even when we put on our best acting faces. I’ve had to speak joyful words of hope at a funeral, trying to help others smile about a life wonderfully lived, while stifling my own grief quietly and deep inside like a geyser wanting to explode.

Kristen Padilla grew up the daughter of a pastor and shares a touching story about her father’s influence on her and her ministry.