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some challenging & encouraging thoughts from Paul Tripp:  Church is wonderful. Church is important. Church is meant to remind us of the miserable condition in which sin left us and our world, and of the glorious rescue of redeeming grace. The songs we sing, the Scriptures we read, the sermons we listen to, and the prayers we enga... Keep Reading

Desiring God recently published this incredibly helpful article. Read it below or at the Desiring God site HERE. Article by Liz Wann My Dear Sons, The eye beholds much good and evil in this life. Beholding leads to becoming. What we continually put before our eyes and minds will shape and determine who we are. Images either tell the truth... Keep Reading

The Sojourn Network provided an excellnt article by Nikki Daniel On January 7, 2006, I dove into the trenches of ministry doe-eyed and unsure of myself. Although I began attending church services when I was about twelve years old, I had never seen the behind-the-scenes of ministry. So, when the Lord brought a handsome pastor into my life, I... Keep Reading

Crossway provided an excellent post that was adapted from Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work by Tom Nelson A Journey toward Understanding Work I believe how we view our work and how we do our work matters a great deal more than we might imagine. Yet when it comes to this important area of my life, particularly how my wo... Keep Reading

The Gospel Coalition had the following article by Keith Getty that really encapsulates why we do what we do here at Bethel.  I love Yo-Yo Ma. The stellar, nearly flawless strokes of his bow dancing upon tensioned strings—they resurrect meticulously crafted melodies conjured centuries ago among master musicians. Centuries h... Keep Reading

An excellent article by Tony Reinke a Staff writer, desiringGod.org It’s easy to become a passive sermon consumer. As a young Christian, I started to sense this tendency in my own listening, so one Sunday I brought a notebook to church and devised a simple little practice to get my discernment juices flowing before listening... Keep Reading

BY Douglas Wilson NB: This letter is fictional with regard to the particulars, but with regard to the nature of the sins described, it is unfortunately not at all fictional. Consider it a composite portrait, with no particular man in mind. At the same time, if any individual husband recognizes himself in the portrait and humbles himself, I ... Keep Reading

This might seem a strange question, because it is often not only hard to answer but seemingly unimportant. In a gospel conversation with a friend over coffee, apologetic-style questions and gospel proclamation are often all mixed together. Who can predict or determine which comes first, and why would it matter? However, the principle of whe... Keep Reading

The God of the Unlikely Time Often our schedule and God's seem out of sync. He acts earlier than we had expected, or later than we had hoped, or when it seems most awkward and inconvenient. The result is that sometimes we are impatient with God or choose to act impetuously, while on other occasions we are lazy and inactive. I suspect that'... Keep Reading

Did you ever sit in a classroom wondering what the point was? I distinctly remember that feeling as I struggled through calculus in college. The course was taught as if the application of the principles was self-evident. And perhaps to the math geeks in the class it was. But to this English lit major, it was a constant, and losing, exercise ... Keep Reading