Today is my first son's first day at his first job. Josh is rarin' to go, but pauses for a hug and a blessing before he leaves. It's a simple but physically demanding job—unloading boxes from big brown trucks for a well-known delivery ...

Many Christians throughout the world recite either the Nicene Creed or the Apostles' Creed regularly in their church services. Following is a short history and recitation of each creed.

The Nicene Creed

In the first three centuries, the church ...

As kids, it never occurred to us to "work" on any of our relationships. They just happened. And if for any reason they didn't, we jumped ship. No fuss, no muss.

But somewhere along the line, each of us entered the fray of mature relationships—and ...

H. Norman Wright has written more than 65 books on everything from parenting to pets. But his book, Loving a Prodigal (Chariot Victor) is perhaps his most personal. At the age of 20, Wright's daughter, Sheryl, rejected the family's faith and ...

So much has been said in educational circles about people's different ways of perceiving reality. We're inundated with "right brain, left brain" jargon. We hear that some people think with their feelings, senses, and emotions; others ...

Many small-group leaders and adult Sunday school coordinators are scrambling at this time of year to find material to launch their ministries this fall. We have good news!

ChristianBibleStudies.com now has over 700 Bible studies to choose from. And instead ...

When I became a Christian, I didn't know the first thing about the Bible. The person who introduced me to Christ told me that I would grow in my newfound faith through reading the Scriptures. I had a Bible from the Gideons, so I opened it to Genesis, ...

I look up as John swaggers into my seventh-grade English class and shoves his man-sized body hard into his seat. He's back again—this time from a weeklong suspension for beating up a sixth-grader.

When the opening bell rings, I write an introductory ...

From the book Mastering Teaching.

A young woman, an award-winning interior designer, saw that her church needed a Sunday school teacher for one of the children's classes. She volunteered. They put curriculum in her hands and said, "If you can ...

I am convinced that Christian education, my field of ministry, is one of the highest of all callings. I've also become convinced that Christian educators need to keep reminding themselves of the unique role of Christian education.

All around us we see ...

While milling around at conferences, I occasionally bump into pastors who say to me, "Prof, you once changed the whole course of my life."

"Fantastic!" I reply. "How did it happen?"

"Years ago in class you made one statement ...

Most people think experience is the name of the game—that the longer a person teaches, the better he or she gets. Nonsense. Just as ripping through wood dulls the teeth of a carpenter's saw, so experience tends to wear away my edge. I have found ...

Becky, a new Christian in my Bible class, sparkles with enthusiasm even though she needs help to find Galatians: "Is that Old or New Testament?" she asks. I could tell her, "Jesus loves me, this I know," and she would be awed by the depth of my teaching. ...

Some years ago, I knew a Christian attorney who was appointed by the church board to be chairman of the adult education program. He was perfectly willing to oversee the program. He was willing to teach. He was a good teacher. But he was completely unwilling ...

Many churches are enthusiastic about cell group meetings in homes, but parents with younger children face a crunch: Shall they hire a babysitter, or shall they bring their kids along and hope they behave during the adult interaction? Here's how two groups ...

When I was on staff at Las Canada Presbyterian Church, a group of women said to me, "We want to do a small group Bible study, but we want more than a series of Bible lessons. Frankly, we get bored and turned off by that."

Since these women were from Hollywood, ...

Some years ago I was responsible for recruiting someone to oversee a pastoral care program involving over 200 adults. It was a big job, and I was looking for a couple who could commit a great deal of time and energy to the program.

I prayed about this ...

No one wants to blur or block the message of the Lord. Yet, sometimes on Sunday morning we climb into the pulpit or stand behind a lectern and, for any host of reasons, haltingly deliver an ill-prepared message or lead a Bible study that just goes nowhere. ...

A man who joined our fellowship came out of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Three months after his conversion, his daughter died. Then the woman he had been dating broke off their relationship.

If that weren't enough, his business collapsed; it's ...