The Anatomy of a Failure
With the revelation of Ravi Zacharias’ secret lifestyle of sexual sins, Christians and even non-Christians publicly wonder what went wrong.
Jeremiah’s Journey to Hope
What Jeremiah came to understand is that it’s not the Lord’s gifts but the Lord Himself who constitutes hope.
The Offense of Grace
No one hates grace, do they? Who would ever be offended by a free gift?
Yes, 2020 Has Been a Good Year
It’s true that this year has been challenging, but God has also glorified Himself in and through it.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Thinking Through Pastoral Transitions
In this episode, Mike discusses some of the right and wrong reasons for pastors to consider transitioning to another church or ministry.
Seven Reasons to Preach through Revelation
The message of Revelation needs to be shared, and as a pastor, you are in the prime position to teach it to your congregation.
Murky Waters, Murky Minds
In order to have a Biblically clear mind, we need a Biblically developed worldview filter that can sort out the good from the bad, the Biblical from the secular.
Three Ways to Live Out Your Heavenly Citizenship
Our Heavenly citizenship is a gift that should change our perspective on how we live out our lives.
Parents, Don’t Negotiate With Terrorists!
Indulging your children when they throw a temper tantrum is unhelpful and counter-productive.
No Fear This School Year
If you are fearful entering this school year, then turn to God’s Word for hope. Within the pages of the Bible, there are precious promises for scared, weak, and needy people to grab hold of.
Finding Joy instead of Jealousy in Your Work
Let’s put our hearts and minds into what the Lord has for us. Let’s do it wholeheartedly for the Lord.
Your Pastor’s Wife Is Human
Churches need to realize that although the role of a pastor’s wife can be rewarding and special, it can also be lonely.
Back to the Mission Field of School
As school starts this year, create a new tradition at supper for each person in your family to think about someone at their school or workplace they can pray for, then pray for them as a family during supper time.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Overcoming a Competitive Spirit
Mike and David discuss Mike’s new book, No Contest: Overcoming a Competitive Spirit.
Five Ways to Encourage Your Pastor During a Global Crisis
Your pastor might have several degrees hanging on his wall from prestigious seminaries and educational institutions. But rest assured, he has never taken a class …
A Perfect Time for Your Church to Grow
By Bob Cowman I tend to see opportunity at the strangest times and in the weirdest ways. If you read the news or follow the …
‘The Incompatibility of Christianity and Racism’
In this 2018 video, listen to Aaron Lavender, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Kansas City, Missouri, speak on “The Incompatibility of Christianity and Racism.”
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: How to Leave a Church Well
Mike and Bob discuss the many issues surrounding the difficult decision to leave a church.
How We Must Respond to Bigotry, Hatred, and Racism
As Christians, we must be prepared to confront both racist actions and racist attitudes, because sin originates in the heart.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: The Supremacy and Beauty of Christ
Mike interviews Steve DeWitt on the subject of Christ’s supremacy and beauty.
Biblical Principles for Social Media
The question isn’t so much whether or not to utilize social media, but what we are trying to say and why. Our communication is to be seasoned as with salt—that implies that we are putting in some thought beforehand.
Why I Won’t Tell Churches How to Reopen
“Can we gather yet as a church again?” A national representative of a fellowship of churches does not have the definite answer for each local church. But thankfully, the principles of God’s sufficient Word do.
COVID-19 & When Should We Reopen the Economy?
What should we be considering, as Christians, when we ponder and discuss the idea of reopening the country?
Why Humility and Submission Are Especially Important for Churches on Lockdown
By Steve Viars Indiana’s governor, Gov. Eric Holcomb, along with his assembled team of medical and business professionals, has the gigantic task of leading our …
On Uncertainty
This is a time of great uncertainty, but it is also a time for reflection on First Things, on Prime Principles. On what is certain. On Truth.
Crisis Catapults Courage
We’re all in over our heads right now. These are hard times. But the hard times are the best times to become who God made us to be.
Forgiveness
Just as biblical love is an action (not a feeling) so is biblical forgiveness. Stop looking at your emotions as a barometer and start looking unto Jesus.
Evangelism in the Time of COVID-19
Like the early church, we must boldly step into the challenge of caring for the vulnerable and sick. We must point them to the only One Who can deliver us.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: The Church and COVID-19
Mike and David discuss Christian living and church ministry in an age of Coronavirus lockdown.
Why We Won’t Have Online Communion
Observing the Lord’s Table remotely might not be the best idea.
Church Polity and the Coronavirus
What does the Coronavirus lock-down mean for our Baptist understanding of church polity?
Spiritual Stimulus—Finding Renewal in a Time of Mandatory Rest
Four suggestions for using this extraordinary time as an opportunity for spiritual renewal.
Memorize
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11).
What Is the Meaning of “Iron Sharpens Iron” in Proverbs 27:17?
The “iron sharpening iron” process that Proverbs 27:17 provides is a helpful and maybe even convicting part of a believer’s life.
How God’s Love Helps Us When We Are Afraid
We have good reason to take the virus seriously. But we also have good reason to trust God, live courageously, and love others.
COVID-19 and Anxiety
What are you worried about? Try this three-step approach from Philippians 4:6–7.
Why We Care About COVID-19
Four reasons Christians should sincerely care about the current COVID-19 crisis.
Four Theological Threats Facing the Church This Decade
Today the church is facing several incoming threats about which we cannot afford to say, “Don’t worry about it.”
No Shame?
The idea that shame has no place at all in the life of the believer says too much.
Change: Adopting a Biblical Approach in the New Year
God calls us to live actively in confident faith and hope, not fear. Like our Biblical forerunners, He asks us to trust in the fact that He is already present in the places that are new and untested for us.
Four Goals for the GARBC in 2020
Let’s commit ourselves to work together for God’s glory in 2020 to make disciples in healthy local churches.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Who Were the Magi, Really?
In this episode, we consider the historical identity of the Magi and offer some reflections on the account of their visit to the Christ-child in Matthew 2.
Important Year-End Tasks to Finish Strong in 2019
December can be one of the busiest and most hectic times of the year for church pastors and leaders. With that in mind, Regular Baptist Ministries has provided a checklist that churches can use to make sure that certain tasks, especially those that have IRS deadlines, are completed in time.
Thanks & Giving
This Thanksgiving Day, as we sit down with our family and friends and stare at that turkey with the trimmings, perhaps we should remind ourselves to be better thankers and better givers.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Pastoral Recruitment and the Call to Ministry
This episode features a panel discussion on pastoral recruitment and the call to ministry.
How Then Shall We Think of Kanye West’s Conversion?
News of Kanye West’s reported conversion to Christianity is sparking social media and the Christian blogosphere. What are we to make of this? How should we respond?
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Marriage in Ministry
Mike discusses marriage in ministry with John and Daria Greening.
I Am Called to Self-Sacrifice, Not Self-Care
Self-care in its proper place is good, but that road can be slippery. We are not our own; we are Christ’s.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: What Is the Purpose of the GARBC?
David and Mike discuss the proposed updated purpose statement and how it better answers the question, “What is our purpose and our mission?”
Suffering and the Goodness of God
God is a good Father. He loves to give good gifts. At the cross, the most significant suffering in history collided with the greatest gift anyone could ever offer.
5 Reasons for Pastors to Attend Local and State Fellowship Meetings
Five reasons to invest in both your local and state fellowship.
A Few Good Men
It is God’s business to turn people who are not good into people are who are. Justification declares us to be righteous based on the righteousness of another, so we are “good” in the estimation of God as He sees us in Christ.
If you commit suicide, can you go to Heaven?
By Kevin Carson Some questions that readers ask are harder to answer than others. This is a very hard question. Whenever someone asks this question, …
Four Blessings of Close Friendships in Pastoral Ministry
Pastoral ministry can be a lonely place. But it doesn’t have to be. Years ago it was common for seminary professors to caution aspiring pastors about having close friendships.
The War Within
Do you find yourself in a cyclical battle with sin? Next time you sin, stop yourself, and walk yourself through James 4:1–4.
10 Things I’ve Learned as National Representative of the GARBC
A little over 13 months ago Christina and I unpacked our belongings and began settling into the northwest suburbs of Chicago. We also began a …
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Signs & Wonders and Biblical Sufficiency
Mike and David discuss signs and wonders, spiritual gifts, and Biblical sufficiency.
Why Go to Seminary When the Fields Are Already White for Harvest?
It is true that people are lost and dying, and that we should be urgent about pursuing the lost, but skipping seminary in order to rush into ministry would be like performing a surgery without any schooling.
Be Hopeful: The Church Does Not Rise or Fall on Christian Celebrity
Let’s not forget while hearing the heartbreaking accounts of spiritually shipwrecked Christians that there are multitudes of faithful Christian brethren all around the world still persevering in their faith and staying true to the gospel, sometimes even under intense persecution.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Developing an Evangelistic Environment in the Local Church
Pat Nemmers and Chuck De Cleene discuss the importance of intentional evangelism.
Three Common Barriers to Church Revitalization
Three common fears will eventually lead a church down the road to closure instead of revitalization.
My Grandpa’s “Worry Gene”
While it is true that believers may struggle with sins, those sins should no longer define the believer: we must cease being what we were and become what we are.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: The Church and the Kingdom
David Gunn and Andy Woods discuss the coming Kingdom and its relationship to the Church.
Stanley’s “Irresistible” Is a Dangerous Disappointment
A Critical Review of Andy Stanley’s “Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World.”
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Worship and Lament
Mike Hess and Mark Vroegop discuss pastoral ministry, worship, and lament.
Why Does Good Friday Matter?
By Bob Stevenson Tomorrow, we celebrate good Friday. In our church, we gather to read the passion narrative and reflect on the event of the …
Miracles: Then and Now (Part Four)
In the spiritual gift lists in the New Testament, some gifts were miraculously endowed and immediately exercised and some were non-miraculously, naturally inherited and used.
The Christian and His Politics
by Dave Cunningham Those of us who stand for the truth of God’s Word and vote with the Bible in our back pocket have been …
Movie Review: Unplanned
Unplanned is a film you need to see. It will change your perspective. It is not entertaining, but it does show in compelling fashion both what abortion is and how by God’s grace we can see change in those who administer and advocate its practice in our day.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Understanding Biblical Separation
David and Mike discuss the issues of ecclesiastical separation and secondary separation.
The Faith of a Child
Many Christians know that Jesus said that we should have the faith of a child. But what does Jesus mean by this comparison?
Minister Housing Allowance Upheld on Appeal
On March 15 the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court decision and found that a housing allowance for church clergy does not violate the Constitution’s establishment clause.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: The Essence of True Worship | Guest: Jon Jenks
Jon Jenks joins us to discuss the essence and nature of Biblical worship.
Miracles: Then and Now (Part Three)
The Miracles of Jesus Christ John the Baptist (who did no miracle) was the new voice for God to Israel after the four sterile centuries …
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: A Regular Baptist Perspective on Lent
Should Baptists celebrate Lent? Mike and David discuss this question by examining the history of Lent, New Testament teachings on food, fasting, and spirituality, and the sacramental context in which Lenten observance usually occurs.
Miracles: Then and Now (Part Two)
The era of the Gospels began with the gigantic miracle of the virgin conception and birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the entrance of God in the flesh into the temporal order. This era closed with the most colossal miracle of all human history—the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
The Life of Faith
We often rehearse how we are saved by faith, but God has also called us to live by faith.
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: Challenges Facing the Church and the Importance of Sound Hermeneutics
Mike Hess discusses challenges facing the Church today and the importance of sound hermeneutics.
The Importance of Biblical Creationism for Theology
By Kyle Dunham How important is biblical creation for one’s theology? Self-professed evangelicals increasingly say, “Very little.” A surprising number of theologians downplay its importance. …
Three Prayers for Sunday Morning
By Nick Harsh Sunday morning. For some families, these two simple words call to mind a morning filled with chaos. For others, however, Sunday mornings …
Baptist Bulletin Podcast: What Is a Regular Baptist?
The Baptist Bulletin podcast is also available via iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play.
Miracles: Then and Now (Part One)
By Rolland McCune On occasion through the years one reads or hears of a great revival somewhere in the world, a sudden outburst of the …
Coming Soon: The Baptist Bulletin Podcast
The Baptist Bulletin podcast will debut next week! Join hosts Mike Hess (GARBC National Representative) and David Gunn (RBP Director) for discussions on theology, ministry, …
The Value of Understanding Perception
By Rob Green Years ago, I heard the phrase “perception determines reality.” I remember being confused. Reality is not dependent on one’s perception, I reasoned. …
The Parking Lot Tax and Its Implications for Churches
Tax reform law that went into effect in 2018 includes a requirement for churches and nonprofits to pay tax on the cost of parking space used primarily by employees. Churches can take some easy steps to make certain that they remain in compliance.
There Really Is Hope: Encouragement for Parents of Prodigal Children
Witnessing a son or daughter charging hastily into destruction is a burden so heavy even the most resolute parents despair of bearing it. But there is always hope in Christ.
Genuine Thanksgiving
By Bernie Augsburger Have you ever wondered how the Pilgrims could have a thanksgiving celebration after going through the most difficult year of their lives? …
What Can We Learn from Willow Creek?
When a high-profile minister like Bill Hybels falls from grace, it provokes us to ask, What are some important lessons can we learn from this?
Six Dangers Young Adults Are Currently Facing
By Sam Horn There are certain cultural influences and age specific tendencies that can be observed in each generation. These “generational habits” are not always …
Update on the Minister’s Housing Allowance
A recent court decision declaring the Minister’s Housing Allowance unconstitutional is being appealed. However, your church and your pastor as an individual should consider what to do if he loses his housing allowance.
Christian Zionism and the Future of Israel
By Kyle Dunham This year marks the 70th anniversary of the inception of the modern state of Israel. On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion announced …
God in the Cracks?
By Diane Scallon For those of you who have smartphones, please take a moment to check the battery status of your phone. In the battery …
Sharing Faith: Canning the Canned Approach
by Jeff Burr The Incarnation is a revolutionary doctrine. Humanity was alienated from God because of its sin. Jesus, the eternal Son of God and …
My “Interracial” Engagement
By Rebekah Anderson In 280 days, I get to marry my best friend—the man I admire more than anyone else in the world. And some …
God Is Sovereign Over the Weather
The Lord is lord of all. Whether rain or snow, cold or heat, wind or stagnant air, hurricane or calm, the Lord is the one who continues to uphold all of creation by His mighty power.
Back to School Prayer Guide
We begin a new school year with many concerns, apprehensions, and hopes. What better way to begin this school year than to begin in prayer?
Five Things Every Visitor to Your Church Wishes You Knew
The average church’s retention rate of unchurched first-time visitors is less than 3 percent. How can churches help visitors become regular attenders?
Regeneration: The Bestowal of New Life
Regeneration is not a cooperative effort between God and man. God initiates the new birth by reaching down to us in love, mercy, and grace and lifting us from our lifeless condition. We do not meet Him halfway.
Rethinking Revoice
Is it possible to “redeem queer culture” while remaining true to Biblical standards and terminology? The Revoice Conference thinks so, but it is a difficult concept to square with the Bible’s teaching on sin and redemption.
The Church Needs You on Sunday
Why should you show up at church on a Sunday morning? Ever wonder that? Here are four reasons to attend church.
Lessons on Preaching from the Internet
There are four lessons to be learned from current events surrounding pastors. Those in ministry need to pay attention and be warned.
Seven Words That Will Change Your Life
“I was wrong. Will you forgive me?” Seven words and two sentences that will change your life and your relationships for the better.
A Mother’s Shield
Mothers are not generally regarded as warriors. However, the Bible describes some mothers who fought in a hand-to-hand combat for their children.
Fans or Followers?
The crowd who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem may have been fans of Jesus, but they certainly weren’t followers of Jesus.
The Return of the Master (Part 2)
Jesus is serious about His disciples working while He is away. Why do you think that you will be more fervent about serving Him tomorrow if you are unwilling to serve Him today?
The Return of the Master (Part 1)
Because we don’t know when Jesus will return, we must always be ready. To be ready is to be faithfully working for Christ. There is no time for casualness or time-wasting. The Master is coming. We must be working.
The Logic of the Pro-Choice Position
Logic is not what drove many to the pro-choice position, and it will be unlikely in itself to move them away from it.
When Not to Email
How we communicate matters. When it comes to communication, there are clear benefits of having in-person conversations over emailing and texting.
The Paralysis of the Fear of Man
Have you ever squandered a clear opportunity to testify about Jesus? The fear of man is strong. But we can consider ourselves in light of Who God is and fear Him most of all.
Expressing Gratitude to God
Whether spontaneously uttered, purposefully remembered, or extensively prepared, our gratefulness to God for Who He is and what He has done for us should be expressed regularly.
The Bible Is for Everyone
John Wycliffe’s passion for Scripture would be his distinctive legacy.
Renewal and Prophetic Distance
How should the church engage culture? It’s an important question because the culture is at war, and we’d better know where we stand when the roar reaches its fever pitch.
Charlottesville: How Should the Church Respond?
In these times of racial and political discord and division, how should the church respond? What can pastors do to lead their people with Biblical conviction to be on mission with Jesus and make a difference?
Thin Green Line
When you hear the word “God,” money is probably not your first thought. However, if we’re not careful, money can quickly take the place of God in your life.
Prophetic Significance of the Temple Mount
The past two weeks have seen amazing events taking place in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. These events may well be a precursor to the fulfillment of important prophecies relating to the end times.
Truly Free
What does it mean to be spiritually free? It speaks of a status that is not true of everyone in this world.
The Future of Seminary Education, Part 2
The change in theological education represents a fundamental shift in both educational philosophy and religious pedagogy, is already having great effect on pulpits and pews.
The Future of Seminary Education, Part 1
Changes in either the church or higher education are quickly mimicked and often magnified in seminaries, and the speed at which these parties are changing is a relatively new phenomenon.
What Do You Mean, Relevant?
Many Christians obsess over making Christianity relevant. But why should Christianity be made relevant, and what would a relevant Christianity look like?
On Hank Hanegraaff’s Conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy
Within quite a few supposedly evangelical churches, we are witnessing the adoption of Catholic and Orthodox aesthetics and liturgical practices even where official allegiance to Catholicism or Orthodoxy is not claimed.
Because He Lives
This Easter we are reminded once again that Jesus did not stay in the tomb but is fully alive. And our lives right now are worth the living just because He lives.