Tim Keller’s preaching and writing deeply shaped my approach to ministry. While I don’t agree with him on everything, his impact on the church—and on me—is undeniable. His life offers lessons that continue to shape us today. To that end, I want to highlight four takeaways from a recent biography about Keller.

Hospitals, like many of society’s most vital institutions, have deep Christian roots that are often overlooked today. Guenter B. Risse’s Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hospitals explores this history, and while it was a challenging read, it offered valuable insights into how Christians shaped medical care throughout the centuries.

At Christ Church Bellingham, we say Jesus “descended into the grave” rather than “hell” in the Apostles’ Creed. This change wasn’t arbitrary—it reflects careful theological and historical reasoning. We’ll explore why this wording matters and how it aligns with Scripture.

Is magic always evil, or is there more to consider? A question from a student got me thinking about how Scripture and Christian tradition approach this topic. Let’s take a closer look.

In reflecting on what it means to be a gospel-centered church, the question arises: does spiritual maturity involve moving beyond the gospel, or is the gospel integral to every stage of our faith journey? It could seem that maturity means shifting focus from the gospel to the law. But is that true? As Tim Keller famously said, “The gospel is not just the ABCs of the Christian life but the A to Z of Christianity.” This article builds on earlier discussions and seeks to explore the profound ways in which the gospel remains foundational—not just at the beginning, but throughout the entire journey of faith.

We live in a culture that doesn’t sing. Our culture listens (quite a lot) to other professionals who sing. But for most cultures in history, singing was an activity for common people. And certainly throughout the Bible, singing is crucial to a life lived to God’s glory. 

Since our founding our church has been, and continues to be, a gospel-centered church. We believe the gospel alone has the power to make us into a people of joy, freedom, and righteousness. But the gospel-centered movement has received some criticism of late—namely, that since its constant aim is to motivate the Christian life by God’s grace, it can at times fail to give practical instructions to believers about how to live as a Christian.

Paul commands us to “be at peace among yourselves” (v. 13). In a sermon I gave a few weeks ago on 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28, I discussed how this command relates to avoiding unnecessary burdens on your leadership by not quarreling with each other. I'd like to offer further explanation to clarify what I mean.

Wokeism is deceptively attractive to sincere Christian people. If you are tenderhearted, care for the outsider, and are willing to sacrifice for the marginalized, then without clear teaching, wokeism will be almost irresistible. Whose heart does not ache for the oppressed? Who doesn’t want to be a champion of the weak and disempowered and marginalized?

In covering the errors of Dispensationalism, it is important to talk about the fact that their method for interpreting the book of Revelation is historically recent, and that there are several other ways that Christians have interpreted Revelation since it was written in the first century.

You might wonder, “What exactly is wokeness?” My goal in this article is to explain what it is; I will follow up with a second article on how the church should respond. My hope is that these articles will help our church to think clearly about these issues, and will guide us to have the courage to confront them when they arise.

Because of our fallen nature and our finitude, we cannot know this natural law without the light of Christ to illuminate the darkness of our hearts and minds, or without the spectacles of the Scriptures to enable us to see these laws of nature clearly. So, while natural law does exist, it is both unhistorical and unrealistic to say we have access to it without the grace of Christ.