"Big Numbers, Big Problems"
Christianity is in the midst of a massive global shift. But how much of a difference is it making in its new homelands?
John Wilson

Hooked
Eric Reed

The Leadership survey on Pastors and Internet Pornography

The Good Fight
4 spiritual disciplines to keep fights from scarring your soul.
Mark Buchanan

American Idols
Larry Crabb says there's something better than control and success.
The Leadership Interview

When Is a Broken Person Ready to Lead?
Daniel Brown with Bob Moeller

Your World: Every Day is Casual Friday
Anxiety hangs over a culture when adults act like children.
By Frederica Mathewes-Green

To Illustrate…

The War Within Continues
Name Withheld

Why Deciding Is Only Half the Battle
John Vawter

Strategies to Keep From Falling
Randy Alcorn

Taking the Unpopular Stand
Jack Hayford

When You Need to Motivate -- or Correct
Leith Anderson

When You Need to Confront
Daniel Brown

Wall Watchers Admits Error in Ministry Critique
In addition, three other organizations removed from group's Transparency Watch list
Todd Hertz

Two Years for China Bible Smuggler is Two Years Too Many—But It's Better than Death
Plus: Ralph Reed reportedly connects Enron to White House, and more horrible deaths at an evangelistic rally in Nigeria.
Ted Olsen

Gong's 'Accusers' Claim Torture Induced False Confessions
Letters from imprisoned Christian women in China describe assaults with electric clubs
Alex Buchan

The Opposite of Free Love
Dispatches from the World of Human Trafficking
Jennifer Goodson

Atheist No More, Flew Still Rejects Revelation
Plus: LA Times praises Jesus, Eames says ECUSA won't be disciplined, China's Craze Mass, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

New York's New Hope
From inner-city gardens, to fine-art exhibitions, to political activism, street-smart churches are changing the culture of America's largest and most dynamic city.
By Tony Carnes

Seducing the Underworld
Christian's story in Moulin Rouge
Douglas Jones

"Big Numbers, Big Problems"
Christianity is in the midst of a massive global shift. But how much of a difference is it making in its new homelands?
John Wilson

Arts: The Artist as Sinner
Ann Snowberger Bieber found God by painting the darkness she saw around herself-and inside herself.
Karen Beattie

"Big Numbers, Big Problems"
Christianity is in the midst of a massive global shift. But how much of a difference is it making in its new homelands?
John Wilson

"Big Numbers, Big Problems"
Christianity is in the midst of a massive global shift. But how much of a difference is it making in its new homelands?
John Wilson

Coming to Terms
Five key phrases in the hell debate.

United Kingdom: Hell Isn't Obsolete, Brits Say
Hell Isn't Obsolete, Brits Say
Religion News Service

Sin and Evil
Quotations to stir heart and mind.
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

Rabbit Trails to God
John Updike has made a career of writing the most theological novels in America
Mark A. Buchanan

Resistance Movement
Looking beneath the surface of pop culture
Nathan Bierma

The Lord Our God Is One
Three Christians trace their roots back to the Hebrew Bible-and encounter God's present-day chosen people.
By Steven Gertz

Forgetting God
Why decadence drives out discipline.
By Philip Yancey

Pondering a Divorce
Some United Methodists think their differences are irreconcilable.
By Kathleen K. Rutledge

The Prince Turned Pauper

Matters of Opinion: The New Scarlet Letter
Call someone a fundamentalist and watch what happens.
By Vincent Bacote

Colson: Scouts' Dishonor
The judge told the Scouts just what their oath meant—and didn't mean.
by Charles Colson & Nancy Pearcey

When a Child Strays

Four Dozen Nigerian Christians Murdered in Church
Plus: John Kerry endorses amendment against gay marriage, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Baptist Minister Killed in Tajikistan
Plus: Conservative Episcopalians sketch out plan, Jack Kelley now accused of lifting sentences, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Word Become Flesh
Quotations to Stir Heart and Mind
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman

Vegetarians in Paradise
Based on Isaiah 11:6-7 and 65:25, will we be vegetarians in the new heaven and earth as Adam and Eve were before the Fall?
Answered by Bill T. Arnold

Reflected Glory
What does Genesis mean by man being made in the image of God?
J. I. Packer

The Trauma of Transparency

Victory Out of Defeat

Jim and Tammy Faye Together Again
Plus: 50 dead after Muslim attacks in Indonesia, Billy Graham's last crusade (until November) and other stories from the world's mainstream media sources.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Why Paul Loved His Body
2 Corinthians doesn't teach that flesh and spirit are opposites, Michael Wittmer says.
By Ann Byle

Flesh and Blood in the Magic Kingdom
Frederick Buechner's most recent works shed light on the shadows of the human heart
Wendy Murray Zoba

The Tao Made Flesh
Rediscovering the ancient roots of Chinese Christianity
David Marshall

Scandalous
The enigmatic folly of the Cross.
by Bruce Ellis Benson

Church Opens Injecting Room in Sydney to Help People 'Almost Out of Reach'
But is helping heroin addicts inject themselves an act of compassion or foolishness?
Margaret Simons

You've Got 26-Year-Old Legends!
Plus: The anti-woman Bible, and North Dakota's Supreme Court tells judges to stay out of religious entanglement.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

Who Has the Authority to Ban Satan?
Plus: Herod's death revealed, and the school flier that almost undid more than two centuries of religious freedom.
Ted Olsen

Zion Haste
Does the passion of a few nineteenth-century Chicagoans still influence American policy in the Middle East?
Elesha Coffman

Serving the Rich Fool
Joe Daniels

Manipulating the Linguistic Code
Religious language falling into the hands of scientists can be a fearful thing
John Wilson

A Tale of Two Brothers
Like many siblings, John and Charles Wesley often clashed— and the Methodist movement profited.
Richard P. Heitzenrater

Russia: Training Shortfall May Imperil Growth
by Beverly Nickles in Moscow

Unwell in a New Way
Eugene Peterson

Holydays and Holidays
John Killinger

Handling Sexual Temptation
Richard Exley

Unwell in a New Way
Eugene Peterson

Unintelligent Debate
It's time to cool the rhetoric in the Intelligent Design dispute.
By John Wilson

Handling Sexual Temptation
Richard Exley

What's to Become of Tom?
The kid is self-absorbed and directionless. I don't like him. Does he have a future as a leader?
Gordon MacDonald

Finding God's Will, or Hearing God's Voice?
Rejecting formulas to find guidance
Richard P. Hansen

Small Worldview
Read Mercer Schuchardt

Navigational Errors
A thriving church sank, not because it hit an iceberg, but because of six leadership mistakes afterward.
Name Withheld

Keeping Enemies Close

Weighing Character
Fred Smith, Sr.

U.S. Protestant Majority Gone By End of Year, Says Survey
Plus: Christians in Iraq, Terri Schiavo, Moore's monument, home churches, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

New Fuel Source

Strong to the Finish

Beyond Virtue and Vice
"Some morals are absolute, but they are not ultimate"
Christianity Today Editorial

Original Sin
Slavery and the biblical curse of Ham.
Laura L. Mitchell

Desperately Wicked
Reckoning with evil
Alan Wolfe

A Sequel with Metal Claws and a Moral Backbone
Christian critics consider X2: X-Men United, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, The Dancer Upstairs, Bend It Like Beckham, and The Real Cancun.
Jeffrey Overstreet

Matrix Sequel Flaunts Flashy Effects, Tedious Talk
Christian film critics find little enthusiasm for The Matrix Reloaded, Down with Love, or Daddy Day Care, but they are impressed with Man on the Train
Jeffrey Overstreet

Race and Redemption in a Holes -some Family Film
"Holes trips up some viewers but holds treasure for others. Reviewers find flaws in A Mighty Wind, Bulletproof Monk, Malibu's Most Wanted, Chasing Papi, and XXX, while praising Levity and Rivers and Tides. Plus: An invitation to weigh in on the subject of"
Jeffrey Overstreet

Breaking Covenant
Latin America director of Casa Alianza had sex with a teen.
By Kenneth D. MacHarg in San José, Costa Rica

TBN Under the Microscope
Newspaper investigates Christian network over sex charges, spending.
By Religion News Service, staff reports

Former TBN Employee Alleges Gay Tryst With Paul Crouch
TBN boss paid $425,000 to silence claims, but accuser now wants $10 million.
Compiled by Ted Olsen

From Duty to Delight
I'd become self-absorbed and numb. Could I learn to live and love again?
Scott Ranck

Pastor Narcissus

Redirecting the Self-seeking
Alan Nelson

You Say Choice, I Say Murder
Before prolife arguments can reach the undecided American, we have got to look at the language we use.
Guy M. Condon

Unwell in a New Way
Eugene Peterson

A Horseless Carriage?
Letter Regarding Issue 8.2
Rachel Schuchardt

BiblioFile
Drew Zahn

The Seven Deadly Signs
Ministries that think they can do no financial wrong deceive themselves.
By John G. Stackhouse Jr

Editorial: We've Got Porn
Online smut is taking its toll on Christians. What is the church doing about it?
A Christianity Today Editorial

An Unpopular Topic
Marguerite Shuster explores what we have become as sinners.
Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

Good for the Soul
Frederica Mathewes-Green

Russia: Ready to Stand on Their Own?
In the former Soviet Union, evangelical churches are growing but not yet mature.
By Beverly Nickles in Moscow

WHEN REVIVAL STRIKES
Missionary David Brainerd was astonished by the Spirit's work.
compiled by Kevin A. Miller

The Anguish and Agonies of Charles Spurgeon
Debilitating gout, poisonous slander, recurring depression—Spurgeon suffered them all. What happened to his faith as a result?
Dr. Darrel W. Amundsen is professor of classics at Western Washington University and co-editor of Caring and Curing (Macmillan, 1988).

SERMONS FOR HEAD AND HEART
Effective preaching feeds both the mind and the emotions.
Bruce W. Thielemann

How the Clergy Sexual Abuse Scandal Affects Evangelical Churches
Sin and secrecy aren't limited to Roman Catholics, say pastors and scholars
Ted Olsen and Todd Hertz

World Publisher Apologizes for 'Clumsy' Editorial
"More on the World Trade Center crosses, every publication in the world notices America's spiritual boom, and other stories on the 9/11 fallout."
Ted Olsen

Judgment Day
God promised that calamity would follow disobedience. So why are we quick to dismiss it as a reason for the September 11 attacks?
Frederica Mathewes-Green

An Overlooked Casualty of a "Victimless" Sin
Mark Galli

The War Within Continues
Name Withheld

The War Within
Name Withheld

The War Within
Name Withheld

Screwtape's Strategies for Pastors

Inside Politics: Love the President, Hate the Policy
At Willow Creek conference, President Clinton reviews his moral failures, details his spiritual recovery.
By Corrie Cutrer in South Barrington, Illinois

Dick Staub Interview: Jerry Bridges Is Still Pursuing Holiness
After 25 years, The Pursuit of Holiness is a classic.

Desperately Wicked
Reckoning with evil
Alan Wolfe

Whatever Happened to Repentance?
We've come to think our faith is about comfort. It's not
Frederica Mathewes-Green

Unwell in a New Way
Eugene Peterson

Deliver Us from Evil
The films of Paul Schrader show that he got the most important part of his Calvinist upbringing right.
Roy Anker

Surprised by Death
A young pastor discovers what grace looks like while battling cancer.
James Van Tholen

After the Affair: A Wife's Story
Heather Bryce

I Can't See Any Progress

Occupational Hazards

Baptism + Fire
Suffering may build character, but ultimately it's not about us.
By Mark Galli

Cheated by the Affirming Church
Contrary to what some churches teach, it is homosexuality—and not its suppression—that enslaves people like me.
by Anonymous

Pulling Weeds From Your Field of Dreams
David Hansen

The Untouchables' Church
Despite a Catholic bishop's protest suicide in 1998, Christians hold little hope for repeal of blasphemy law.
Ethan Casey in Pakistan

Counseling Rape Victims
Danny Armstrong

Epicurus'—and Darwin's—Dangerous Idea
How we became hedonists
Richard Weikart

Bad Boys Trying to Be Good
Critics respond to a reckless Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars—Episode 2 and a shallow single guy in About a Boy. Plus: a preview of a movie about a good cop going bad—Insomnia
Jeffrey Overstreet

Sin Sells
"Mutuals.com's Vice Fund invests in gambling, tobacco, and alcohol"
Ted Olsen

Gambling Away the Golden Years
Casinos are seducing an alarming number of seniors. Where is the church?
John W. Kennedy

REFLECTIONS
Classic and contemporary excerpts