Calling oneself a “Bible-believing Christian” fails to account for the fact that every belief system, knowingly or unknowingly, arises out of a particular history.
From the very beginning, the community that God was forming was going to be much more inclusive than anyone could have imagined.
There are important historical reasons for making a distinction between ministry and vocation.

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Pastor Craft: Essays and Sermons is now available through 1517 Publishing
Your Christian faith is a bloody faith, and that ought not make you fearful or scared or embarrassed.
This Messiah is not a continuation—He is the fulfillment and the beginning of something new.
The creation of this word reminds us that the Magnificat, like Christmas itself, is charged from the start with joy and praise.
When Jesus assumes the body prepared for Him to do God’s will, the end of an old era has arrived, and with it, the beginning of a new.
He also took our own history and suffered all the agony and pain of our own lives.
Big or small, potential or certain, the despair we may grapple with during this time of year tends to find its end in the fact that things are not as they should be.
This is an excerpt from Chapter 27 in “Pastor Craft: Essays and Sermons” written by John T. Pless (1517 Publishing, 2021). Now Available for Preorder
Preparing for Advent? Discover Seven Ways to Better Know the Christ of Christmas in this free guide.
Jesus is both the image bearer and the image giver. In Jesus’ incarnation we are redeemed and re-imaged.
Waiting is not easy, but after waiting a long time, one would at least expect us to be ready when the time came.
Sometimes it is the unnamed characters in the Bible who can most help present-day readers find their own place in the biblical story.