Early in my discipleship journey, I became painfully aware of “the gap,” that distance between who God had called me to be and how I live. I could fixate on my failings and be consumed with destructive tendencies toward unhealthy introspection and despondency. Left to myself, there is a good chance I would have become “ineffective and fruitless” in my faith (2 Pet 1:8). But Todd walked alongside me.

The riveting story of how God moved through a humble “log college” to change the world.

Pastor Mark Hallock, one of our beloved Applied Theology profs, unpacks some practical ways to lead with love on his Leading Church Revitalization podcast.

Comer preaches a simple message: just. slow. down. Or, as Dallas Willard put it, “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” In other words, permitting busyness to overtake your days is tantamount to forfeiting a Spirit-filled life.

The New Testament doesn’t give pat answers about how to interpret or apply Old Testament laws, but invites us to wrestle with the question. Here, Alex Kirk ponders Christ’s fulfillment of the Law. He writes, “The degree stands completed and we are the honorary recipients. We all get to hang the diploma on our wall by faith, all its requirements having been accomplished for us by Christ.”

In this excerpt from The Perseverance of a Faithful Minister, Tennent’s own Michael Morgan reflects on the impact of William Wilberforce’s family life. “While the work to which Wilberforce had been called required that he pour himself out, family life seems to have kept filling him up.” Morgan has spent extensive time studying the life and influence of Wilberforce, his mentor, John Newton, and the vast network of ministry leaders that together shaped 18th/19th century British society—and the world.

I started to study Ecclesiastes because I thought I found in it a kindred spirit who, like me, had thrown up his hands and given up on faith and life, who had accepted the meaninglessness of these years on planet Earth and was simply waiting out the time until death would free him. What I found instead—with the help of that former mentor I mentioned—was a path through life that doesn’t involve the bottom of a pill bottle.

At Colorado Christian University’s recent “Preaching the Word” conference, Tennent’s Academic Dean, Michael Morgan, delivered two messages on I Peter 4:10-11, sharing with the pastors assembled about the nuts and bolts of expository preaching. Though he is quick to point out that he’s not a homiletics professor, Michael nevertheless spent fourteen years as a teaching pastor, honing his skills. Here he shares from experience.

With brutal honesty and humility, Russ Meek takes a good look at another one of the Old Testament’s trickiest passages. What to do with Judah and Tamar? We are happy to link his recent article for Fathom Magazine.

Israel Soong wrestles with the apologetic implications of the conflict in Ukraine. He writes, “As believers, we must not shy away from addressing human evil and sinfulness as the root cause for war. And yet, in the same breath, we must joyfully announce to the world that God himself has vanquished human sin through Jesus, who has defeated death itself, and will usher in a future in which creation itself will be redeemed, to the glory of God.”

“My academic discipline is called “historical theology,” which is something of a neologism. Up until the last hundred and fifty years or so all theology was basically “historical theology,” that is, theology was always conducted in conversation with the past. As theologians became more and more dislodged from history in the modern period, however, there was a need to add the qualifier “historical” to stress the importance of history. So much theology today is abstract and seems to have no clear grounding.”

Russ Meek returns to consider once again the strange, sad story of Jepthah’s Daughter (Judges 11). He writes, “Jephthah’s daughter… gives readers an opportunity to enter into remembrance by retelling her story, and it encourages us to sit in mourning with her by recounting her own grief and the establishment of a mourning ceremony in Israel.”

We are happy to announce the upcoming publication of Assistant Professor of Applied Theology Mark Hallock’s newest book, the Perseverance of a Faithful Minister, which will be available February 15. In it, Mark speaks specifically to pastors in church revitalization contexts about the crucial importance of perseverance for a thriving ministry. This excerpt comes from a chapter entitled “Developing and Deploying Leaders.”

We are grateful to Fathom Magazine for allowing us to reprint this excerpt of an article by Russ Meek, an Old Testament scholar who teaches from time to time at Tennent. Russ explores the ramifications of bad theology through the lens of Judges 11-12 and the head-scratching story of Jephthah.

At Tennent, we are passionate about pouring into families. Jenna Hallock, Executive Director of Family Time Training, joins us today with a review of Kathleen Nielson’s new series, Prayers of a Parent, which is a powerful tool to help any mom or dad raise children who love the Lord.

Alex Kirk joins us today to tease out the meaning of “holiness” in Leviticus. As he notes, “Everyone has a theology of holiness. The concept of the sacred is buried deeply in humanity. You can’t ultimately explain these feelings without recourse to God.”

We can’t help but agree with C.S. Lewis, who said, “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” All of us at Tennent are book lovers, and it is largely by reading that we have been shaped to know and love Christ, to engage the world’s great thinkers, to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. From time to time we would like to share a few favorite titles from our own bookshelves for your reading pleasure. Here’s a small sample of books that are fascinating, encouraging, challenging, and lively. Enjoy!

We are honored to have Dr. Jonathan Pennington with us today, chatting about theological education, humility, and… mothers-in-law? “What she has is something that we must not lose in the midst of our education — a posture or heart of receptivity toward God.”

Alex Kirk reflects on one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible. He writes, “The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1–17 stand as a summary and introduction to the law. To unlock their freedom and beauty, we must see that they flow from who God is. God is our system of morality. And he is not abstract. Right and wrong flow from God’s character and promote relationship with him. That’s what the Ten Commandments are about: they liberate you to live with the LORD.”

Tennent is committed to thoughtful engagement of the whole family. Not only do we welcome families to attend our residencies, but we want to walk beside families to encourage and nurture whole-family discipleship. Today we’ve invited Frank Trimble, the Director of Training and Consulting for Family Time Training, to share his vision for including children in corporate worship.

In his message, “Multiplying Disciples,” from the CFC Non-Ignorable Conference, Michael Morgan shares his concern over a present-day crisis of discipleship. What are preconditions for Christ-exalting multiplication? What are distinguishing marks of a cruciform culture? What are symptoms of unhealthy pseudo-discipleship?

“As women engage their minds in theology, leading to ignition of their hearts in worship of Jesus, it is inevitable that their lives will then be propelled forward on mission. And what an immense mission exists in our time (Matt. 9:37), where women’s distinct perspective and gifts are uniquely needed.”

Old Testament professor Alex Kirk reflects on the name of the Lord as revealed to Moses in Exodus 3. “If fire is a symbol for God, then this bush is Israel. Prickly, unmanageable, not fit to purpose.… This is a picture of grace.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.” In their upcoming book, Why Church Matters: Going All In with the Broken Yet Beautiful Body of Christ, Mark Hallock and Aaron Weber address the reality of hurt caused by the church, while also offering hope from God’s Word. We are happy to share an excerpt from their book here today.