Knowing & Doing

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) is called by some the greatest preacher of the last century. He had an impact on many leaders of this generation. Learn more about his life and legacy in this audio production. Click here to read this full article .

In 2002, Hammond’s youngest daughter Rebecca was born with severe cognitive disability. This created a crisis in the author’s faith which led him to the Scriptures to reconsider what it means for a human being to be made in the image of God. In this article, Hammond explains what he discovered and what it means for persons like his daughter and all human beings to be made in the image of God. He a...

According to Randy Newman, evangelism could be viewed as slightly less difficult if we break it down into component parts. In this article, Newman breaks evangelism down to a few component skills: presenting a concise summary of the gospel, sharing your personal testimony, answering apologetic questions, asking stimulating questions and offering invitations. Read the full article here.

Does God exist? How can we know? Humankind has wrestled with these questions for centuries. The influential philosopher Thomas Aquinas argued that the existence of God can be proved in five ways. Learn more in this recording of a classic message from one of the history's great thinkers. Aquinas helps us to see that God is the source of both the light of natural reason and the light of faith To rea...

Charlotte Brontë’s mid-nineteenth century novel Jane Eyre offers valuable life lessons for modern readers. The daughter of a clergyman, Brontë’s Christian faith influenced her writing, and the story of Jane Eyre offers wisdom on dignity, love, self-denial, and dealing with hardship and suffering. To read this article in the Knowing and Doing  magazine, please click here . Recommend Resource: A Chr...

In this final installment of the series, Michael Ward challenges us to reach out with the gospel by doing more than just promoting ideas or stating propositions. We need to engage the imaginations and affections of those we want to reach. Read this article online . Recommended Reading: The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis (Cambridge Companions to Religion), edited by Robert MacSwain and Michael...

In Part 2 of this episode, Michael Ward continues his examination of some of the groundwork to the thinking of C.S. Lewis that enabled him to become so effective an apologist. Read this article online . Recommended Reading: The Romantic Rationalist : God, Life and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis , edited by John Piper and David Mathis (Crossway, 2014)

According to Michael Ward, C.S. Lewis is probably the most influential practitioner of Christian apologetics over the last hundred years. In this article, he looks at the Lewis of the 1930s, prior to the time he wrote his most influential works, in order to examine some of the groundwork to his thinking that enabled him to become so effective an apologist. . . Read the full article . Recommended R...

Tom Tarrants observes that God desires an intimate, personal relationship with His children and calls us to know, love and serve Him and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As we do so, we will experience joy and delight. One of the means by which we can grow closer to God is by setting aside time each day to quietly read and reflect on God’s Word, lift our prayers to Him, and give thanks and praise t...

Aaron Welty lives an active life with cerebral palsy. While he has prayed for healing, he states that God has provided an unexpected prescription, showing that perseverance is the unexpected — and greater — miracle. In this article, Welty observes that truthfully we’re all weak in ways visible and invisible. He argues, however, that weakness can unexpectedly draw others toward a deeper understandi...

What makes atheism so appealing? Author Cameron McAllister makes the case that overlooking atheism’s appeal constitutes a serious strategic mistake for those of us who want to discuss the gospel with skeptics. Read this article on the C.S. Lewis Institute website.

Andy Bannister argues that in considering how to deal with what has been termed the “New Atheism,” we can learn much from looking at C.S. Lewis’s atheism in his early life, “and his journey from it to Christ, as he engaged with the very kinds of arguments that the New Atheists are recycling today.” To read this full article, click here . Recommended Reading: Peter S. Williams, C.S. Lewis vs. The N...

Since the advent of  Superman: The Movie  in 1978, ushering in the modern era of superhero cinema, theater audiences have enjoyed blockbuster films focused on comic book characters. In this episode, Congressman Aaron Welty explores the modern mythology of comic book heroes and how superhero stories can be a doorway to deeper theological truth. Read this article online . Recommended Reading: Epic b...

D.A. Carson observes that in common usage, the words “spiritual” and “spirituality” have meanings ranging outside the sphere of biblical usage, and likewise the term “spiritual disciplines” has extended itself into arenas that are bound to make those who love the gospel more than a little nervous. In this episode, Carson considers: How shall we evaluate the popular approach to spiritual discipline...

Tom Schwanda helps us explore the Biblical foundations for spiritual growth. This is the first of a three part series that reflects deeply on why we need intimacy with Christ, how scripture sets the platform for it, and then offers suggestions for pursuing that noble goal. To read the full article for this podcast, please click here . Recommended Reading: God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Lo...

Looking at the process of discipleship from the opposite side of most discussions, Tom Tarrants raises the important, albeit disturbing, topic of persecution for the sake of the gospel. Jesus warned many times that his disciples would face specific trials that come from following him. This article helps us prepare for those inevitable trials. Click here to read the full article . "For what credit...

Tom Schwanda completes his three part series on “Growing in Intimacy with God” by digging into the role that experience plays in that process. The tension between knowing and doing, sometimes polarized to unhealthy extremes, is examined with an appreciation for both head and heart, doctrine and experience, thought and emotion. Read this article online . Recommended Reading: Stephen J. Nichols, Jon...

In this episode Tom Tarrants considers the question, “How do we navigate around the seductions of this fallen world and faithfully follow Jesus in daily life?” He argues that the key is in and with our heart’s desires. Recommended Reading Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification  by Sinclair B. Ferguson (Banner of Truth, 2016) Purchase online from Banner of Truth  or Amazon .

Ruth Lovejoy, a Fellow in our C. S. Lewis Institute Fellows program, shares how seeing the gospel and the goodness of God more worshipfully can set us free from our love for and idolatry of efficiency. With one eye on the scripture’s story about Mary and Martha and another eye on her to-do list, Ruth helps liberate us from the tyranny of the urgent. Recommended Reading: Gordon MacDonald,  Ordering...

Jesus’ disciples asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.” In this episode, Pastor Bill Kynes takes us to the heart of Jesus' response and helps us learn how to pray to the Father. To read this article on Growing in Prayer, please click here . Recommended Reading: Tim Keller,  Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (Penguin Books, 2016)

A life of prayer is something to which we are all called and to which we should all aspire. Dr. Bill Kynes discusses what it would mean for us to devote ourselves to prayer, to ‘pray continually’ as instructed by the Apostle Paul. Recommended Reading: Kevin DeYoung, Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book about a (Really) Big Problem (Crossway, 2013) Purchase your copy at:  https://www.crossway.org/...

In this two-part series addressing vocation and calling, Mark Talbot discusses the importance of a biblical view of calling and the value of spending time each day in God’s written word. Read this article online by clicking here . Recommended Reading: Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life (Thomas Nelson, 2003)

Are you confident that you know and are fulfilling God’s purpose for your life? Tom Tarrants observes that God’s purpose for our life has two major aspects: His purpose in the world to come, and His purpose in the present world. These are intricately intertwined, and it is important to approach our need for guidance in the pressing affairs of the present world, which seem so urgent, in the context...

What is it that motivated C.S. Lewis, a comfortable academic with more than enough to do, to direct so much of his time writing and speaking towards the conversion of the unbelieving of the world? What made him sacrifice not only the regard of many of his colleagues but his own academic advancement to defend the faith? . . . Learn more in this episode of Knowing & Doing featuring the writing o...

The biblical writers frequently draw parallels between physical and spiritual life, and in many cases the parallels are close. The physical maturity of a child can be measured with the aid of a tape measure and scales; the child’s intellectual development can be gauged by examinations and tests. Likewise our own growth in maturity can be measured. J. Oswald Sanders shows us how Maturity Can Be Mea...