For 350 years, the church on American soil has enjoyed relatively little affliction for her fidelity to the Scriptures. This nation, though, is an anomaly in church history. And those days seem to be passing, more quickly than many of us expected. But panic would not be a Christian response. For two thousand years, this has been what it has meant to identify with Christ in the world-the normal experience of those who follow a man who was crucified. Suffering for the gospel was not just tolerated in the early church; it was expected. For now, we may be prone to think it strange. But soon...

Holy Week is not an obligation. It is an opportunity. In the chaos of our increasingly fast-paced and hectic society, the annual coming of Holy Week each spring is a reminder to pause and ponder, to carefully mark each day, and not let this greatest of all weeks fly like every other. It is a chance to walk with the church throughout the world and throughout time as she accompanies her Bridegroom through the eight most important days in the history of the world. And it is an opportunity to focus our minds on, and seek to intensify our affections for, the highest and most timeless realities in...