Ray Burns

I love Christ, my wife and four kids, the Oxford comma, and board games. Although saved at 18, it took 10 years for me to stop chasing idols and find true satisfaction in Christ. God's given me a passion for teaching and writing, and with that a deep burden to be my creator's instrument in giving His people a profound, unshakable relationship with their savior.

Get Caught Up with My Podcast!

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteIf you aren’t subscribed to my podcast, just search Onward in the Faith on your favorite podcast app and get each new episode sent directly to your device. In the meantime, here are my recent episodes where I reflect on what we can learn from fallen leaders in the Christian community.

Get Caught Up with My Podcast! Read More »

Final Thoughts (Part 8 of Thinking Through the Ravi Zacharias Scandal)

Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesThe sin of any Christian causes us to mourn. When a secret life is revealed, and a Christian leader has been found to be abusing others, it causes us outrage. When the whole world is given an opportunity to mock Christianity because of that gross sin, we may not know how to react. Do we

Final Thoughts (Part 8 of Thinking Through the Ravi Zacharias Scandal) Read More »

The need for “bottom-up” discipleship (Part 7 of Reflecting on Fallen Leaders)

Approximate Reading Time: 5 minutes(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) If there’s one thing that’s consistent about everything I’ve discussed in this series, it’s this: there’s a fundamental flaw with how we desire to have a small group of celebrities be our

The need for “bottom-up” discipleship (Part 7 of Reflecting on Fallen Leaders) Read More »

The Lifelong Need for Purity (Part 6 of Reflecting on Fallen Leaders)

Approximate Reading Time: 5 minutes(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) What’s the point of the life we live? What direction do we point our feet when we take steps towards our greatest desire in life? Between now and our eternity with God,

The Lifelong Need for Purity (Part 6 of Reflecting on Fallen Leaders) Read More »

The Terrifying Responsibility of Teaching (Part 5 of Reflecting on Fallen Leaders)

Approximate Reading Time: 4 minutes(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. (James 3:1) Whenever I think about how a teacher falls into sin so

The Terrifying Responsibility of Teaching (Part 5 of Reflecting on Fallen Leaders) Read More »

The Depravity of Our Leaders and Teachers (Part 4 of Thinking Through the Ravi Zacharias Scandal)

Approximate Reading Time: 5 minutes(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority (John Dalberg-Acton, 1887)  Why do those with the

The Depravity of Our Leaders and Teachers (Part 4 of Thinking Through the Ravi Zacharias Scandal) Read More »

The Centrality of the Local Church (Part 3 of Thinking Through the Ravi Zacharias Scandal)

Approximate Reading Time: 3 minutes(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) (This is part of an ongoing series. Check out part one and part two) In reading and listening to other commentators on this subject, *I heard an interesting point: Ravi Zacharias may

The Centrality of the Local Church (Part 3 of Thinking Through the Ravi Zacharias Scandal) Read More »

The Toxic Desire for “Yes Men” (Part 2 of Thinking Through the Ravi Zacharias Scandal)

Approximate Reading Time: 4 minutes(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) (This is an ongoing series. Check out part one here.) In the last decade, a number of celebrity pastors and teachers have either fallen into sin or have adopted such strange theology

The Toxic Desire for “Yes Men” (Part 2 of Thinking Through the Ravi Zacharias Scandal) Read More »