I Won The Lottery And Didn’t Even Play
Why isn’t everyone not intoxicated with the story of God’s grace to undeserving men and women?
I then remembered the quote, the same sun that melts wax hardens clay. When men go to church, read the scriptures, and practice religion, this results in either tender healing or further callousness. The same Jesus who was precious to some was odious to others. Yes, it is true, the Word of God softens some while it... Continue Reading
Baptism – A Personal Journey In Which It Is Discovered That Infant Baptism Is Biblical!
A personal testimony about a journey on the issue of covenant baptism.
So because I had come to see that baptism was something that God does for us, not something that we do for him; because I had come to see that Gods church existed in the Old Testament as well and that the covenant applies across both Old and New Testaments; because children were included in... Continue Reading
They Just Don’t Get It: Why Big Church Solutions Can’t Fix Small Church Problems
The vast majority of churches are small, so we need small church alternatives to big church solutions.
Small church pastors: Try not to get discouraged. Take what you can from all the helpful blogs and books out there. But try not to put unrealistic expectations on you, or your church’s shoulders based on lessons that don’t fit your reality. Be who you are. Not what someone else thinks you ought to be.... Continue Reading
Yes, Go to Church on Christmas Day
Christmas is on a Sunday this year, but it is still the Lord’s Day, the day of worship.
Christians, we have a special opportunity this year to point our family and friends to the Gospel of Jesus Christ by not neglecting to meet together with the saints on Christmas Day. If we desire for the world to stop taking Christ out of Christmas, then we need not do the same through our actions... Continue Reading
IS GENESIS HISTORY? Film Aims To Answer Questions Of Creation, Evolution, Global Flood
A new documentary on the historicity of the Book of Genesis is coming to theaters across the country Feb. 23, but for one night only.
One segment of the documentary focuses on the “Great Unconformity” with a trip to the Grand Canyon. The Great Unconformity is a geological formation that appears globally where granite bedrock is separated from sediment layers on top by an erosional layer caused by flood flow. NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) – A new documentary on... Continue Reading
How Your Control Freak Tendencies Stunt Your Church’s Growth
If you want to limit your church’s growth, attempt to control everything
Control Repels Great Leaders. If you want great leaders to flee your organization, control them. They’ll leave. If you want to attract great leaders, release them with a clear mission, vision, and strategy (and give them input to shape it). As long as you micromanage everything, you will only have do-ers in your organization, not... Continue Reading
Why I Don’t Flow with Richard Rohr
A critical review of Richard Rohr's new book, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation
If you’ve benefited from the spiritual teaching in Rohr’s earlier books, take a moment to consider afresh whether you ought to place yourself under the teaching of such a person. My advice is that you should not. Thank God that you were stimulated to something good by his work, but acknowledge that he teaches another... Continue Reading
The Parachurch With The Mind Of A Superpower
The higher your estimate of the nation, the weaker your ecclesiology (or vice versa)
“So why do American evangelicals think that their religious identity hangs in the balance thanks to what happens in the nation’s electoral politics? (The short answer is that U.S. evangelicals, like their mainline predecessors are Christian nationalists and have trouble separating national from religious identity.)” In 1922 G. K. Chesterton said of the United... Continue Reading
Infamy and The Sovereignty Of God, Dec. 7, 1941
God’s sovereign design that worked in a mysterious way even through a horrific attack.
Fifty-five years later, after a career in nuclear subs and a hitch in Sacramento on Governor Ronald Reagan’s staff, Jack and I met and became best friends, and fought the greatest battle of all–the one for his soul. We won that battle, by God’s Amazing Grace alone, and now he’s in glory with the very... Continue Reading
Taking Back Christianese #6: “All Sins Are Equal in God’s Sight”
Our enthusiasm for maintaining the seriousness of sin (which is good) can lead us to make additional statements which may not be so true
First, to say all sins are the same is to confuse the effect of sin with the heinousness of sin. While all sins are equal in their effect (they separate us from God), they are not all equally heinous. Second, the Bible differentiates between sins. Some sins are more severe in terms of impact (1... Continue Reading