God Speaks to Us Through His Spoken Word and His Written Word Growing up I was taught that the word of God was the Bible. This idea has been reinforced throughout my life by various ministers, books, and fellow followers of Jesus. This means that to hear the word of God is to listen as […]
Several months later we have a chance for a return visit to this same church. The opportunity to experience a normal service with their regular pastor should provide the chance to experience what we missed the first time. I hope to experience a spirit-led service. Consider these seven discussion questions about Church 66. 1. The […]
He Becomes the Ultimate Sin Sacrifice Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, but today’s church still follows the Old Testament model for church: we have a church building where we go to worship God, hire a minister who represents the Almighty to us, and take a collection to support the whole thing. This is not what […]
The Book of Deuteronomy Offers Surprising Insights into Our Relationship With God The book of Deuteronomy is never high on my reading list. The seemingly endless instructions about the form and format of God’s expectations for his people vex me, especially given that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, and today we live under a New […]
Today’s passage: John 5:31–47 Focus verse: “There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.” (John 5:32) In the Old Testament of the Bible, Moses writes that one witness is insufficient. To prove a point requires two or, even better, three testimonies. The context is someone […]
Align Congregational Objectives with What Matters Most to Jesus What matters more at your church, your seating capacity or your sending capacity? Seating reflects an internal focus. Sending reflects an external perspective. The first serves the flock, while the second advances the kingdom. In my post “Three Church Priorities” I wrote, “The triple aim of […]
A Must-Watch Movie for Anyone Who Wants to Re-Ignite Their Passion Though the producers insist Jesus Revolution isn’t a documentary, it sure feels like one. It’s based on real-world events in the late 60s and early 70s, focusing on Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) and Cathe (Anna Grace Barlow), Chuck Smith (played brilliantly by Kelsey Grammar), […]
Several months later we have a chance for a return visit to this same church. Again, we’ll attend church with our friends and spend the afternoon together sharing our lives and faith. I expect the service will be led by the Holy Spirit. I look forward to both, though the time with friends outshines the […]
Moses Explained the Three Key Elements of Worship and We Still Follow Them Our churches today function in much the same way as outlined in the Old Testament. We follow the Old Testament model for church. We pursue these same three key elements. We meet in a building, hire paid staff to represent God to […]
Live a Life of Purity and Avoid Being Sexually Immoral In studying Revelation for my book, A New Heaven and a New Earth, two recurring phrases are sexual immorality and sexually immoral. The Bible decries this is something to avoid. But that begs the question: what is sexual immorality? No Moral Absolutes? The world teaches […]