Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.
Exploring Doctrine, Theology, and Systematic Theology There are three religious terms I don’t care for. Hearing or reading about them has a negative impact on me. These words are doctrine, theology, and systematic theology. I don’t like them because they take the awesome mystery of God and try to provide structure to something that transcends […]
We Must Do Better at Our Religious Meetings “Why do you so hate the church?” Shocked, I furrow my eyes and scowl at my friend. “I don’t hate church.” “But you’re always criticizing it in your blog.” This gives me pause. True, much of my writing about church doesn’t celebrate what she does well but […]
We Can’t Force the Beauty and Mystery of God into a Neat Little Box Just as I bristle over the word theology, I also don’t like the word doctrine. Though the two words mean different things, in my mind they have the same effect: They both turn the beauty of God into an intellectual construct, […]
Discover These Significant Epistles of the Bible The New Testament of the Bible opens with the historic books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. It ends with the prophetic book of Revelation. Between them are twenty-one letters, also called epistles. Five of them, which seem tacked onto the end of the section, are the […]
Jesus Offers Us the Gift Of Salvation; All We Need to Do Is Accept It We read in scripture that we are saved by God’s grace through faith. There’s nothing else we must do. It is God’s gift to us. We can’t earn it. All we need to do is receive it (Ephesians 2:8-9). He […]
Most Christians Already Know More About the Bible Than What They Put into Practice I’ve already written that most Christians don’t let the Bible get in the way of what they believe. In short, they believe things that aren’t biblical. It’s true. A related thought is that most Christians already know more about the Bible […]
How Engagement and Marriage Worked in the New Testament In Bible times, when a couple became engaged, the groom-to-be with go home and prepare a place for them to live by adding a room to his parents’ house. As soon as he finished the construction, he would go to his fiancée, the marriage ceremony would […]
Each Day We Must Seek God for the Provisions We Need Asking God to supply us with our daily bread at one time mystified me. It seemed like a vain repetition (Matthew 6:7) for something that didn’t matter to me. Yet when I learned the context of this request, it made sense. Two thousand years […]
Celebrating the New Year Just as I often make a post for Christmas, I do the same for New Year’s Day. These posts usually address making New Year’s resolutions. But instead of resolutions, why not work to make this year your best year yet. With God’s help, you can. Here are some of my past […]
Make Jesus the Focus of Your Celebration With Christmas falling on Sunday this year, I planned to wish you a blessed Christmas on my weekly Sunday post. Alas, I’ve already wished you a merry Christmas in the past—three times. So, instead of repeating what I’ve already written or reprising an old post, I’ll give you […]