Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.
Consider What Jesus Expects of His Followers—and Us A while ago we looked at the final words in each book of the New Testament. This provides us with interesting information. However, more enlightening is to look at the final words of Jesus in each of the four biographies of him in the Bible. While you […]
In Today’s Noisy World We Need to Reclaim the Ability to Deeply Listen We live in a noisy world, with too many things vying for our attention. Though we can’t help some of it, much of the noise that permeates our existence is the distractions we create. We can’t stand silence, not even for a […]
Going Church Shopping Turns Spirituality into a Commodity Last week we talked about how to find a perfect church. We gave a simple two-step process. (Check it out.) This is the opposite of what most people do when they look for a church. Most people go church shopping. Yes, I’ve done it too. When we […]
Try This Counter-Cultural Approach When It’s Time to Select a New Church There’s an astute saying, “If you find the perfect church, don’t join it—because then it will no longer be perfect.” The reality is that as long as a church has members, it will never be perfect. That’s because we’re imperfect, so the churches […]
Struggling with Doubt Isn’t a Sin, But We Must Avoid Letting Doubt Squash Our Faith I once listened as a friend wrestled with the issue of faith versus doubt. She groaned in anguish over her struggle to believe with full faith, dismayed over the arrows of doubt that assaulted her. I blurted out, “Faith without […]
Accepting What We’re Taught Without Scrutiny May Cause Us to Believe Things That Aren’t True In the book of Acts, Dr. Luke writes about the Jews that lived in the town of Berea. He called them people with a “more noble character.” What did they do to deserve this label of respect? This was due […]
Discover What Label Best Describes Our Faith Are you a Christian? Be careful before you answer. By definition I am a Christian, though I seldom use the Christian label. Why? In my book How Big is Your Tent?, I write: “Christian is a loaded term. It means many things to different people. To some, Christian […]
Where Does the Law of God End and the Love of Jesus Begin in Scripture? The Bible divides Christian Scripture into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament looks at the rules God required to be right with him and anticipates a future when he will send us a Savior. […]
God Calls Us to Move Beyond Tolerance and to Love Others Our culture today talks a lot about being tolerant. Our politically correct society upholds tolerance as a virtue. It’s a position held by so-called enlightened people that we are to tolerate others regardless of their belief, behaviors, or ethnicity. It all seems so right, […]
Becoming a Christian Isn’t a Onetime Decision but a Lifetime of Daily Decisions to Follow Jesus A friend in high school followed Jesus, and her life exemplified that decision. But after a while she fell into an extreme interpretation of the “once saved, always saved” doctrine. Then her life took a turn. She reasoned that […]