Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.
There is an amazing little booklet, sporting a tongue-twister of a title. It is The Threefold Art of Experiencing God: The Liberating Power of a Trinitarian Faith by Christian A. Schwarz. In a stellar example of “less is more,” this diminutive book carries a profound punch. Facets of Faith The central theme is that Christianity […]
Reading the Bible as Narrative Frees Us to Experience God in a Fuller, Deeper Way Continuing in our series of why I love the Bible, we’re on reason number twelve. I often say that I read the Bible as a narrative. Simply stated, it’s a story, a grand, epic tale. It’s a story about God’s […]
Seeking a Spiritual More I’m talking about more from a spiritual standpoint. I yearn for a “spiritual more.” I suspect—deep down—you do, too. Everything else is a hollow substitute for what God has to offer, not just any god but the God revealed in the Bible: biblical God. But we don’t often find more from […]
When people talked to Jesus, the discussion was often about the same thing, whether broached with the phrase “kingdom of God,” “kingdom of heaven,” “eternal life,” “salvation,” or “saved.” Sometimes the people asked, what must we do? How can we receive it? And Jesus responded. Although his instructions varied with the person and situation, the […]
The Old Testament Law Gets Us Started and Points Us to Jesus Why is the Old Testament Law in the Bible? How is it relevant for us today? Many followers of Jesus ignore the Law they read in the Old Testament, and a few people pick which parts of it they want to follow and […]
Christianity Today recently reported that there are 42,000 Protestant denominations. That is shocking. However, given that in the United States we have a consumerism mentality, this development is hardly surprising. Consumerism says that if you don’t like the church you are at, you keep shopping until you find one. If you can’t find one that […]
We Should Celebrate the Lord’s Supper to Remember What Jesus Did for Us Holy Communion (also known as the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist) is a time of celebration. In this we remember what Jesus did for us when he died in our place for the things we did wrong. In doing so, he reconciled […]
Where I used to live, a fair number of people attended church. None of them went to the church I attended and, as far as I know, no one else attended the same church as their neighbors. Even more confounding is that there were two churches within a mile, but no one attended them either. […]
The Most Important Thing in the Bible Is Love Though the Bible has many commands, love is the greatest command of them all. Check it out: The Old Testament Law In the first five books of the Bible, sometimes called the Torah or Pentateuch, God gives instructions to Moses. The people refer to this as […]
The Western World, especially the United States, is largely an individualistic, narcissistic society. In applying this mindset to religious matters, the in thing is to seek spirituality in an individualistic, narcissistic way. We pursue the formation of our religious convictions as if we were at a buffet, a religious buffet. We pick a little bit of […]