Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.
When to Heed Warnings and When Not To My wife and I were happily driving down the road when her car emitted a system alarm. The displayed show red, so I knew it wasn’t good. First was an icon of a car on a hoist, implying a need for service. Next I noticed the word […]
Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost Quick, what are the four main Christian holidays? Well, there’s Christmas and Easter, for sure. Good Friday would make three. But what’s the fourth one? How about Pentecost? In my experience, Pentecost doesn’t receive much attention compared to the other three, but it should. Consider the progression: Christmas Christmas […]
Celebrating the Bride of Christ Did Jesus have a wife? The answer is “Yes!” Most assuredly, Jesus had a wife. However, before you accuse me of heresy, let me admit this is a misleading question, a twist of semantics Yes, Jesus did have a wife and does have a wife—not a physical, literal wife, but […]
Push Aside the Past to Worship God Today To the homeless man who complained about our church service, I said, “It sounds like you wanted a Baptist experience.” When he continued his rant, I became more direct: “If you want a Baptist experience, you need to go to a Baptist church.” I later told my […]
What You Expect Forms Your Experience When leaving church a few weeks ago, a man called out, “Hey! You! Come here!” I didn’t much feel like interacting with another homeless man asking for a handout. He’d be unhappy with my solution, and my wife, fearing for our safety, wouldn’t want me to stop. I shook […]
Seek to Do Good on Sunday Last Sunday I shared my experiences in dealing with homeless people as I went to work. But a job change removed me from that urban setting and ended my encounters with the homeless. However, changing churches brought me back there every Sunday and some days in between. Homeless people […]
My Favorite Season Spring is my favorite time of year. And with this year’s winter being longer, colder, and snowier than most, the promise of spring is even more welcomed. Here’s why I love spring. I won’t say I hibernate during winter, but it is a season when I hunker down; my goal is survival. […]
“Can You Spare Some Change?” For years, I’d drive to my urban office. After parking my car, the area’s homeless would often accost me. My goal was avoidance. And when that didn’t work, to minimize contact. I didn’t want to help others. “Can you spare some change?” I’d shake my head as I made a […]
Consider the Real Prerequisites for Obeying God I once met a guy who wanted to work in broadcasting. So he went to college. In his four-year degree, taking some forty classes, guess how many applied to broadcasting? Just three. While having secondary benefit, his other three dozen plus classes were not preparing him for the […]
Do We Read the Bible with Preconceived Notions? Last Sunday I challenged us to examine our faith practices, using the Bible as a foundation to confirm or refute the things we do in church (and in life). This way, we can consider our traditions and remove those that don’t withstand biblical scrutiny. The problem is, […]