The New Testament Cites the Old Testament Many passages in the New Testament of the Bible quote parts of the Old Testament, which was written hundreds of years before. In some versions of the Bible, footnotes—added by the translators—refer us to the original text. Holy Spirit One verse, however, cites the source in the text, […]
Do Sermons Belong in Church? We go to church to learn about God, right? So sermons belong in church, right? Who told you that? It was likely the minister at your local church. That’s who I’ve heard it from, and church is always the place where I heard it. Isn’t that self-serving? Think about it. […]
Study Scripture and Then Use Other Resources as Needed My book Jesus’s Broken Church was about a decade in the making, perhaps longer—maybe even a lifetime. When I sensed something wasn’t right with how today’s church functioned, I begin praying and searching for answers. Over time, piece by piece, God’s Holy Spirit revealed the answers […]
Consider the Fruit You Bear as a Follower of Jesus Paul tells the church in Galatia that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). When we follow Jesus and the Holy Spirit resides in us, this should result in changed behavior, a better behavior […]
For Forty Years the Israelites Had Two Signs from God to Guide Them After spending four-hundred years in Egypt, the repressed children of God finally get a chance to leave. This comes under the leadership of Moses. We know of Moses’s meetings with Pharaoh to negotiate the Israelites’ release, of ten plagues, and the people’s […]
We Must Consider What Our Life Produces The word fruit appears nearly two hundred times throughout Scripture. Coupling the word fruit with the word bear, as in bear fruit, bears fruit, and bearing fruit occurs twenty-nine times, split between the Old and New Testaments. Jesus often talks about the fruit that people bear, with the […]
We walk inside to an empty lobby and head toward an amplified sound. We slink into a back row. Sunday school must be running late, but we find out that they cancelled church. Consider these four discussion questions about Church #36: 1. The speaker acknowledges the presence of visitors. He apologizes that there will be […]
Today’s destination is a charismatic church. We’ve not been to many so I’m excited for the experience. Consider these four discussion questions about Church #34: 1. We arrive ten minutes early. With only two cars in the lot, my anticipation sags. We walk in, surprising six people who aren’t expecting visitors—or anyone else. Yet Jesus […]
Emily Louis Talks with Author Peter DeHaan to Discuss God, Faith, and Church Check out this video of author Peter DeHaan being interviewed by Emily Louis at the Victorious Christian Conference . They discussed the themes of faith, God, and church. The pair covered a wide array of topics. This included the importance of questioning […]
What Scripture Teaches About Meeting Together Is Far Different Than Our Sunday Services We talked about three options for a house church gathering: duplicate a typical service, participate online, or just hang out. Each of these three approaches have their strengths and weaknesses. However, in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul gives us some ideas […]