God Gives Us Holy Spirit Inspiration to Guide Us for Our Benefit and His Glory For the last week, I had planned to write the introduction to my next book. I had the whole thing outlined, and I knew what I wanted to cover in the opening pages. Each day I asked God to give […]
Changing Churches Should Be Rare In our Facebook group we discussed the post “When Not to Change Churches.” Justin asked a pertinent question: “When should you change churches?” I knew part of the answer, but I needed to contemplate how far to take my response. Part of my hesitation stemmed from the reality that sometimes […]
We Get a Glimpse into the Spiritual Realm Through Scripture We live in a physical realm. In our physical world, we experience it with our senses. We see things, touch things, and hear, taste, and smell things. Through our senses, we experience our physical reality. However, there’s also a spiritual aspect of our existence, which […]
Personal Bible Study is Essential; Group Bible Study is Even Better When I study the Bible, it’s usually by myself. Though I seek the Holy Spirit to guide me, I seldom have the input of other people. Though there’s value in personal Bible study—which everyone should pursue—greater value comes when we explore Scripture in community. […]
We Don’t Need a Spiritual Guide to Help Us Study the Bible I use the Bible to study the Bible. To me, studying the Word of God is the best way to write about it. I don’t read much about what other people have to say about scripture. I prefer to experience it firsthand, not […]
Though God Doesn’t Change, the Way People Perceive Him Does I enjoy a good book, one with a satisfying story arc. The Bible has an arc, too, a biblical story arc. Some people see the Old Testament as focusing on God’s rules and judgment, with the New Testament focusing on God’s love and freedom. Though […]
Ministers who flaunt their knowledge of Hebrew and Greek often do more harm than good As part of their training, many ministers must study Hebrew and Greek. Sometimes when they prepare a sermon, they go back to the Bible’s initial languages so they can study the words in its original tongue: Hebrew for the Old […]
God’s Holy Spirit exists in those who follow Jesus Before Jesus leaves this earth to return to his father in heaven he promises his disciples that they will receive the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, who Father God will send them. The Holy Spirit will teach them all things and remind them of what Jesus said […]
We are to go out and preach repentance under the power of the Holy Spirit After Jesus calls his disciples, he trains them and then sends them into the world. He gives them five simple instructions: Go Out To be effective Jesus’s disciples can’t hang out with each other. They need to go out into […]
Whether We Pray Often or Seldom, We Have Likely Fallen into Unexamined Habits How do you begin your prayers? What is your common salutation? It might be “Heavenly Father . . .” or perhaps “Father God . . . ” or maybe “Dear God . . . ” (How about, “Hey, God. It’s me again.”) […]