From my research for 52 Churches I learned a great deal about the larger faith community I’m part of. This includes having charismatic experiences at some of the churches. Perhaps the most significant so far is courtesy of the United Methodist Church and their document “Guidelines: The United Methodist Church and the Charismatic Movement.” It’s […]
Throughout the Bible We See Examples We Can Apply in Our World Today As we move toward the end of the book of Numbers, we see God allocating Canaan—the Promised Land—to the twelve tribes of Israel. First, God gives Moses the western, northern, eastern, and southern borders of the nation. Then he indicates which tribes […]
A Vibrant Spiritual Faith Looks Inward and Shares Outward I have a Sunday morning routine. This gives me structure to how I start my day, and it provides me with the best opportunity to make it be a great one. Aside from attending to the normal needs of life, there are two parts to my […]
Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter By Michael White and Tom Corcoran Reviewed by Peter DeHaan Are things not working at your church? Is your congregation aging and attendance dwindling? Are people just going through the motions and not engaged? Do folks arrive at the last minute and scurry off as […]
De We Pray in Jesus’s Name or the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? This isn’t a trick question or a pluralistic way to approach the god of your choice. This is a simple question. When you pray to the God who is revealed in the Bible, whose name do invoke at the end? When you […]
God Makes a Similar Promise to Moses In the book of Genesis, we meet Abraham. God takes a special interest in Abraham and gives him a bold promise. He pledges to make Abraham “into a great nation” (Genesis 12:2, NIV). What makes this promise even more incredible is that Abraham is seventy-five years old and […]
Don’t Go to Church with a Passive Perspective: Be Engaged on Sunday Morning As a teenager, I often complained to my parents, “but I don’t get anything out of church.” Though they tried to reason with me, and they may have secretly agreed, their attempts to change my perspective didn’t help. What I wish I […]
The Threefold Art of Experiencing God 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 […]
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 […]