We Shouldn’t Be Scared When it Comes to God Matthew writes about Jesus sending out his disciples to tell others about him. In the middle of his lengthy instructions, he simply reminds them, “Do not be afraid.” That’s good to know. He is about to send them out by themselves to do something risky. After […]
Be Intentional with Your Sunday Activities Part of how I follow Jesus is to treat Sunday as different from other days. I spend time with other followers of him, both at church and apart from church. I worship him, hopefully in spirit and in truth. I don’t work or do very little work, not with […]
I recently heard someone call herself a “comfort-zone Christian.” Though I disagree with her self-diagnosis, I understand what she’s saying. Christians live their lives on different levels. Here are four to consider: First, some people are closet Christians. They keep their faith secret and don’t discuss it with anyone. No one knows they’re a Christian; […]
Can an Actionless Faith Save You? There are some people who try to earn their way into heaven. They do good and obey God’s commands—at least most of them anyway. They work hard their entire life to get God’s attention. Surely when their time comes, God will throw open the doors to heaven. With a […]
Let’s say a friend is reading a book. The opening draws him in. The characters are compelling. A fascinating plot unfolds. This is a great read, but then a unicorn walks into the scene. What? A unicorn? Unicorns don’t exist. They’re pretend, right? He’s never seen one and doesn’t know anyone who claims to. He […]
Don’t Work to Earn Your Salvation Now, back to my original thought from last week: The teaching pastor at the church I attend is good at what he does. He communicates effectively, digs deep into the biblical text, and provides new information. He prepares well, and it shows. His passage was Philippians 2:12-13 where Paul […]
I’ve heard several thousand sermons in my life. I can remember parts from about six of them. Not the whole thing, just parts. Seldom does the recollection of one message even make it to the next Sunday. More likely I’ve forgotten it by the time I make it home—or even to the parking lot. That’s […]
The Church in the House a Return to Simplicity By Robert Fitts (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Robert Fitts opens The Church in the House with a mission statement for a house church. Once he has readers engaged in the subject, he then builds a biblical case for house churches, including a detailed discussion of what […]
Embrace Those Who Are Checking Out Your Church For the past several months, a roadside sign at a church proclaims “Visitors Welcome.” This amuses me. Isn’t that assumed? Doesn’t every church want to grow? I’ve never been to a church that had a “no visitors” policy. Why does this church need to advertise their desire […]
If you’re here today looking for my regular Thursday morning post about the Bible, it has moved to Tuesdays. People who study blogs, social media, and Internet things, say that more people read Tuesday posts than Thursday posts. Who would have thought? Since I want more people to see my posts, I’ll try Tuesdays. By […]