Can You Be Evangelical and Charismatic? My wife and I recently visited a church near our home. Their website said they were a charismatic church. This would make them a refreshing anomaly in an area filled with mainline churches and a sprinkling...
Who Did Jesus Come to Help? Religious leaders in the Bible often criticize Jesus. It’s understandable. He and his teaching confront the comfortable sacred niche they enjoy in their society. They have a good thing going, and they want to hang on...
If You Have a Message to Share, You Need to Speak Up Last weekend I attended the Speak Up Conference in Grand Rapids Michigan. Speak Up is a two and a half day educational and networking opportunity for Christian speakers and writers. As a bonus...
We Focus On What Matters Most I often hear from aspiring writers who say, “I wish I had time to write.” Other people tell me, “I’m too busy to read my Bible.” Still others complain, “I’ve got too much going on to make it to church this week.”...
Why Does Today’s Church Follow an Old Testament Model? I think we’re doing church wrong. At first I assumed it was just me, but today’s church is stuck in a rut, an Old Testament rut. When God gave Moses the Law, he established some key...
What is the Book of Life? In the post “What is the Second Death?” we saw that the people whose names are listed in the book of life will escape the second death. That raises the question, what is the book of life? The phrase is found once in the...
The Error of Evangelicals In our world of political correctness, there seems to be one group of people who it’s socially acceptable to harass and hate: Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists. In a world that values tolerance, there is one...
What is the Second Death? The curious phrase the “second death” only occurs in John’s prophetic vision as recorded in the book of Revelation, with just four verses that mention it. But what is the second death? Regarding the church in Smyrna...
Say “Amen” Like You Mean It What does the word amen mean? It sometimes seems like amen must mean “the prayer is over,” or “I’m done praying?” Or perhaps “I have nothing more to say.” Maybe we don’t even think about saying it; we just do. The...
What Does it Mean to Have “Fallen Asleep?” The Bible sometimes uses the quaint phrase “fallen asleep.” It’s a polite way to say that someone died. I smile at this ambiguous language and wonder why Bible writers used a euphemism instead of being...
