Why Do You Fast? Some things are more important than religious practices, and we need to focus on what matters most I plan to fast one day a week. While I’m not as consistent as I would like, I follow through more often than I miss. Fasting is a...
What is Your Spiritual Litmus Test? Most Christians carry unexamined criteria that others must agree with before they’re accepted I was once interviewed for a volunteer position at my church. The pair of interviewers cranked through a series of...
Do You Know You Are a Priest? As followers of Jesus we become his priests; it’s time to start acting like it Aside from sharing my first name, I like Peter in the Bible. His concise writing packs a lot of practical teaching into his two short...
When and Where is the Kingdom of God? Should we consider the kingdom of God as our future in heaven or as our present reality on earth? The Bible often talks about the Kingdom of God, sixty-eight times in all (in the NIV). Five biblical...
When Given a Faith Ultimatum is Martyrdom Required? Elisha seems to allow an alternative to taking a life-threatening stand for God I love the story of Naaman in the Bible. He commands the enemy army, conducts raids into Israel, and even has a...
Is Being a Christian a Present Reality or a Future Hope? Our perspective on what it means to follow Jesus shapes how we think and act I’ve met people so fixated on heaven that they squander their time here on earth. Not only do they miss the...
God Deserves Our First, Our Best, and Our Most How much time we spend on our activities reveals our priorities King David longs to build a temple for God, but God says this is not to be. Another, a descendant of David, will attend to its...
A Christian Response to Criticism Jesus provides a simple solution for us to follow when we face opposition Recently a friend asked for some assistance at a writers conference, for help in modeling a writer critique process. I and several others...
Do We Ever Place Our Traditions Over God’s Commands? Jesus condemns those who supersede the Word of God with their religious practices Jesus asks the people, “Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your traditions?” (Matthew 15:3)...
Can Technology Hurt Our Relationship with God? God doesn’t want part of our attention; he deserves 100 percent As the main speaker talked at a business conference, I looked around our table of eight. Seven people had their smartphones out...
