Savior
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Your Church on a Scale from 1 to 4
Emerging, emergent, evangelical 2.0 or new reformed? Where does neofundamentalism fit in this scale? My two cents: Today’s church in my experience does a very poor job making the Bible relevant to the world around us. Part of that is the shrinking role the church has in it’s own member’s lives and part of that... Read More
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When is the last time you were moved by God’s Word? Sit back and let the book of Hebrews draw you in (10 minutes well spent): Thank you Ryan Ferguson for challenging me with Paul’s words and thank you Mark Norwood for unearthing this video. (Am I the only person that thinks of Chris Rose... Read More
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These have been some busy days. I trust you’ve gotten along fine without me. You know the drill: if I don’t show up after ten minutes just pass the sheet and sign your name. Then you can go. I know, I know. It’s bad form to let a commenter hijack a post and do nothing... Read More
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A Practical Observation Worship is ultimately God-centered; but practically speaking, worship in the narrow sense carries with it the need for intelligibility. When we praise God, we do so in our own language because we are verbalizing what is within our hearts; we are expressing our praise to Him. An essential part of all praise... Read More
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One of the most interesting discoveries I made during my Greek studies at college was the word “logos”. The Greek word “logos” is most often translated as “word” in the New Testament; but this simple one-word translation doesn’t do the original language justice. The word “logos” carries with it far more weight than just printed... Read More
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This has been bothering me for weeks now. Being a Christian means alot of things for alot of people. I can’t help coming away from my jaunt around the Internet without picking up the impression that anything goes as a Christian. And to give everyone a frame of reference, I’m not just talking about my... Read More
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In our first few studies on holiness, we talked a good deal about the theory behind it all. We explored the fact that holiness is a violation of God’s character. We learned that holiness is not about having victory over sin but rather obeying God. We even spent time working through the concept of our... Read More
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John Wesley, one of great 19th century revivalists, taught that a Christian could attain “entire sanctification” or sinless perfection here on this earth. His understanding of 2 Timothy 3:17 led him to believe that by “perfect”, Paul meant to imply that a person can reach a point where the sin desire is eradicated. Unfortunately, many... Read More
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The Holiness Dilemma Resurfaces
We spent time yesterday discussing how sin is not just a misstep, but rather a desecration of God’s character, which is the true measure of holiness. The conclusion? Holiness matters to God; we cannot approach Him without holiness. Uh-oh. No one is naturally holy. Romans 3:23 reminds us of that. No need to worry though,... Read More
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Yesterday we spent time dealing with some inital questions about holiness. We discussed some of the reasons why Christians often fail to have victory when holiness is a promised birthright. One of the things that we didn’t do was explain just exactly what holiness is and why it’s so important. The Measuring Rod Go all... Read More
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Some of you read that title and gasped. I suspect that most read it and nodded in agreement. So what’s so difficult about holiness? The Command Before we understand the difficulty, we need to understand that holiness is something that God asks of His people. God made it clear very early on that He was... Read More
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A Rapist In My Church Directory
Someone handed me an article today about a man named Thomas Early who was sentenced for not registering his address according to Megan’s law. He’s termed a ‘sexual predator’ for raping a quadriplegic man in a nursing home and as such is required to notify police whenever he moves. The scary thing is that there’s... Read More
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So says Jason Johnson, the 20-year-old who was recently kicked out of The University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky for declaring on his MySpace account that he was gay. The school policy stated that “any student who engages in or promotes sexual behavior not consistent with Christian principles (including sex outside marriage and homosexuality)... Read More
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I met a woman today. Our church helped the local YMCA celebrate Healthy Kids Day, so I was greeting parents and children with some others from my church in the lobby of the local YMCA. We’re 10 minutes from Philadelphia, so it’s an extremely diverse group of people we’re working with here. One woman in... Read More
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I started my new job as an associate pastor last Wednesday, and ever since I’ve been very much in a pick-a-fight funk. My poor wife has been undeservingly gracious, even though I’ve been continuosly snippy without cause. Part of me wonders if this is the satanic opression that comes when you try to stand up... Read More
