This is not going to be a short read. It is going to wander a bit at first and not get straight to the point. I’m going to tell you what I’ve worked out in my mind and the conclusions I’ve reached. If you disagree with the conclusions, then by all means tell me where […]
Read MoreI’m working through a rebuttal of what I’ll call the “Filthy Rags Doctrine”, the notion that Isaiah 64:6 teaches us that God views everything we do as worthless, filthy rags. The notion is ridiculous on its surface, and at its foundation, but its a popular one. And that’s unfortunate. I’m not done working out a […]
Read MoreI’m sure we do on an individual level as well, but I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about gossip on the national level. And it’s completely out of control. You probably don’t recognize it as gossip because it isn’t whispered in a private corner at a party or in an empty break room at […]
Read MoreOver the past few days I’ve heard a lot of people talking about how “hate” and “racism” are un-American or that you can’t support “that cause” and still be an American. And that is simply not true. Let me tell you why.
Read MoreI don’t mean worldwide, because certainly there are Christians suffering across the world. But I’m talking about right here in America? Why aren’t we getting murdered for our faith? I’ve wondered this quite a bit, not understanding why we have it so easy.
Read MorePaul told the church in Corinth that he had prayed three times for God to remove his thorn in the flesh. I think we sometimes approach prayer with an attitude that volume is of great importance. We’re certainly to be prayerful people (1Thess. 5) and are assured that our prayers are heard and can […]
Read MoreSomewhere along the way the phrase “Oh my God” has become second nature for those who don’t care much about God and taboo for those that do. And that ain’t right.
Read MoreI’ve seen this verse quoted over and over again lately in reference to the transgender phenomenon that’s being thrown in our face. The premise of those misinterpreting the quote by Jesus is that when confronted by sin Jesus simply befriended people and gave them good advice. If you want a more thorough explanation of what […]
Read MoreMaybe you are a special snowflake. But what if that special snowflake-ness comes with responsibility, not privilege?
Read MoreChristianity is a very exclusive club, which is something that not a lot of people like to admit. The Bible tells us that few people will find the narrow path, and if you look at the sheer numbers of people worldwide who reject Christianity you’ll see how painfully true that is. But it seems that […]
Read MoreThis weekend people all over the world will be reminded of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. I don’t think I’m equipped to add anything to the magnitude of those events, but will share one small observation about how they’re important in different ways.
Read MoreSamuel Clemens made a great name for himself writing about the Mississippi River as Mark Twain. But he said later in his life that after learning the river as a riverboat captain, it lost all of its mystery. He didn’t see the water swirling mysteriously, he saw the evidence of dangerous hidden boulders beneath its […]
Read MoreThroughout the Old Testament we see a pattern of God’s followers setting up visual reminders of God and what He had done for them. When did we stop doing this, and should we start doing it again?
Read MoreDoes God want us to be dependable? Does it even matter if we’re dependable people?
Read MoreShould we “go to church” without emotion, when we’re feeling apathetic toward worshipping Him?
Read MoreThere are few character traits more despised in our society than hypocrisy. And that Christians are accused of being hypocritical more than any other segment of society. As a Christian, I think that’s our own fault.
Read MoreThis time of year, when it seems the entire world is contemplating the birth of Christ, I think it’s good to be reminded of WHY He was born.
Read MoreRandom thought after attending some training this week. If we won’t let people teach Kindergarten without a four-year degree and a teaching certificate and hands on training in the classroom…. If we have to fill out forms for the government to document that we’ve correctly taught our children to drive…. If teachers of all sorts […]
Read MoreA reoccurring theme throughout the New Testament is the freedom that Christ has blessed us with. He’s blessed us with freedom from shame, unhappiness and discontent, and most importantly the freedom from the consequences of our sin. But there is one thing that God hasn’t set us free from.
Read MoreI’ve mentioned before that our children’s very first look at God and His personality should be in us and how we treat them. A few days ago we talked about patience, and how God’s example of patience with us should show us how to be patient with our kids. But how does patience harmonize with discipline? […]
Read MoreWhere are our kids first exposed to God? In church? Sunday School? Bedtime Stories? I don’t think so. I think that our kids’ first look at God….Is (or at least-should be) in us, their parents.
Read MoreI believe that we’ve created a monster. It’s not in our power-hungry government, not in our damaging tax code, not in our broken public school system. I believe we’ve created a monster in our churches.
Read MoreThis is the last post is a series that started here. If you’re interested, it would really be best to start at the beginning and work your way through the series to help understand what I’m proposing now. As I said in this post, I don’t think that every case of suicide necessarily results in […]
Read MoreWe started discussing this in the last post and I’d like to talk about it some more. The most common spiritual objection to suicide that I’ve heard is that suicide will ALWAYS inevitably result in an eternity in Hell because it’s a sin for which you can’t ask forgiveness. Let me state two things perfectly […]
Read MoreI firmly believe that in most cases suicide is a problem with a spiritual answer. When people need purpose and fulfillment and joy in their lives, they’ll only be satisfied when they look for those things in Christ. But I’m afraid that often the spiritual answers we have to the problem of suicide do nothing […]
Read MoreI’d like to spend the week talking about suicide. Specifically, what a Christian’s response should be when confronted with questions about suicide-whether from their own hearts or from someone else who is struggling with them. I’d like to organize the posts along these lines (I’ll add links to this list as new posts are […]
Read MoreI realized this week, while listening to a sermon posted to Facebook, how much I’ve come to cringe when I hear the “5 Steps Of Salvation”.
Read MoreI’m afraid that we (me included) sometimes try too hard to break the Bible down into a series of facts and timetables. We probably do this because facts and talking points are handier to win arguments. And too often, winning arguments and being right is what religion is about for a lot of people. But […]
Read MoreBackground on these two (seemingly) unrelated stories….
Read MoreHosanna is quite the interesting word, in that between its roots and more modern use it can mean two very different things. Or at least they seem different. Originally, hosanna was a word used to plead for rescue or salvation. But in the time of Jesus, and today, hosanna is typically used as a shout […]
Read MoreI’ve got an idea for a Bible study, I’m just not sure that there’s a market for it. What do you think?
Read MoreDoes it seem to you that there’s a huge problem with Christians today labeling every bad idea as a sin? Because it does to me.
Read MoreMaybe that should read that the Devil acts just like fishermen…. But it’s funnier the other way. And they’re both true.
Read MoreWhat should a Christian’s response be to addiction or to an addict?
Read MoreWhen we discuss addiction, it is critical that we understand just how dangerous addiction can be to a Christian’s soul.
Read MoreI’ve posted before about the nature of repentance, but I think it would be useful to talk about how a correct understanding of repentance is so important for someone suffering from addiction.
Read MorePeople, especially people who are wanting to spend their life in service to God, need to know that addiction can be overcome.
Read MoreA lot of Christians struggle with addiction, but are afraid to ask for help because of how they’ll be viewed for their problems. And a lot of potential Christians are never converted because of how addiction if viewed in many churches.
Read MoreI’ve spent some time recently reading through old articles in Christian publications and the idea of fellowship keeps coming up over and over again. Who should we fellowship with? Who should we refuse to fellowship with?
Read MoreWhat should a Christian’s response be to violence? Is a Christian required to literally “turn the other cheek” when assaulted? This is a long post. But there are some things in God’s word that can’t always be easily summarized in less than 1K words. This study was incredibly useful to me and answered a lot […]
Read MoreCan a Christian bake a cake for a homosexual wedding?
Read MoreSo after dealing with the questions “Why do good things happen to bad people?” and “Why can’t this bad thing happen to someone else?” we’re going to talk about the final part of the series….”Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Read MoreIn our Sunday morning bible class we’re looking for biblical answers to the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?”. But as I studied this question it seemed like the answers I found were actually answering three different questions…. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why don’t bad things happen to […]
Read MoreIn our Sunday morning bible class we’re looking for biblical answers to the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?”. But as I studied this question it seemed like the answers I found were actually answering three different questions…. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why don’t bad things happen to […]
Read MoreYesterday an Oregon judge awarded a lesbian couple $135,000 in damages (for what is essentially mental anguish) after a bakery refused to bake them a wedding cake. And for the second time in a week, the news was all abuzz with news stories predicting the impending collapse of American Christianity. If you want to run […]
Read MoreWhoa Nelly!!!! You’d think that all of Christendom was falling apart around us yesterday. Just to clear the air, I thought it’d be good to remind everyone what marriage really is….
Read MoreThe story of Jesus dealing with the adulterous woman in John 8 is one of the more misunderstood and misapplied passages in the New Testament, especially in our society today.
Read MoreI’ve been really surprised in recent years by the number of Christians who don’t believe in the creation account found in Genesis. So here’s ImAGiver’s 10minute version of the importance in believing the Biblical account of creation.
Read MoreSeriously, before you freak out on me think about that question. For a people who are determined to live by book, chapter & verse….we ought to be able to rationally voice what our problem is with Bruce Jenner.
Read MoreSeveral months ago I began a study on the subject of repentance and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve been understanding it, and teaching it, all wrong.
Read MoreThis week Taco Bell and Pizza Hut announced that they are going to start phasing artificial flavors and colors out of their menu. And I think there’s a big lesson in that for Christians.
Read MoreGenesis 37 tells us the story of Joseph being sold to Midianite traders. Do you ever wonder what the traders thought about that?
Read MoreDon’t get me wrong, you won’t find someone who loves Bald Eagles, The Star Spangled Banner or capitalism more than me. I love freedom. Freedom is great. But there’s no denying that the culture of freedom that we live in can be a serious challenge to our faith.
Read MoreMan has an interesting ability to make anything and everything something about themselves. As was recently pointed out to me, even when we put away pride in our lives it’s not long before our mind is saying, “You know, I’m doing a great job at not being so prideful. I bet I’m doing a better […]
Read MoreThis post is part of a series on Challenges To Our Faith that you can find here. You can find the first post in the “Seared Conscience” class here. The Challenge Of A Seared Conscience-Part 2 What are some ways that we can have our consciences seared today?
Read MoreThis post is part of a series on Challenges To Our Faith. It’s not really necessary to follow the series in order, but if you’re interested in the rest of them you can find the landing page for the series here.
Read MoreThis post is the second in a series on Challenges To Our Faith and this link can be used to see the entire series. The New Testament is full of admonishments for Christ’s followers to share the good news of the gospel with the world and to be ready to defend their faith to unbelievers. […]
Read MoreI don’t know about you, but I don’t really have a big problem with just treating the symptoms of an illness sometimes. If I’m sick with something simple like allergies or a cold I don’t actually care what is going on inside my body, I just want to feel better. But that’s stupid.
Read MoreSo here’s the plan… Every Sunday for the next twelve weeks I’ll be teaching a class on Challenges To Our Faith. I plan on posting the previous Sunday’s lesson every Monday throughout the series. It’s a little challenging to convert a conversation completely into print, but I’ll do my best to cover all the material […]
Read MoreI. Told. You. So. I’m going to eliminate those four words (in that order anyway) from my vocabulary. On Sunday I talked about how much I love being right. And if you love being right as much as me, you also know how much fun it is to tell everyone else how right you are. […]
Read MoreI’m not going to put a date on when someone should be baptized, but rather I’d like to talk about those kids who, in their own minds, believe what the Bible says about their eternal salvation and feel that they’re in need of Christ’s blood but for whatever reason have chosen to not be baptized.
Read MoreI’d imagine you’re all familiar with Phillip P. Bliss’ hymn Let The Lower Lights Be Burning, and the story behind it. Lighthouses are the giant, unwavering beacon in the night that keep sailors safe. And Bliss’ song and the lesson behind it compares those lighthouses to God’s word, that when “dark the night of sin […]
Read MoreWhile getting ready for a song service this Wednesday night I came across this website and thought it was fascinating.
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