Christ Himself is the model of unity with diversity for every local church. This is the point of 1 Corinthians 12:12 in the Bible. “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” There is no innate division in the person of Jesus Christ.
Keep ReadingDo you believe in the resurrection of the dead? I mean a person who died in faith who will someday be raised again in the likeness of Christ. Do you live in the hope of the resurrection? These believers in Corinth were like many today. They were saved out of a culture that is anti-God and anti-Christ, thus they were confused about many of the Biblical teachings of the newfound Christian Faith.
Keep ReadingI am not big on New Year’s resolutions; are you? James, the Lord’s half-brother, had a good point when he wrote: “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your 'yes' be yes and your 'no' be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” James 5:12 (ESV)
Keep ReadingWhy call them ‘Big-box Churches?’ For years, we have watched large chain stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, and Walmart arrive in cities, towns, and villages, offering ‘more for less.’ It doesn’t take the average consumer long to realize that the motto is true; more can be purchased for less. And thus the switch is quickly made from hometown hardware store to the global purchasing power of the chain. Clothing shops, hardware stores, variety and specialty venues start closing because they cannot compete with the streamlined, cut-down, mass appeal of the chain store and its slick advertising. Over the years, these large-scale operations managed from HQ, with their cheap, imported goods, have been nicknamed ‘Big-box Stores’ because that is how they receive their large quantities of imported goods. I have observed parallels between this phenomenon and that found in some in the mega-church movement — orders from HQ, instant funding, slick marketing, aggressive competition, and imported preaching and/or doctrine.
Keep ReadingI don’t know if it disturbs you as much as it does me, but when someone asks for praise, usually after prayer requests, we are tongue-tied.
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Great pressure is now being applied to the Evangelical and Reformed world to socialize the gospel. Groups, writers, seminaries, mission organizations, denominations, churches, and pastors are being marshaled to correct the injustices and ills of Western societies. This is all being done in the name of “applying the gospel.”
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The Patriarch Jacob was like many who grew up in the church. He knew about God. He'd watched his parents worship and build their lives around the biblical faith. He wasn't opposed to it. He kind of believed it too. But in reality, Jacob had not really come to God himself. If the truth were told, he was simply coasting off his father's faith.
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Please read Genesis chapters 1 through 3 slowly. Picture in your mind what is happening. The account of the fall of Adam and Eve is doubtless familiar to most people who’ve grown up in the West. After recording for us the mighty acts of God in creation, Moses goes on to tell of how mankind fell from innocence and fellowship with God to a state of sinfulness and separation from God. The story opens with chapter 3. Adam and Eve are, most likely, just getting acquainted with their new world.
Keep ReadingTithing is the first step of Grace Giving. It was the first method used by God to teach His people stewardship. It was the first method God used to finance His Kingdom work among men.
Keep ReadingWhat is love? What is Christian love? After all, doesn’t the Bible say that God is love? Shouldn’t love be one of the dominant characteristics of genuine Christians? The answer to each of these questions is YES. But hold on a minute! Does this mean that Christians accept all manner of sin and blasphemy against God in the name of love and if they do not they are then “unloving?” Let’s see what the Bible says about Christian love and how it really transforms us not to be like the fallen culture around us but to be like Christ.
Keep ReadingJan 11
2019
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the great 19th Century Baptist preacher, and pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle once said, “Visit many books, but live in the Bible.” With such profound counsel as a guide, before I mention a few of the more helpful books that entered my study in 2018, let me first emphasize the importance of Holy Scripture in life.
Jan 1
2019
Even with your New Year’s Resolutions, did you step across the threshold of midnight into 2019 any different than you had been at the end of December? Did you wake up to a new you?
Dec 31
2018
Is the church’s primary responsibility to win the lost or to worship God?
Dec 15
2018
Let’s brighten things up! It’s important that a church campus look welcoming, even inviting. Our campus should be a place that reflects our faith in our Great and Merciful God!
Dec 12
2018
Before I started anything in the office, I made my way to the sanctuary...
Dec 11
2018
Unfortunately, today that is often not the case. Many cannot, in good conscience and obedience to the Scriptures, simply attend the closest congregation to their home because it has forsaken the faith of Jesus. So this begs the question, What makes a church a living and vibrant congregation?
Dec 11
2018
The last few weeks have been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. With the sudden onset of severe chest pains two months ago...
Finding out that a bypass rather than a stint was needed ranks among the more shocking moments in my life.
Nov 20
2018
The Unquenchable Flame is a thrilling 198-page account of one of the most pivotal events in the history of man, the Protestant Reformation. Author and theologian Michael Reeves is a master storyteller. Even if you are not very familiar with the specifics of the Reformation or the key people involved, you will be able to follow Reeves as he unfolds one amazing event after another. Who needs a novel when history is this exciting!
Nov 20
2018
All of us want to give our children a fighting chance in life. In fact, we want better; we want them to succeed. Often this well-meaning sentiment is misguided. We parents begin filling our children’s lives with things, lessons, and classes to ensure they fit in and do well. The problem is, in a troubled culture, this strategy backfires on us. Our culture has become godless; so trying to fit in can be harmful. The Apostle Paul foretells the shocking cultural conditions in the last days.