The Least Resolution for 2024
Fifty years ago, in February 1974, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was arrested in the Soviet Union and exiled to the West. On the day of his arrest, he released a document entitled “Live Not by Lies.”
Fifty years later, perhaps it is time for us to revisit this document. Are we living in times where some, on behalf of all, have determined what society should look like? Do we see a mounting pressure to conform with what ‘they say’ is acceptable human thought and belief? Indeed, we should not be so... Continue Reading
Moralism is a Poor Substitute for Christianity
We don’t need to be better; we need to be saved.
Moralism is a terrible substitute for Christianity. We need gospel-fueled obedience, not a “grit your teeth and do it” obedience. We should actively pursue a moral life, but it should flow from the gospel. And really, this is the only way that we can sustain real Christian morality. We must run the race with endurance,... Continue Reading
When Being a Christian Is like Being a Californian
In many ways our membership in the Church is a lot like my citizenship in California; we’re just here because we were born here, it’s comfortable and it serves our purposes.
As Christians, we can defend what we believe about Jesus evidentially. We can make a case with the evidence from the first century and the universe around us. I pray that you and I, as Jesus followers, can become “Evidential Christians.” In the increasingly antagonistic culture in which we now live, we no longer have the luxury of being... Continue Reading
10 Fresh Pastoral Prayers for the New Year
Don’t forget to pray! God’s plan for the church always includes prayer.
Graciousness with doubt and questions. A crisis will cause people to question their beliefs. Pray for graciousness for those seeking God, even during a season of doubt. Mental, spiritual, and emotional health for church leaders. Pastors and other church leaders have faced many obstacles in the last few years. Ask God to provide ways for people... Continue Reading
Love Letter
John’s first epistle is indeed a love letter.
As long as we have been acquainted with Satan, we have seen sin and destruction. As long as we have been familiar with God, we have seen love and benevolence. That’s why John will go on later to assert, “God is love” (4:16). There can be no richer way to say that love is from... Continue Reading
How to Make and Keep Friends
Being a friend involves become a part of someone's life.
Creating an environment of doing life with others is how friendships are made and kept, not just spending time together but also sharing interests, activities, and ideas. It seems as though we’ve forgotten how even to function without the screen and nurture life with other humans. Try actually living with others, inviting them into your... Continue Reading
10 Key Bible Verses on Marriage
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.
“What God has joined together” implies that marriage is not merely a human agreement but a relationship in which God changes the status of a man and a woman from being single (they are no longer two) to being married (one flesh). From the moment they are married, they are unified in a mysterious way... Continue Reading
Speaking Simple Things
On simple truths and giving up on sophistication.
When we hear a phrase like “God wrote the Bible,” we immediately want to include a dozen or more asterisks behind it to try and prove that we’re not ignorant, uneducated, and anti-intellectual. We want to sound sophisticated and enlightened, having moved beyond the simplistic statements we were taught as children. We want to signal... Continue Reading
Why Not Both?
Christians need to think straight in many of these areas.
Over and over again in the Bible we are told that if we love God we will keep his commandments. And that is not just Old Testament stuff. It is repeated constantly in the New as well. Jesus made it clear that if we are to love him, we must keep his commandments. The idea... Continue Reading
How Church History Helps
Church History Helps us Engage Perplexing Theological Issues
Sir Isaac Newton once wrote, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Church history provides modern Christians with this kind of perspective. We can stand on the shoulders of giants as we develop our understanding of Scripture and seek to teach and apply it. We should look to... Continue Reading
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