There is nothing wrong with having a job that pays a salary. There is nothing wrong with owning a business. Money is not evil. It is the love of money and things that is the root of all sorts of evil. Why? If our motive is to accumulate or get for self-gratification then we will... Continue Reading

Regardless of how much we mirror the world’s patterns, unless we embrace their sin and reject the core teaching of Jesus, they will continue to condemn. Scripture calls us a peculiar people. We are not to conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). One... Continue Reading

Can you imagine reading only the second half of an amazing book and then telling the author how much the story meant to you? We dishonor Jesus when we believe the law doesn’t apply to us anymore. Rather, when you read the Old Testament, recognize that everything you read is something He fulfilled at the... Continue Reading

Paul believed love — love for Gentile and Jewish believers, love for Peter and Barnabas, love for the local Galatian church as well as the universal Christian church, and love for Christ and his gospel — required that he insist that Peter, who “though a Jew, live[d] like a Gentile and not like a Jew,... Continue Reading

Jesus emphasizes three characteristics of the fruit associated with life in Him. One, it is authentic. It organically proceeds from union with Him. It is not of our own stark effort, yielding artificial fruit that looks real but is not. Two, it is abundant. Jesus says, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear... Continue Reading

The essential truths of the Scriptures are plain, but we often treat the Bible as a grade school grammar book. We give it ten minutes of our attention and try to harvest a lesson for the day. If this book really is God’s word, and if we really have an invitation to the depths of God’s... Continue Reading

What a desolation was wrought in Eden! Would that only our ligaments were twisted and torn, and not the very fabric of our being! Man, by nature, is now detached, defiled, and dead in trespasses and sins. And unless the Lord lifts up his feet and runs to him, he will stay that way. But thanks... Continue Reading

Setting our minds on things above, and not on earthly things, does not mean we are to ignore the others around us who are worshiping with us. In worship, we are not only to fulfill the great commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We are also to love our... Continue Reading

The fact is, disagreement is often a good thing. Not overt division and infighting, but disagreement. I am painfully aware that if I got my way on every stupid and ill thought through idea I ever had, I would either burn out, get the sack or have no church left! I need other people around... Continue Reading

 To stand in the Biblical sense of the word means to hold fast to what we believe in the face of opposition. We must be resolute. This also means that due to our convictions there will be things that we must not do and things that we must do. These things will no doubt put... Continue Reading