Did the Angels Laugh?
Because he has proven it through Jesus, we can have every confidence that we and all those who love the Lord will rise to live forevermore.
The Father had said that his holy one would not see corruption and the Son had said they would all see “the sign of Jonah.” There was no version of reality in which Jesus’ body would remain in the tomb to decompose and no possibility he would remain there any longer than Jonah had been... Continue Reading
The Question of Conscience
Whereas God’s principles don’t change, our consciences vacillate and develop. These changes can be positive or negative.
Even within the Christian community, there are wide differences of opinion regarding which behaviors are pleasing to God and which aren’t. One man approves dancing; another disapproves of it. How do we know who is correct? We see in the New Testament that the conscience is not the final ethical authority for human conduct because... Continue Reading
One Reason Preaching Matters
Scripture is the pastor-teacher’s totally sufficient resource for ministry because what Scripture says, God says.
We must be actively depending on God, the Holy Spirit, to grant illumination and understanding to us and our hearers so that in our preparation we are governed by his life-giving word and praying for its impact on all who hear. Equally, we must be dependent on the Spirit who inspired the text to give... Continue Reading
Your Family Tree of Family Worship
That these voices from the church triumphant would stir in you a holy zeal to turn your house into a sanctuary for the worship of God!
Parents, it is no overstatement to say that worship is why God gave you kids. They were made to worship their Creator, and they don’t know how. You have been given the awesome responsibility to show them how to do the thing they were made to do. Thomas Doolittle was raised in Kidderminster, England... Continue Reading
How Do I Serve Without Becoming a Doormat?
Biblical servitude seeks to model Jesus’s demeanor.
Biblical servitude seeks what’s best for the other person over what the other person wants in the moment. To do this effectively, you need to be confident in your knowledge of God’s Word. You need to be seeking to daily grow in wisdom. It doesn’t need to be a “my will versus your will” situation.... Continue Reading
Children and Bad Therapy
Our kids need good parenting, not ‘experts’ and endless medication.
Really loving your child might well mean telling the experts to get out of the way – or telling the drug pushers to butt out because there might be better ways to proceed. And good parenting will often mean just letting our kids be kids: letting them learn by trial and error, by failure, by... Continue Reading
Felling Folly with Wisdom
The path for advance can only be made as wisdom – skillful godly living – fells the trees of foolishness and folly, whose roots have often tripped and ensnared the young.
Wisdom is not the pursuit of the old and gray in hair, but is best found in the formative years of development — from childhood onward. In the pages of the Bible the voice of wisdom cries aloud: “Young Men, Listen!”Parents and churches need to harmonize their voices with wisdom. Boys and men, enlisted in... Continue Reading
“A Hedging and Fencing”: How Charles Spurgeon Promoted Meaningful Membership
Meaningful membership is not about maintaining a pristine church roll. It’s about helping pilgrims finish their journey to the Celestial City.
So often, Spurgeon saw great crowds turn out for his open-air preaching. But he often observed that after the service, the people would simply disperse. There was little opportunity for follow-up. But at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, as people were converted, they were baptized, brought into the church, discipled, and engaged in the work of the... Continue Reading
3 Possible Approaches the Church Can Take to Cultural Shifts
If we want to engage people, we need to spend time with them. Listening, asking, and answering questions. And do so with humility.
Jesus was a master at engaging people within their culture, whether they approached Him as friend or foe. He related to people without typical cultural filters. Even His primary followers had different backgrounds and livelihoods. A classic example is Jesus engaging a woman of questionable character at Jacob’s well near Sychar in the region of... Continue Reading
Why I Do Not Use the Word Ethnicity
The four common marks of a biblical nation are a common birth, a common border, a common language, and a common religion.
To pursue this objective the word nation was replaced by the word ethnicity. But it won’t work! It may have some success in Christian families, in the church were members of various nations all change their allegiance to Christ, and it may have some success within a common geographical boundary where the Ten Commandments of... Continue Reading
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