It’s a good thing to hold onto the positive traditions of your culture, to find your from in them to the extent that you can. But we must ultimately find our from in our destination, the goal at the end of our pilgrimage. Once there, we will find that all that is good from our culture, our history,... Continue Reading

Folks, this “cooling-warming” switcheroo isn’t science we are dealing with, but the ancient religion of Gaia worship making a resurgence. It’s a sad, frightening religion with its own creeds and its own moral tenets, and its very own devil is standing behind anyone who would dare question its “truth.” Even in this day and age,... Continue Reading

Why do most people struggle to grow physical muscles? Because it’s painful. It takes a lot of work and constant practice. It can be unpleasant if you’ve never done it before. Spiritual fitness can feel like that, too. But just like physical training, the more you exercise the spiritual muscle of faith, you’ll not only... Continue Reading

A faithful servant would not say, as a wicked one does in a familiar parable, “My master is delayed,” and live like there is no tomorrow and no duties to honor (Matt. 24:48). Faithfulness goes beyond what Paul calls “eye-service” and serves as well when unseen as seen (Eph. 6:6; Col. 3:22). For many of us... Continue Reading

Christmas stands as the celebration of the moment the Savior entered our world to accomplish every step that would follow. The stable trembled with more authority than Caesar’s palace. The cattle stood inches from the One who would trample the serpent. The shepherds heard the first news of a King who came to save them... Continue Reading

We willingly recognize any historical errors and seek to correct them.  We willingly seek to be complementarily balanced relative to male and female in the church remembering we are “one in Christ Jesus.”  We seek to recognize genuine spiritual gifts to be used for the benefit of the church. We define or delineate marks of... Continue Reading

What is wisdom? Does it have something to do with whether or not you put tomatoes in a fruit salad?   Wisdom is a key Biblical concept, undervalued in the modern day. I rarely hear preaching about wisdom, for all it’s at the root of the problem of Eden and therefore we might assume also... Continue Reading

When someone mentions the book of Proverbs, what is your first thought or reaction? Many would say, “I love Proverbs, it has 31 chapters, that is perfect for me, I can read a chapter a day for the whole month!”, or “wisdom, lots of practical wisdom!”, or some women might say, “I want to be... Continue Reading

Hope is meant to sustain us with a vision of joy to come. Our hope may be stoked by sorrow or by joy, but the Christian worship service is another great incubator for this hope.   For the Christian, the corporate worship service is (ideally) the highlight of the week. Yes, that gathering is a... Continue Reading

Fundamentally, the gospel is about: (1) God, the Righteous; (2) Man, the Rebel; (3) Jesus, the Redeemer; (4) Our Right Response to the [Gospel] Message. By stressing each of these components, Ventura winsomely strikes the balance between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in salvation.   In the midst of physical deterioration, it is evident that... Continue Reading