Naturally, then, building bridges to non-Christian worldviews is deemed a better tactic than challenging error head on. Winning the admiration of unbelievers becomes vastly more important than demolishing the false ideologies that bind them. As a matter of fact, one of the best ways to gain non-Christians’ respect and appreciation is by looking for common... Continue Reading

If you invest your sense of meaning and worth in anything other than Jesus Christ, you will suffer from this kind of “Napoleonic complex:” perpetual insecurity and a need to prove yourself in a never-ending cycle. If the thing you look to for value is being a caring, merciful person (a good thing in itself!),... Continue Reading

It is contrary to New Testament fellowship. Paul apparently understood this as he tended to call people by name. He did this both for commendation and correction. See about any of his epistles for examples of this.   When I was a young pastor I had a scattergun approach to preaching. Like many I tended... Continue Reading

You may think you are the most progressive, nonjudgmental, hip, non-legalistic cool Christian out there, but you have a line somewhere. The question is, where do you draw it and on what basis? If I say that I take my code of right and wrong from the Bible, that may sound a bit archaic or... Continue Reading

Regeneration is a momentary act, bringing a person from spiritual death to life. It is exclusively God’s work. Sanctification is an ongoing process, dependent on God’s continuing action in the believer, and consisting of the believer’s continuous struggle against sin. God’s method of sanctification is neither activism (self-reliant activity) nor apathy (God-reliant passivity), but human... Continue Reading

The stewardship of my vacation time was once a glaring failure in my life. A few years ago, I was lovingly confronted by a dear friend and fellow pastor that I was not using all my vacation time. In his rebuke, he explained to me the reasons I should be taking every day of vacation... Continue Reading

Except that TULIP is not Calvinism. …there is a sense in which these points are not Calvinism at all, because, while Calvin’s theology does implicitly teach them, they were formulated after his time in the context of controversy, and he would never have accepted them as an adequate summary of or even as the essential... Continue Reading

I believe we can have a blast in every other area of church life, including our evangelistic activities, but the secular fun must not touch our teaching or our worship. This is not arbitrary for God has told us in His word the source of salvation and the means of salvation; and the salvation of... Continue Reading

False teachers obscure their false doctrine behind eloquent speech and what appears to be impressive logic. Just as a prostitute paints and perfumes herself to appear more attractive and more alluring, the false teacher hides his blasphemies and dangerous doctrine behind powerful arguments and eloquent use of language. He offers to his listeners the spiritual... Continue Reading

But if the point is that the human body, which is part of the material world, will be resurrected and so functions as an example of other material things that will be saved, redeemed, or resurrected, then why not my cash, credit cards, books, cats, house, and herb garden?   Will it still be there... Continue Reading