Where can you come to know Jesus Christ more? Through God's Word, the Bible. The life of God's new creation community, the church, is marked by a devotion to the Scriptures: "Let the word of Christ richly dwell among you" (Colossians 3:16). Below are seven practical ways to take in more of God's Word. Read the Bible…
When I Don’t Desire God–Study Guide
One of the most influential books in my spiritual development was When I Don't Desire God by John Piper. I recently re-read the book and was shaped by it again. To help you get more out of the book, I wrote an "unofficial" study guide. The purpose of the book is to help Christians to fight…
Forgiveness is Not to be Withheld
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!" Jesus said: “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money…
Even Female Christians Get Circumcised (But not in the way you think)
"And in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in the removal of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ" --Colossians 2:11 Paul gives his readers another action of salvation that God has done on their behalf: “In Him, you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.”…
Worship is Always a War
Whoever dubbed the debate over musical style a 'worship war' failed to realize that worship is always a war. The declaration that there is one God, that his name is Jesus, and that he has died, has risen, and will come again is an all-out assault on the saviors extended at every level of culture…
(Jesus’) Perfect Love Drives Out Fear
Our problems arise largely because we don't continually return to the gospel to work it in and live it out...'Wait,' I have heard people object. 'You mean that in order to grow in Christ, you keep telling yourself how graciously loved and accepted you are?...Maybe the motivation of religion was negative, but at least it…
If the Resurrection…Then What? Why All Christians Depart from the Scientific Consensus
Last night Bill Nye (“The Science Guy”) and Ken Ham, a leading proponent of young earth creationism, debated. In simplistic terms, it was creation vs. evolution: which one is the most viable explanation for human origins and the age of the universe. The debate has generated many responses, some serious and some full of snark…
Simple Small Groups–A Short Review
While most small group literature is of the, “Hey, this worked for me! So you should do it my way!” variety, Simple Small Groups by Bill Search is refreshingly…well…simple. Instead of providing a new model or method, Search wants to help make whatever model a church is using better (p. 13). In other words, Search’s advice…
Eaten Alive
In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it JC or…
They Begged Him to Leave
Matthew 8:28-39 is one of the scariest Bible passages, but not in the way you might think. Matthew 8:28-39 [28] When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no…
Raising Lazarus 