As you may or may not know, I desire to someday be a pastor. I’ve wanted to be one (and have felt called to be one) for probably around ten years now. It is what led me to obtain a degree in Pastoral Leadership Studies. Long story short, I’m not one…not yet. But I do [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Arrogance, Church, Confession, God, Grace, Hypocrisy, Pastoring, Prayer, Preaching, Pride, Tension | 2 Comments »
First, watch this: C.S. Lewis once observed that, in a world where we’re likely to be so self-focused that we ignore God completely, pain has the ability to soften our hearts and open our eyes to the reality we often ignore. For many, no doubt, this reality hit closer to home than they [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: America, Apathy, Bible, Christianity, Church, Comfort, Culture, God, Gospel, Hope, Jesus, Pain, Preaching, Redemption, Salvation, Scripture, Theology | 2 Comments »
My new friend and fellow blogger Jason Huffman recently blogged about the Christian buzzword “Relevant” and we had a brief conversation there that I think is worth rehashing and expanding here. The question is this: is it important for the church to be relevant? At first glance, it seems like this might be a trick [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Christianity, Church, God, Gospel, Jesus, Relevance, Sermon | 1 Comment »
There’s an underlying assumption that goes mostly unnoticed which dramatically affects the nature of so-called Christian preaching: That Christians don’t need to hear the Gospel. At least not with any degree of regularity. They already know the Gospel, many say. Why continue to preach something that they already know?!?! A few rhetorical questions in response: [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Christianity, Church, Evangelism, Gospel, Jesus, Redemption, Salvation, Sermon, Theology | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been having an ongoing conversation with someone about the need for preachers to point to Christ in their sermons and I realized that while we both affirmed preachers should do so, we disagree rather emphatically about what it means to do it. So, I thought I’d offer a few thoughts on the matter. To [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Christianity, Church, Gospel, Jesus, Redemption, Salvation, Sermon, Theology | 2 Comments »
Innovation is one of those buzzwords that everybody likes. What, after all, is there to not like about innovation? It’s innovation! It’s new and exciting. Innovation has made things like the internet (ever heard of it?) possible. And the iPad. And the Macbook Pro on which I am currently typing. Innovation makes life interesting. Just [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: America, Christianity, Church, Culture, Entertainment, God, Gospel, Jesus, Scripture, Theology | Leave a Comment »
When attempting to distinguish between the Law and the Gospel, things can get tricky for those who are not very familiar with these categories. As a general rule of thumb, in my experience, we tend to call the Old Testament “the Law” and the New Testament “the Gospel.” But the delineation is not so clean [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: God, Gospel, Jesus, Redemption, Relationship, Salvation, Theology | Leave a Comment »
Bad words. That’s what usually comes to mind for Christians when they hear the reiteration of the commandment that says, “Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain.” We’ve been taught, or perhaps just picked up unknowingly, that certain word combinations are particularly heinous. Like “Jesus Christ” and “God dammit.” Although, it should be [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Bible, Cussing, God, Jesus, Relationship, Revelation, Scripture, Sin, Theology | 2 Comments »
Christians have favorite Bible verses. They’re the ones you find on posters with pictures of eagles and mountains; on coffee cups or bumper stickers; and underlined and memorized. Jeremiah 29:11 is one such verse. It reads, For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Bible, Bible Verse, Christianity, God, Gospel, Hope, Jesus, Redemption, Scripture | Leave a Comment »
I’ll start off with a confession: I’m a terrible blogger. It has been months since my last post. I keep resolving (silently, in my head) to blog more often, but I refrain from ever saying this to anyone so I can’t be held accountable to it. Know this: my spirit is willing, but my flesh [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Christianity, Church, God, Gospel, Jesus, Law, Pastoring, Preaching, Theology, Works Righteousness | 1 Comment »
