How to Get Closer to God

Friends of mine will tell you that I have a tendency to turn conversations towards theology.  I can’t help it – it’s a topic I’m passionate about. In a recent conversation, a friend was telling me about the journey that he is on in an effort to grow closer to God.  He’s engaging in the [...]

Love Wins by Rob Bell Book Review Part 4: An Adventure in Missing the Point (of Jesus and the Rich Man)

Here’s where I’m at with Bell’s book: the whole thing is a house of cards.  Actually, perhaps a more fitting analogy would be that it is a brick wall.  Each brick represents an argument that Bell makes in favor of a limited hell.  With this bricks, he’s constructed a wall, and it should be clear [...]

What Would You Preach In Japan?

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 [...]

Do Christians Need to Hear the Gospel?

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: [...]

What Does it Mean to “Point to Christ” When Preaching?

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 [...]

Is Relationship with God the Law or the Gospel?

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 [...]

Evangelical Christians Don’t Trust Scripture

Sola Scriptura. Latin for “by Scripture alone” Sola Scriptura was a foundational theological belief of the Protestant Reformation begun by Martin Luther in 1517.  For most evangelical Christians, it is a staple of our faith. Most of us readily admit that Scripture is authoritative on matters of doctrine, but few of us trust Scripture enough [...]

Book Review: After You Believe by N.T. Wright

What now? As post-conversion people – that is, Christians – how should we live?  And how do we know how to live? Do we strive to be as authentic as possible, being true to who we really are as humans at the core of which is the image of God?  Or do we strive to [...]

How to Sell the Son of God (Published on RelevantMagazine.com)

So, a long time ago, back before www.NeueMinistry.com didn’t redirect to www.NeueResources.com, I wrote an article titled, “How to Sell the Son of God.”  When NeueMinistry published it they retitled it “How to Sell Jesus.”  Well, when that site shut down and began redirecting, the article was lost somewhere out there in cyberspace. So, I [...]

What Makes the Gospel Such Good News?

My friends compose a multitude of theological belief systems.   While some are much more conservative, others are much more liberal.  And among some of these more liberal friends there is a question about what makes the Gospel good news.  The contention is this: given that Scripture teaches more will be in hell than in heaven, [...]

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.