I found that when students spoke about Christianity with people of other belief systems, they often reduced their faith to actions.
Faith Matters
Reflections on the Bible, theology, or doctrine from a Reformed perspective.
There is enormous pressure in the church today to build a curriculum that is contemporary and to produce young leaders who will draw a crowd.
As I look at the miracles recorded in the four gospels, I see four general categories in which these miracles were performed: healing the body, casting out demons, controlling nature, and raising the dead.
I look back with amazement at these four decades and find that I am still traveling, living often as a foreigner and stranger.
Adam’s original creation covenant mandate from God of subduing or having dominion over the earth was to do it for God’s glory, not man’s.
Taking up my cross means accepting all the pain and injustice and misery life imposes on me as I attempt to be a faithful follower of Jesus.
We have a vague notion that heaven is somewhere “up there,” but more likely it is located well outside of our sense of space or even time.
In some ways we all just want to be happy—to have a jump in our stride, a smile on our face, a warm feeling in the chest.
When we begin to see Jesus as our shalom, we begin to understand the depth and hope of his shalom.
The myth of “the one” says the universe has picked out one special person for you, a soulmate perfectly crafted to meet your every need and fit your every curve of character.
This Canaanite intuits that Jesus gives spiritual bread. She is not too proud to beg.
One seldom hears or reads a news story without reference to a robust debate on some issue.
Would we have the gospel of Mark were it not for Barnabas? Had Barnabas not encouraged the lad and taken him on his own missionary journey, Mark might have disappeared into obscurity.
I wonder what I would have done if I was in Ebed-Melech’s place. Would I have acted courageously? Or would I have remained silent?
It felt as though every few hours I was hosting discussions between groups of students, or even the whole class, about the conflict that was occurring.
I was talking with some senior members of my church the other day. They were asked to give a talk to our high school youth group.
“Purity in the hands of a holy God is a powerful instrument.”
Have you ever driven yourself to your destination with no memory of the drive? Or perhaps you’ve discovered yourself lost in a daydream when you intended to be in prayer? Mindfulness can help you focus on the now.
Jesus held his threefold office in perfect balance. We do not. In fact, we are prone to emphasize one of the offices at the expense of the other two. Each of us is lopsided. What’s worse, our lopsidedness does more than hinder our personal growth. It also causes us to discount other believers who do not share the same lopsidedness.
If we want church to resonate with the next generation, here are a few words to consider dropping.
At the risk of insulting the intelligence of his student, Solomon calls him a “sluggard” and tells him to go learn how to live wisely from an insect.
Too many of TULIP’s terms are misleading and easily caricatured; they end up misrepresenting the Canons of Dort and giving a distorted impression of Reformed theology.
In a culture drowning in conflict, there is simply nothing more beautiful, needful, or relevant than the reconciling power of the gospel and a people willing to live in light of it.
My evangelistic challenges don’t end with casual friends and strangers. I’m better at sharing the reasons for my hope with people close to me. Still, some of the people I care most about care hardly at all about Jesus. They’re good people. They often love their neighbors in ways I fail to. They just don’t engage with Jesus or his church.