Teaching without compromise.
Loving without exception.
While Thanksgiving may be (for most people--including most of us) an occasion for traveling, gathering, and eating, for God's people, the season is also a great opportunity for worship and as a reminder of the grateful posture we should have all year long....
"Heavenly Father, as our nations think and talks about election day, we come to you as a pilgrim people; as "sojourners and exiles" (I Peter 2:11) in a world that is "passing away along with its desires" (I John 2:17)"...
No, this is not a tirade. No, I will not be pointing a finger of condemnation at those who celebrate Halloween in one way or another. I simply want to offer some thoughts for you to chew on. Almost every year I talk with my children (one in particular) about why we don't celebrate Halloween. Our most recent conversation on this subject led me to write some of these thoughts down. Maybe they're helpful to you. Maybe they're not. I'll let you decide....
“I think many who are unfamiliar with the Bible might find it surprising that only three chapters into the first book of the Old Testament, one of the characters is a talking snake. If you were helping a person like this make sense of the story we find in Genesis 3 (a person whose only experience with talking snakes was from a children's storybook or a Disney movie), how would you explain this unusual character?"...
Some thoughts on the challenges of interpreting Revelation 20....
"Drew, I understand that you believe Scripture teaches a true believer can fall away; that a person who is born again, a new creature in Christ, and a child of God, born of imperishable seed, can somehow reverse or lose all that. But I believe that idea is soundly refuted by God's word."...
When Paul wrote “rejoice always” to the Thessalonian believers in 5:16 of his first letter to that young church, was this short command also meant to communicate the idea that there's no place for grief or discouragement or disappointment in the life of the believer? I don't believe so. Here's why....
In times of mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual exhaustion, we can, in light of God's word, find rest at the cross. Here are just some of the ideas revealed by Scripture about the cross of Jesus, ideas that should inspire comfort, peace, and encouragement. Consider how you might worship, give thanks, and pray in light of these ten truths......
As God graciously works among us to transform our minds and hearts (to renew us in light of the truth, that we would love what is good), I pray as you ponder them, these brief thoughts on the difficult topic of abortion would do that very thing:...
Jesus, who was crucified on a Friday two-thousand years ago, amazingly, rose again, rose to life on the following Sunday. This radical reality should, above everything else, reframe your reality. But has it? Does it? Strangely, many people today who accept Christ's resurrection as an historical reality don't seem to actually live in light of that reality....
How could Thanksgiving be the same in a year when almost everything else has been 'out of sorts'? Sadly, it won't be. But while many will understandably miss the familiar holiday habits and hugs, the troubling issues of 2020 cannot change the word that God has issued about giving thanks: "...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for ...
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Did you know Proverbs includes around fifty verses that mention (or are part of a passage that mentions) either a “king”, “ruler”, “prince”, or “noble”, or that speak to a royal context or function? If we desire healthy and effective leadership in our lives, prayer is one powerful way to genuinely make a difference. To that end, here are seven Proverbs-insp...
Keep ReadingA list of around fifty verses from the book of Proverbs that mention (or are part of a passage that mentions) human leaders like "kings", "ruler", "princes", and "nobles". Consider what these reveal about God's wisdom and design for human leadership....
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Every Christian is a disciple of Jesus. But that doesn't necessarily mean every Christian is walking in spiritual healthiness as a disciple... In light of [the reality of spiritual] unhealthiness, it is vitally important for every follower of Christ to take his or her spiritual 'temperature'....
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Looking for a simple way to bless others this Christmas... even if they live thousands of miles away? Here's your chance. We want to send an expanded Christmas 'e-card' to all of the individuals around whom our Away Teams have been formed....
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Contrary to what you might be hearing (even from some respected, Christian leaders), who you vote for in the upcoming presidential election is not a biblical mark of genuine, saving faith, nor is it inherently an unrighteous act if you vote for the so-called 'wrong' candidate (whoever that is in your context)....
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When we hold on firmly to the biblical definition of church, public health measures may force us to revise our plans, but they simply cannot restrict the church from being the church. Throughout history, and throughout the world, even today, the Church has always been flexible enough to adjust the form of its life together, without veering from the function of its life tog...
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I think you would agree that God is using this pandemic to get our attention, in a number of ways, concerning a number of different areas. I hope you've been considering what He might be revealing to you through all this about your own faith and your own path. But I hope you've also thought about what God might be saying to us as a faith family? The elders believe He ...
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When we read often-neglected stories like this, we're reminded that it's very easy to slip into a mentality of, “Jesus? Oh yeah, I know Jesus. I know all about Jesus.” But God is so good to unsettle us in terms of the often unsettling truth about the real Jesus....
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Faithful fans of Hamilton will certainly know how the play ends. But few people know how the final hours of Alexander Hamilton's life actually 'played out'... yes, “in the room where it happened”....
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