Grow
Our Faith Begins with God
There has been a phrase on my mind for the past few weeks: “Our faith begins with God.” I don’t think that this phrase would be all that shocking to you or that it really tells you anything new. This very idea is clearly stated in the first line of the Bible. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” There it is, crystal clear: “In the beginning God”—full stop. At the beginning of everything,…
Recommended Reading: October 2018
The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis In this classic book, Lewis presents a series of letters from an elder demon to his nephew. The purpose of the book is to present Lewis’ beliefs about how our enemy works to distract us from God and then destroy us. You can purchase a copy from most bookstores, borrow a copy from most libraries, or purchase a digital copy from Amazon.
Recommended Reading: September 2018
Simply Christian by NT Wright NT Wright’s book is designed to explain some of the most basic elements of the Christian faith. While it’s not exhaustive, it is simple and easy to understand. If you’re looking for a simple way to explain our faith to someone who won’t listen to a recitation of Scripture, this is a great place to start. You can purchase a copy from most bookstores, borrow a copy from most libraries, or purchase a digital copy…
Recommended Reading: August 2018
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster A classic work that explains various spiritual disciplines and encourages the reader to make use of them in their everyday life. These disciplines are broken into three parts: Inward (meditation, prayer, fasting, study); Outward (simplicity, solitude, submission, service); and Corporate (confession, worship, guidance, celebration). You can purchase a copy from most bookstores, borrow a copy from most libraries, or purchase a digital copy from Amazon.
All Sizzle, No Steak
The phrase “all sizzle and no steak” has always been one of my favorite. It’s such a powerful phrase that evokes an immediate understanding. We’ve all been hungry, waiting for our food, able to hear it sizzling in a pan, able to smell it cook, with our mouths watering. And then, we’re let down. The sound, the smell, the anticipation has heightened our expectations, and yet what we received has fallen far short. Is this something that we in the…
Win the Argument, Lose the Soul
Have you ever seen someone’s online bio read: My opinions are my own. It’s a way of offering a disclaimer that their personal opinions shouldn’t be connected unfairly to their place of employment. My online bio reads: My opinions are my own, but they should be yours as well. Now, I obviously meant that as a joke, but there are times when that feels too true for my own good. Hold on My Heart When I get into an argument…
Creating and Accomplishing Your New Year's Resolutions
It’s February. The ground hog has come and gone, and statistically, you’ve probably already given up on your New Year’s Resolutions. Ever wondered why? For the past few weeks, I’ve been teaching a class on Wednesdays about how to create and accomplish our New Year’s resolutions. In the first we of the class, we answered the question I asked you at the start of this post: Why do our resolutions fail? In the second week, we looked at how to…
Why Catechism?
Every Monday throughout 2017, I’ll be sharing the weeks catechism question in our Facebook group. Some of you know exactly what a catechism is because you grew up in a church that regularly uses them. Others have no idea, and you’re the ones I’m writing to because I was one of you. What is a catechism? Simply put: it’s a series of questions and answers designed to help a person grow in their knowledge of Christian doctrine. Generally, these are…
The Miracles of the Second Covenant
In Exodus 14, the Israelites were on their way out of Egypt when they came upon a considerable road block: the Red Sea. As the Egyptian army approached to either return the Israelites to slavery or to massacre them, the people began to panic. Moses did the only sensible thing–he prayed–and God told him what to do. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east…
The Gospels: The Personal Gospel (#3)
In my first post in this series, I explained that the word “gospel” meant “good news,” specifically, in a royal sense. So, “Good news [about or from] the king.” For us then, the “gospels” are good news about King Jesus. There are four books that we have labeled as “gospels”: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In my second post, I explained, briefly, who wrote each gospel, why, and to whom they were writing. In this final post, I’d like to…
The Gospels: Authors & Emphases (#2)
Today we’re going to continue our look at the Gospels by discussing the different authors and their emphases/audiences for these four books. (If you missed the first post in this series, you may want to go back over it.) Those who base their skepticism of Christianity based upon inconsistencies in the testimony of the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are right to argue for a cohesive, valid witness, in general, but the various incidents they present as evidence of inconsistencies…
The Gospels: An Introduction (#1)
As we approach Easter, I thought it might be nice for us to look at the Gospels. For some of you, this will be very basic, but I’m writing this with all Christians, both new and old, in mind. First up, let’s start with the very term “gospel.” It’s a word that has a long history, but in the interest of time, its history can be traced back to the Greek word euangelion, from which we also take our word…