It was at a CCEF conference on “Sex Matters” that I heard a speaker give one of the most perceptive approaches to celibacy in singleness that I had heard to date. She said two things that struck me. One, she said we often look at singleness as a problem to be solved rather than […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on In the Name of GraceChildren at my church made a “wordless” gospel bracelet as a project. It consisted of five beads threaded onto a suede strap and tied off to make a bracelet. The beads were different colors, organized to tell a story. BLACK – All have sinned RED – Jesus’ died for sinners WHITE – Jesus washes […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Wordless WitnessI’ve heard pastors say that if people really knew what was in their hearts, they would not want them as their pastor. I can attest that pastors sin with the best of them. Lust and greed and envy and all sorts of sin roam dangerously in their hearts. Pastors don’t minister on the basis […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on My Funeral is Back OnI have a friend at the YMCA. Dave is in his mid-60s. We’re both regular at the Y, so our paths cross fairly often. We were talking last week and he told me he was having trouble seeing to the front of his church. He sits all the way in the back, so he […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Cataracts of UnbeliefKnowing what to say to someone in grief is invariably a tricky endeavor. We want to express sympathy without sounding cliché, and certainly without saying something insensitive. That challenge rises to another level when it comes to extending comfort to someone who is perhaps religious but not a professed Christian, nor was the one […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on How do we comfort the non-Christian in grief?I have a love-hate relationship with my GPS. Perhaps trust-mistrust is a better way to put it. Either way, we have a problem. Since I am directionally-challenged, I love my GPS. She (and her British accent) have gotten me where I need to go many times. When I ignored her instructions, she has gotten […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Uncommon SenseIt’s my practice to read through the Bible every year. This year holds two twists for me. One, I intend to use the King James Version, something I have never done. I’d like to experience the artistry of the KJV. Plus, I think the language variations will slow me down to think about and […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Law without LegalismWe are likely familiar with the effort to keep Christ in Christmas, but the more pressing need of the day is to keep Christ in “Christian.” Have you ever watched the game show Family Feud? The host of the show will ask one of the contestants a question. That contestant wants to guess the […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Keep Christ in “Christian”Ebola is a deadly disease that has been very much in the news in 2014. Left untreated, Ebola has a 90% mortality rate. Even treated, the mortality rate can be as high as 70%. As deadly as Ebola is, sin is deadlier. Sin infects 100% of the population, including each person reading this post. […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Ebola, Christmas and YouThe simple presentation of the good news of the gospel just isn’t sufficient any longer. Our sophisticated age demands something more intellectually compelling and more personally appealing. At least that’s the impression I got after reading an article by Meghan O’Gieblyn. Her title asks the question: “How do you sell God in the 21st […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on The Gospel for 21st Century Man