“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” – Ephesians 1:3 (NASB) I’ll never forget talking to this dude in Florida who was one of the most lost and arrogant people I’ve ever met in my 59 trips…
When I was a younger Christian, I was eager to add labels to my Christianity. Today, people too often will use labels. I am a High-Church / Low Church, old earth / young earth, charismatic / non-charismatic, pedo-baptism / credo-baptism, Arminianism / Calvinism, liberal / conservative, Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Non-denominational “Christian.” Through the years I…
Timothy was a young man who traveled with Paul on his ministry travels and became the pastor of the church in the city of Ephesus. In a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, he offered this warning: “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of…
The prophet Jeremiah recorded what God told him. “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord?” (Jeremiah 23:23-24, ESV). There may be times when you…
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1, ESV) However, the New International Version (NIV) translates this a bit differently. “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” (Psalm 23:1, NIV) Why is there a difference in translation? Well, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the original meaning of the word “want” in old English (prior to 1706) was…
Faith is a habit. Have you heard that before? Often we think of faith as something we have or don’t have in the sense of being either a Christian or a non-Christian. But Lewis says we “must train the habit of Faith,” in the reading for September 18 in A Year with C.S. Lewis. His point…
Our life is not found in correct doctrine or in our piety, as important as these are. To get life from these things is religion. Our life is rather found in Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ alone. When we repent of our religion and commit to seeing God, ourselves, and every person we encounter…
“It seems there’s an element of ‘church’ in America that shoots its wounded.” First of all, this is not about the Wounded Warriors charity, which I support. This is about the too many Christians across our nation who have been wounded by those they believed to be followers of Christ. It seems there’s an element…
Scripture repeatedly and emphatically commands us to live in love and to put love above and before all things. “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians. 5:2, ESV “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians. 3:14, ESV It tells us…
Only Christians know true freedom. Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law through his sacrificial death, setting believers free from the law of sin and death. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36, NLT The apostle Paul explains Christian freedom in this way: “For you have been called to live in freedom,…