This morning I have been listening to seminary lectures on Bible interpretation. I’ve been doing this from the enjoyment of my church office, with a cup of coffee and a space heater warming up the room. During a break, I saw that 21 Egyptian Christians were just beheaded by Islamic terrorists. They died for being…
There Are No Agnostics
Yesterday I had a conversation with another guy in our church who had the opportunity to begin speaking about spiritual things with a young lady. He asked her what she believes, and she said that she doesn’t think it is possible to really know the truth. He asked her what her view is of life after…
Adopt-a-Street
There are neighborhoods all around us. There are streets filled with houses right across from us, and there are more streets filled with houses right behind our tree line. There are old houses and there are new houses. There are trailers and there are mansions. There are public schoolers and private schoolers and home schoolers.…
History-Shaping Prayers
What’s on your personal prayer list? For most of us, our prayer lists include a string of family members and friends, church members and missionaries, and any known major needs of those people. In addition to these, some people also include the United States President, the persecuted church, and major social issues like abortion, homosexuality,…
Is Friendship Fest Biblical? (It Can Be!)
A month from now, on our church property, we will be laying out the Slip’n’Slide, setting up the Water Slide, preparing game stations, prepping relay races, maybe even testing a dunking booth or touring a fire truck (we’ll see!). On Saturday July 5th, we will be treating our neighbors in the Friendship Road community to Friendship…
Worshiping through Mission
This is the fourth and final post on how worship is our primary pillar. It fuels our fellowship, our discipleship, and our mission. Worship is our giving of glory to God in response to seeing the glory of God. How then, can we glorify God through mission in response to beholding God’s glory? MISSIONS EXISTS…
Redeeming the CROSS Conference (part 3)
At the age of 24 (1999) I wandered into a bookstore in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee looking for a book I could afford. I found one on the closeout sale rack. It was Desiring God by John Piper. And it was like $2.99. I bought it. I read it. And it changed my Christian life. The…
Redeeming the CROSS Conference (part 2)
Thabiti Anyabwile preached a message titled “Beauty from Ashes: The Plan of God and the Plight of Man” from Romans 1:13-18. The big idea of the message was this: The plan of God is to send unashamed preachers to unreached peoples to display His unparalleled power and the unearned righteousness that is found in Christ.…
Redeeming the CROSS Conference (part 1)
The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a very popular time for Christian conferences geared toward college students. Many of them are excellent. Some are not. But when I first read about the CROSS conference in the early Fall I was admittedly intrigued. The stated mission of the conference is “the global purpose…
The Incarnation and Mission
What makes the Incarnation so significant? What makes it something to celebrate? Why do we recognize it each year on Christmas day? It’s not simply because Jesus came to earth; it’s because Jesus came to earth to eventually give himself for us. The incarnation would have meant nothing if Jesus grew up and lived a…