It was the habitus [habitual behavior] of patient endurance that made Christianity both deeply disturbing and yet attractive to outsiders amid the turmoil, paganism and hurly burly of the first century.   What did the early Christians actually do? In Evangelism in the Early Church,[1] Michael Green declares ‘A priority of the early Christians seems to have... Continue Reading

A church body is at its best when its members are gathered and invested in sharing Jesus and sharing lives with each other. That’s best done when we forget the clock, forget being slaves to time and focus on being what Jesus had called us to be—disciple making disciples.   In the majority of cases... Continue Reading

Manipulative worship impatiently skips the slow and deep persuasion of the human spirit (knowing full well that it will not be popular with the masses). It will give us the intensity our bodies crave, regardless of the object of our worship. When it comes to what Pentecostals call “intensity,” we would do well to distinguish... Continue Reading

Whatever flood you’re facing, whatever loss you’ve endured, whatever sickness or strain or hurt or pain the Lord has brought into your life, please know, dear saint, that he has tailored it just for you. God wastes nothing—not even your affliction—but means to do you everlasting good in every movement of Providence.   Dear brother... Continue Reading

If the problem in our country is the fact that children are portrayed as inconvenient and are justifiably purged when “unwanted,” we need more than a campaign that says, “Don’t do that.” We need to do more than shout down the wickedness of abortion. We need to rehabilitate an entire view of the world. That... Continue Reading

The act of making our requests known to God is all about surrendering our stress of the unknown and uncontrollable to our all-loving, all-knowing, and all-controlling Father. Prayer is the finite placing confidence in the infinite. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians... Continue Reading

Laziness neglects the most important aspects of physical, mental, and spiritual care. We have been given a body to use for the glory of God, laziness erodes it. We have been given a mind to use for the glory of God, laziness pollutes it. We have been given a new life in Christ that is... Continue Reading

If I am God’s servant bringing God’s rule to bear in God’s church for God’s glory and the good of his beloved children, if I am a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ for the complete salvation of sinners, if I am a man who knows and trusts the influences and operations of the... Continue Reading

The apostle Paul instructs the Thessalonians to “stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter” (2 Thessalonians 2:15). God’s affirmation of man-wrought traditional formulations is made even more clear when the Scripture on occasion picks up such formulations and codifies them... Continue Reading

The promise of God to hear prayers is for all those who come confessing their sins and seeking divine pardon in and through Christ alone, who made atonement for our sins on Calvary’s tree where He hung despised and rejected for our sakes.   A few years back, there was a clever trend afoot that... Continue Reading