Living Out Part 4 – A Call to Immediate Action
We must live by the power of the gospel and clearly guard the gospel because our own salvation and the salvation at others hangs in the balance.
My heart in this has been that of a concerned pastor. Throughout my ministry, I have sought to love those struggling with same-sex attraction and extend a gospel message that offers them a hope of real transformation. My aim has been to expose, but not be a sensational exposé. Living Out and a Call... Continue Reading
You Believe the Prosperity Gospel
But the essential theology of the prosperity gospel lies close at heart in each of us.
What the prosperity gospel — sometimes called “name and claim it” or the “health-and-wealth gospel” — relies on is a pragmatic spirituality that correlates circumstantial blessings or curses with human strength, achievement, or even faith. Here are 4 ways ordinary evangelicals like you and me sometimes fall prey to a kind of prosperity gospel in... Continue Reading
Matthew 18 is Not Instructive for Book Reviews, But Much of the New Testament Is
The wider context of Matthew 18 is that Jesus is teaching his disciples how to function in a local church.
But Matthew 18 is not the instructive context, nor the motive, for a public response to a publicly proclaimed message. Rather, a book review or similar public response is for the purpose of protecting, warning, and equipping the wider body of Christ. It’s an effort to carry out Paul’s instruction to the Colossians, “See to it... Continue Reading
On Samuel, Social Justice, And The Prophetic Office Of The Church (1)
It is evident in current discussions in the USA that there is not a shared definition of "social justice" nor is there a shared vision of how to achieve and maintain it.
Arguably, through the 18th and 19th centuries, most Americans did not expect to achieve an earthly utopia through political or concerted social action. The pursuit of “happiness” of the Declaration of Indpendence was assumed to be relative. Even the Deists who founded the American Republic had some idea of an other-worldly heaven. Most Americans assigned... Continue Reading
Deconstructing Destruction in the Church: Informal Shepherding
Today the Lord would have us think about church government, the government of the highest and best of monarchs, King Jesus.
Truth be told, many Christians are just as indifferent toward church government as Americans are toward civil government. One reason for this coldness is because man is sinful. The nature of sin is to resist authority and go our own way. Sin pushes us along from the inside to be our own authority, our own... Continue Reading
Living Out Part 3 – Unbiblical Counsel
The greatest love and compassion that we can have for Christians struggling with same-sex attraction is to give them wise and faithful teaching that is rooted in the hope of the gospel.
In an article written by Ed Shaw (pastor, ministry partner at Living Out, and instructor at Living Out conferences that help churches be more LGBTQ+ inclusive), he describes how he “copes” in his personal battle with same-sex attraction. His aim is to help men who experience this same struggle to respond to the temptation they face when attracted to... Continue Reading
Please Do Not Reimagine Worship
It would do us well to remember that God doesn’t need our imagination to repackage worship.
The Archbishop of Canterbury (William Temple) in the 1440s described the purpose and functionality of worship. He said, “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love... Continue Reading
United Methodists Edge Toward Breakup Over LGBT Policies
Under one scenario, many centrists and liberals would leave en masse to form a new denomination — a potentially complex endeavor.
Traditional Plan supporter Mark Tooley, who heads a conservative Christian think tank, predicts that the UMC will split into three denominations — one for centrists, another oriented toward liberal activists and a third representing the global alliance of U.S. conservatives and their allies overseas. “It’s a question of how long it takes for that to... Continue Reading
9 Things You Should Know About Notre Dame Cathedral
The current fire is part of a long history of damage to the cathedral.
Napoleon Bonaparte signed an agreement in 1801 to restore the cathedral to the Catholic Church. Three years later he decided to hold his coronation ceremony at the cathedral, becoming the first Frenchman to hold the title of emperor in a thousand years. Pope Pius VII handed Napoleon the crown—which the young conqueror of Europe placed on... Continue Reading
Sexual Sin and the Pursuit of Purity
With enough unsupervised liberty, bad boys (and girls) are sure to make sinful fools of themselves.
You’re at Pleasure Island University now, where all your desires, whether R-rated, TV-MA, or worse, can become realities. Pornography is more accessible than cable TV. One-night stands are all too common. Temptation to give in to sexual sin is literally everywhere. And all around you are real-life Lampwicks who have been given “enough rope” to... Continue Reading
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