I get so tired of labels among Christians. You know what I’m talking about. “He’s a liberal preacher.” “This is a conservative congregation.” “I would say he’s a bit to the right.” “We’re trying to be progressive.” I get sick of it. It seems as if every congregation, leader, and member has to figure out where they fall on some sort of spectrum in order to describe who they are. The problem is not necessarily the labels per se, it is that no one has any idea what the standard is for these labels. What one person called “progressive” another would say is “mainstream.” What you might say it “ultra-conservative,” a…

Have you ever wondered how Noah and his family must have felt toward those people who were outside of the ark once God shut the door? It was probably not a feeling of vindication or celebration that Noah’s preaching had proven to be correct. It was more likely overwhelming thanksgiving mixed with sadness and concern for those who were scratching at the ark from the outside. People wanted salvation but it was too late. In terror, one by one, they all slipped beneath the surface of the waters and were lost. The apostle Peter later noted that God was longsuffering in the days of Noah while the ark was being…

One of the most popular ideas today is that sincerity trumps truth. Over and over again, we hear the following statement (or something very close to it): “It doesn’t matter what one believes as long as he or she is sincere.” Gospel preachers, elders, Bible class teachers, and a host of other members of the body of Christ have tried to help people to see the fallacy in that type of thinking. Because of their concern for the souls of those who are religious, but wrong, they have employed a variety of methods, lines of reasoning, etc. to help people to see… that there is such a thing as absolute truth (cf. John…

“They’re just a bunch of hypocrites!” Yes, I have heard it said. Yes, I have read it (many times). I’ve heard it said in jest, but–tragically–I have also heard it said with all sincerity. When asked why someone won’t attend a church, that hurtful answer is regularly given. Often, when those words are spoken, it is done to virtually halt the conversation. It is a default answer, meant to cause the person doing the inviting to just go along his merry way and stop bothering the other person. At other times, though, the person is serious. They have seen “so-and-so” who goes to church “over there” do something wrong, so…

At the turn of the twentieth century came the beginning of the Charismatic movement. For the first time in many years, a well-organized religious entity gathered to proclaim miraculous works were still being done through the hands of men. As the movement gained steam a large portion of the Christian community began to embrace the idea of genuine supernatural healings by the laying on of hands. To date, no modern day miracles have been proven, and many–due to lack of study–have for decades misunderstood God’s purpose in miraculous works. But perhaps a bigger problem than a misunderstanding of miracles has developed. Many Christians in reaction to false claims have become…

There are a variety of “isms” that should concern people who attempt to point people to God and His Word. Each of these “isms” poses a real threat to the souls of individuals. Just a partial list of such “isms” would include such things as: Materialism Post-modernism Secularism Denominationalism Humanism Hedonism The list could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Each of those “isms” has the potential of keeping people separated from God for eternity. Recently, I came across a new “ism.” As I understand it, the term was coined by a religious leader somewhere in California. In the material I read, the term was not fully examined or…

I was raised in the church. I was born in California on a Monday at 7:00 p.m. My parents took me to worship the following Sunday. My grandfather grew up on a farm in west Texas and was converted to Christ as a young teenager and decided to preach the gospel. He spent approximately 20 years overseas and 63 years in the pulpit. He taught us all a love and respect for the authority of the Bible. When I say, “I was raised in the church,” it simply means I only knew of the church that Jesus built (is there another?) – the church of Acts to Revelation. I was…

I read an interesting and challenging Facebook post recently. I was interested for a couple of reasons. First, the material was posted by a friend of mine.  Secondly, I was also interested because he was writing about something we have in common. Both of us have struggled with our weight.  I read with interest about his significant weight loss during 2015. He has done a magnificent job of combining diet and exercise in order to improve his health. As you can imagine, my friend’s post also challenged me to get more serious about my own health.  However, that was not the greatest challenge  My greatest challenge was to my own thinking. That challenge has absolutely nothing…