Gaps, cracks, and droops. Sticking doors, scraping windows, and sagging floors. If you live in a part of the world with soft soil or an extreme climate, you know about foundation problems. Unless you plant your piers on the bedrock, your house could very well shift, sink, or settle. In the same way, without digging […]
Read MoreTag Archives: Acts
The Devil Made Me Do It?
More than thirty years ago Flip Wilson kept America in stitches with his television characters “Reverend Leroy,” the friendly, pompous pastor of the “Church of What’s Happening Now,” and “Geraldine Jones,” the sassy African-American woman in a miniskirt. Whenever Geraldine would impulsively buy a dress—or do anything she shouldn’t—she excused her urge by uttering the […]
Read MoreGetting Past Guilt: Overcoming Barriers to Feeling Forgiven
Puritan minister Richard Baxter warned about the emotional toll of carrying unnecessary guilt: “That sorrow, even for sin, may be overmuch. That overmuch sorrow swalloweth one up.”1 In his wonderful old English, Reverend Baxter captured the feelings of people who have not experienced forgiveness. Grief over past sins plunges them into a depth of sorrow. […]
Read MoreA Good Man or the God-Man? The Case for the Deity of Jesus
“Who do people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27) Jesus asked this question two thousand years ago, and the answers are still coming in: a rabbi who preached compassion, a brilliant leader who touched the hearts of thousands, a misunderstood innovator who died as a martyr. His enemies said He was a devil, a rabble-rouser […]
Read MoreAwake beyond the Grave: What the Bible Says about Soul Sleep
Death raises many questions: When will it happen? What will it be like? What is the soul’s destiny? Chuck Swindoll addresses that last question in Growing Deep in the Christian Life: When the believer dies, the body goes into the grave; the soul and spirit go immediately to be with the Lord Jesus awaiting the […]
Read MoreHow We Got the Old Testament
The Content and Extent of the Old Testament Canon Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. —The apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 10:11) The use of the Old Testament Scriptures by the church has been the subject of […]
Read MoreHow to Recognise a Healthy Church
Are you looking for a church? Just any church? Or a truly healthy one? Perhaps you’ve moved and are unfamiliar with the area. Or you could be a new Christian in need of a place to worship. Or maybe rather than look for a new church, you want to learn how to breathe new life […]
Read MoreBack to the Basics
The late football strategist Vince Lombardi was a fanatic about fundamentals. Those who played under his leadership often spoke of his intensity, his drive, his endless enthusiasm for the guts of the game. Time and again he would come back to the basic techniques of blocking and tackling. On one occasion his team, the Green […]
Read MoreWhat to Do When A Leader Falls
God’s work is sacred. So when a person engaged in ministry repeatedly defies God’s high and holy standards, that individual is to be removed. The apostle Paul’s judgment and command are uncompromising. The very reason God’s work is holy is because He is holy. Those who minister will never do so without some failures, because […]
Read MoreBeing Knowledgeable
Slice it any way you wish; ignorance is not bliss. Dress it in whatever garb you please; ignorance is not attractive. Neither is it the mark of humility nor the path to spirituality. It certainly is not the companion of wisdom. On the contrary, ignorance is the breeding ground for fear, prejudice, and superstition . […]
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