Skipping Church
My friend Heather wrote this blog post today about taking a break from going to church, and how it helped her evaluate her spiritual condition and renew her relationship with God. I cannot begin to express how much it resonated with me. Because I stopped going to church about five years ago, and every time […]
Christians Behaving Badly
I have a lot of friends who are wait-staff. They frequently tell me how much they hate working Sunday lunch, because the church crowd are bad tippers. They speak of people who eat a nice meal, pay the bill, and walk out of the restaurant without leaving a tip. Or, worse, they leave only a […]
A Response to the Phillips Scandal
Doug Phillips, founder and president of Vision Forum ministries, resigned his position today in a public post on the Vision Forum website. His reason for stepping down is “serious sin” in his life — specifically, “… a lengthy, inappropriate relationship with a woman.” He goes into detail about his own shame, the damage to his […]
Why I Will Not Be Taking My Sons Out of Boy Scouts
The decision earlier this week by the Boy Scouts of America’s National Council to accept openly homosexual boys as Scouts has raised a lot of anger and vitriol across the country. The BSA has been warned to expect a mass exodus of boys and leaders from the troops. I’ve seen Facebook posts from many who […]
Some Thoughts on Christianity
I have discovered a new author whose works I like … at least as far as I’ve read in them. And since what I read today has a lot of relevance to yesterday’s post on baptism, I want to share some excerpts from T. D. Jakes’s Help Me, I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up. […]
Thoughts on Baptism
A friend of mine who is exploring faith asked, “If salvation is a gift of God, not of ourselves, so that no one can boast, then is baptism a part of grace or part of works or neither? Or is it part of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, etc.)? Can you […]
Thoughts on Worship
A continuation of yesterday’s post. Starting with a rather long, but extremely salient, quotation from C.S. Lewis’s Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. I think our business as laymen is to take what we are given and make the best of it. And I think we should find this a great deal easier if what […]
Instant Obedience?
The discussion at this blog over whether God expects first-time obedience from us struck a chord with me. I believe that He does, usually, expect us to obey Him instantly and without question. However, there are plenty of examples in Scripture where God shows mercy and gives a second chance. While I could give several […]