Bringing the Hope of the Gospel to the Lost I still remember one of my long-time mentors some 23 years ago, in the middle of criticizing our church at the time, stopping me dead in my tracks and softly saying to me as he pointed to the streets of East L.A., "see those people walking around out there? Aimless and without hope in life? That's why we are here. To rea...
Keep Reading Devoted and Committed to God's Word It is no surprise that the world that we live in is getting worse. Every day, all you have to do is turn on the television to be reminded of not only the "explicit" corruption in our society, but also the "postmodern" ("truth is relative" and "truth is whatever it means to me") mood of the age. Godlessness is more and more rampant, and,...
Keep Reading Leadership Training and Discipleship within the Local Church I still remember the eagerness and zeal in my heart as a new convert to be trained. And yet God, in His sovereign plan, kept me back from pursuing my passion of attending seminary. Where would the training come from for a young man who desired to be effective in the church, and possibly enter full-time, vocation...
Keep Reading Living and Proclaiming the Gospel We have all been entrusted with certain things in life. I still remember being given my first Dodger hat. It was 1984, and the Dodgers were in the middle of slug fest with the San Diego Padres. A long-time friend of my father yelled at me from across the living room, and said to me, "See this hat? It is my favorite hat. I have owned this ...
Keep Reading The faithfulness of God is a great source of comfort to every Christian, even when difficult times come....
Keep Reading TITUS: The Gospel on Display How is the church stabilized and established in the grace of God? How do we live in such a way that "displays" that Christ is greater and more beautiful than anything on this earth? How do Christians make the "Gospel visible" to a hopeless and dying world, infatuated with sin and the passing pleasures of sin? These are important questions. In...
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Positive Verbal Defense of the Faith Apologetics isn't making a practice of saying we're sorry for our faith. As followers of Christ our calling isn't to passively apologize for believing in things like the inerrancy of the Bible, the existence of the supernatural or the exclusivity of the Gospel. Rather apologetics is about making a positive verbal defense of the faith...
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Jesus' Moment of Darkness No single event in the history of mankind has had a more profound or lasting impact upon people than the death of Jesus of Nazareth. Not only was Jesus' death an excruciating and painful event for our Savior, but of infinitely greater significance was the separation that He experienced from His Father. For the first time, the eternal Son of God e...
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Pursuing a Life of Holiness by God's Grace Have Christians been called to "let go and let God" or "lift oneself up by his/her own moral bootstraps?" The answer is neither. Christians are saved by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ "alone." We do not add to or take away from anything the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished on our behalf. We can rest assured and secu...
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The Mission for All Believers Most Christians are painfully aware of their responsibility to "witness" about Jesus to unbelievers. We live, often times, with guilt-ridden consciences, knowing that we fall far short of fulfilling our mission on this earth. With much humility, Pastor Mark Dever (founder of 9Marks Ministries) reminds believers that this problem is not just c...
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