How to live a life that is faithful to our calling as followers of Jesus Christ......
Christ Alone is Sufficient for Salvation and Sanctification In C. S. Lewis' fictional masterpiece, The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape, an experienced demon, mentors his nephew, Wormwood (also a demon, but "in training") on the art of breaking down Christians. In essence, the devil's strategy is not to replace or remove Christ completely, but to promote a "Christ AND" ...
Keep Reading The Sufficiency and Authority of Scripture If you think about the Reformation "Solas" like a building, then the Foundation of the building was the great principle or truth of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). What did this mean? That Scripture Alone was the Ultimate and Final Authority in all matters of faith and practice, personally and for the church. It did not mean th...
Keep Reading
Knowing and Worshipping Christ Over the years, building Lego projects has been a fun and treasured time with my kids. Once, I helped one of my boys build his new Star Wars Lego spaceship. This was the biggest Lego building project of his (then) young seven-year-old life. So as much as I wanted the spaceship to be brought to completion within a 12-hour day, I wanted him to...
Keep Reading Serving Out of Gratitude Rather Than Obligation Some time ago, during the holiday season, I came across a Ralph's employee who, upon charging me for my items, said, "Looks like you are prepping for a big breakfast!" "Yes," I replied, "It's a family tradition." I looked at her name badge, and observed that she had been with Ralph's for 40 years. "Wow, Connie, you have be...
Keep Reading Teaching Truth and Refuting Error There has been a subtle shift in the last 20 years or so in various evangelical circles. It is not that "professing" Christians say that doctrine does not matter "at all," but that we should not just be defined by "what we are against." Instead, we should be defined more by "what we stand for." On the one hand, I would agree that we shoul...
Keep Reading
The Christian in the Workplace One of the suggested books from our "spiritual disciplines" series a couple of years ago was Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work, by Tim Keller. In his book, Keller states " in this book we will do what we can to help illuminate the transformative and revolutionary connection between Christian faith and the workplace." M...
Keep Reading Freedom to Love the Lord and Love Others One of the "privileges" that we enjoy in our great country is "freedom." Freedom of speech, freedom to worship publicly, freedom to have a certain sense of autonomy, and to pursue happiness as individuals along with our families. Each of us as Americans enjoy this freedom and ought to have a profound sense of gratitude for what God...
Keep Reading We love because He first loved us No, I am not talking about your "romantic" life (though some of us who are married, especially us men, would profit from considering this as well!). I am talking first and foremost, about your love for the Lord, for this is where it all begins, doesn't it? Writing to the church at Ephesus, the Lord Jesus utters this terrible indictment, ...
Keep Reading 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
