All Posts

All Posts

Confessionism: The Misuse of 1 John 1:9

Do you believe that you must confess every known sin to God? For many years earlier in my ministry, I made statements such as the following: “In order to be restored to fellowship with God and to be filled with the Spirit you must confess every known sin to God.” What am I to think of such instructions now? Sadly, this teaching adds a layer of requirement for our forgiveness not intended by God. And it may lead to confusion…

Jacob Saw Him

Jacob, on his flight to Paddam-Aram, had a dream of a ladder leading to heaven with the Lord at the top and angels descending and ascending. This took place at what he would call Bethel, or “house of God.” “And behold, the Lord stood above it and said…” is a phrase which indicates that he was actually speaking with the preincaranate Christ. That it was the preincarnate Christ that Jacob saw that night is made clear later when Jesus met…

Instantly Better Meetings for Small (and All) Churches

When my parents were first married, they started looking for a church to attend. They told me about an experience they had at a particular church “in town.” It was a smaller congregation (perhaps 30-40 people). Upon arrival, nobody greeted them. They then sat through the uninspiring service. If I’m remembering correctly, they were mostly alone on a pew. Perhaps there was an older couple way down at the end. People were quiet throughout the meeting. Everyone was then very…

The Past Symbology and the Present Glory

“Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. “He said to the sons of Israel, ‘When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, “What are these stones?” then you shall inform your children, saying, “Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the Lord your God had done to the Red…

Understanding God – "Basic Truth" series, #2

How does the Bible describe God? God is Perfect We might describe our mother as “a good person.” We might say that an honest judge is “a just man.” But only God is perfectly good and perfectly just. All human beings, even those we admire and trust, are, by nature, imperfect, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But “As for God,” David writes in Psalm 18:30, “His way is perfect.” God is…

SBC Recovery

The SBC must recover a high view of the meaning of conversion and membership, and must bring back or expel non-attenders through a loving and thoughtful process. We must pursue the doctrinal understanding and biblical practices necessary to overcome the remaining membership bloat, and the ongoing increase of unregenerate membership. We have much to be thankful for—for instance, the quality and training of young leaders is the best I remember it. Yet, we must address unregenerate membership—or we die. It’s…

Losses of a Prayerless Christian

Though God is sovereign over all things, He ordains the means of prayer. There are some things He will not do unless we pray, though He always does all He purposes (Psalm 135:6). The mystery does not change this truth: You do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2). If you do not ask . . . 1. Evangelistic work will be hindered. “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of…

Rational Forgiveness

According to the ESV calculation for a talent (“a monetary unit worth about 20 years wages for a laborer”), the master in Jesus Mt 18 parable forgave a debt of ten thousand talents equal to 200,000 years of labor, which is equal to 73,000,000 days of labor. The forgiven man however would not forgive a debt owed him worth 100 days of labor (100 denarii) which is 730,000 times less that he was forgiven. Jesus intends for his listeners to…

The Hospice Bed: A Letter From Jim

Dear CCW family, The year is 2028. A man drove up in a paneled truck, parked in the driveway, then introduced himself at the front door as “the man with the hospice bed.” They were expecting him. Everything had been done that could have been done, according to his choices, and now there was nothing left but to die. He was a very old man, but was conscious and could communicate — a remarkable privilege for almost all of those…

The Whining Christian Schooled by Paul

Amazingly, the Apostle Paul seemed never to have worn the mantle of victimhood as a redeemed man, regardless of the physical suffering or social condemnation he experienced. It was antithetical to his “in Christ” perspective. He would not be put to shame as a person for whom Christ had died, risen, and ascended. He had it all! He could enumerate his insults and beatings to instruct, sure, but he wore them like a badge of honor. To suffer for Christ…

Figuring Out Christian Freedom: What Romans 14 Does and Does Not Say

Have you ever disagreed with another believer about whether or not something was allowable behavior? Your disagreement might have been about whether Christians may, or should not, watch sports on Sundays, watch R-rated movies, or hold jobs where serving alcohol is required. Christians on the “may” side of such disagreements usually argue that these types of activities are not specifically forbidden in the Bible. Christians on the “should not” side either point to a passage of Scripture they believe does…

Our Plan for Handling Church Finances

The elders of Christ Fellowship spent several weeks studying the subject of church finances. Our desire was to honor God by following the leadership of the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ. We focused on numerous passages of Scripture in an attempt to properly understand more of what the Bible teaches on this subject. While we did not conclude that we had been disobedient to God in the way we had handled church finances previously, our study did provide us…

Dear Eden from Sweden

I write poetry for my grandchildren as their “PaJim.” This is one. We have a strain of Swedish ancestry on my wife’s side — a farm family in Sweden who moved to Canada and then to Minnesota in the 1800s. This poem reflects that connection. Likely the members of that family used “kulning” to call the cattle. Before you read this poem, listen to the enchanting kuhning of Jonna Jinton at this address to understand the poem better: https://youtu.be/KvtT3UyhibQ?feature=shared. The…

Closing With Christ: Rethinking What Has Become Sacrosanct

[This is an article written many years ago now, but still useful for many of us. My tone was fairly strong because of the urgency I felt. I still hope it stirs us up. Thank you for reading it.] When modern evangelical churches seek to bring the unregenerate to Christ (and they should do so with passion), they often fall prey to a formula which produces disappointing results. The pattern runs something like this: Extending a public altar call Praying…