Articles (Page 5)

Articles (Page 5)

Fiscal Hilarity

It would be difficult to imagine any giver doing so often or generously without joy in doing it. I began to be curious about giving early on. In fact, I can still picture the book on giving that my mother read to me, one of only two children’s books I remember. Later in college, my first book on George Muller, the man who fed and clothed over 10,000 orphans, made the deepest impression. I was drawn into a lifestyle that…

A Dangerous Religious Presumption

There is a religious assumption that each of us is worthy of God’s love, even though some of us tragically think so little of ourselves that we struggle to have any morsel of self-worth. But this view is more therapeutic than true. No, we are not worthy of God’s favor. The self-respecting Pharisee thanked God he was not like others, even that compromised, broken tax collector praying close by who couldn’t lift his head up to God. He had no…

A More Spontaneous and Genuine Evangelism

It was not Jesus’ intent to say that the individual Christian must change locations in order to evangelize. But it is most certainly the whole church’s responsibility to see to it that we make disciples where we are, now. Evangelism is not to be done later when the move takes place, or when the trip is taken to another far off country, or when the special evangelistic project commences, though it is certainly inclusive of these. Yet, nothing is more…

Don’t Be Like the Ant

Don’t be like the ant who thought that it was his strong legs that pushed the log down the river. He overestimated. No pastor, teacher, or serious Christian could possibly know accurately what God does through our words and work. Not really. Evaluation of effects is futile and frustratingly unpredictable. It may be years before gospel seed germinates. How can you know if or when or how He does that? And your most effective moment may come and go without…

Borrowing? Consider This Possibility

The Old covenant people of God heard a second telling of God’s commands and purpose for them on the Plains of Moab before Moses died. Within those commands, there was a pronouncement of a remarkable blessing for them related to lending and borrowing. There is a principle to consider in that anticipated blessing spoken so many years ago: ___“But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God…

My Friend’s in Hell

John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, said that is “better to be born a toad than to die unconverted.” Why? Because toads don’t go to hell and humans do. The subject of hell is so solemn that our natural instinct is to either ignore it or reject it. Yet, like the cancer patient before his doctor, it is better to hear the whole truth. Once a woman told me, with an nervous giggle, that she “guessed it would be…

Deacons in the New Testament: Questions and Answers from the Elders of Christ Fellowship of Kansas City

The office of deacon has been subject to a wide variety of practices and interpretations, even among biblically minded Christians. Much of this variance stems from the fact that few New Testament passages mention the office, let alone explain its function. Yet the biblical information we do have indicates that deacons are a vital aspect of “how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the…

Revival May Not Bring What You Expect

Christianity survived and grew in totalitarian regimes in its first centuries and has done so many times since. We need revival desperately, but it does not necessarily create a political/cultural reversal except in individuals and churches. It more likely will increase polarization and bring on added misunderstanding and persecution as it did in the earliest days recorded in Acts. Revival is even strongly associated with splintering among denominations because of the inability of revived people to continue in their old…

Something Like Hell

I once saw a horrible sight at the coffee shop while discussing the Bible with a friend. A man, obviously in an advanced stage of dementia, gnashed his teeth, shook violently in anger, and cringed with fear for several agonizing minutes. I’m often moved by the plight of mental anguish. My mother died of Alzheimer’s. We cannot always tell which direction dementia will take. Will it turn a person angry or will he be docile? So, with respect, and with…

The Old Covenant Ends and the New Covenant Begins Here

Observe the exact time when the New Covenant began and the Old Covenant, whose sacrifices never could take away sins or make anyone perfect, was made obsolete (Heb 8:13;10:4): “Then He [Christ] said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He takes away the first [covenant] in order to establish the second [covenant]. By this will we have been sanctified [as in consecrated] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb 10:9-10) The New…

The Discipline of God is Strong

The discipline of the believer provides one of our greatest assurances of God’s love. Please read and think deeply about “The Discipline of God is Strong.”

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

The little girl talked fondly to her. In fact, she had never done otherwise. And though she had only one eye, and was blind in the other, and though deaf and unable to speak, she was adored. When the other children entered into the room she instinctively embraced the helpless doll even tighter. To her, this baby was precious and nobody else could have her. But the time would come when other interests would compel the little girl to forget…

What It Means to Praise the Lord: a Brief Primer

If I say, “I just want to praise you, Lord,” I’m saying something good about my motives. If I say, “I praise you, Lord,” I’m describing my good actions. If I say, “Thank you Lord for answering my prayer,” I have not praised him, but thanked him. If I say, “Praise the Lord!” I’ve asked others to say something to honor him. If I say, “Lord, you alone know the future and will accomplish all your plan,” I have praised…

Thoughts on Improving Baptisms

Since water baptism is so important to the churches, I want to put forward a few ideas that may help churches make more of this important symbolic act. What I’m suggesting is in the way of pastoral advice, not doctrine. You can take or leave these ideas, but in my own experience and through information received from many pastors over the years, these suggestions could make this experience much more memorable and effective. Most of these suggestions will apply to…

This is WHAT DAY the Lord has made?

When we quote or sing “This is the day the Lord has made,” we aren’t saying that this very day, the day we are in presently, is the day the Lord has made. That is true, of course, but it isn’t what Psalm 118: 22-24 is about. Rather, something much more important is being said. Read it closely: “The stone which the builders rejectedHas become the chief corner stone.This is the Yahweh’s doing;It is marvelous in our eyes.This is the…