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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…
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…
Three Tragic Consequences of Falling Back in Love With This Present Age
One man often comes to my mind when I think about people I’ve seen fall away from the Lord. He was so zealous for Jesus when I baptized him. His fervor lasted for several years. But then he started hanging out with the wrong people and became enslaved to alcohol. As a school teacher, he would even show up for class “buzzed” from the night before. I crossed paths with this man once and pled with him to repent. I’m…
Remembering and Hoping: A Letter From Jim
Dear CCW family, I recently ran across a Family Letter from 2016. It spoke to me about intentional travel, such as we are about to do again but in the opposite direction. As we drive to California, Oregon, Montana and back, I want us to remember and anticipate the guidance and interventions by God that I expressed in the letter below. Pam and I long for that. I’ll be speaking in various places, seeing friends and ministry associates, but also…
Hard Work: The Spurgeon Way
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the renowned preacher of London in the 1800s, was not only a gifted leader, but was a hard worker. By the time most pastors write a few emails, wrestle with the dates for VBS and read the junk mail, Spurgeon would have completed a mountain of tasks. For instance, each week he preached several times (often 10), trained pastors in the pastor’s college, wrote several hundred letters (“I’m immersed to my chin in letters.”), led an elders’…
Praise Luck? : A Letter From Jim
Dear CCW family, Joni Eareckson Tada is one of the most gracious and effective Christians in the world. She has lived with the results of a diving accident that broke her neck during her teen years. At 76, she continues to radiate Christ to a listening world. Joni is known by millions of Christians through her books, radio program, and conference speaking. Once my brother asked Joni how she made it through the difficult battle with her paraplegia. I later…
Who Sends Missionaries?
Who sent out Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey?* You might say that it was the church in Antioch. But to be precise, the correct answer is the Holy Spirit: “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit . . . ” (Acts 13:4a). However, Acts 13:3 says the church “sent them off,” but that does not mean the church was ultimately responsible for commissioning and sending out these two. New Testament scholar David G. Peterson explains. [T]he…
Childhood Conversion
A woman came to humorist Will Rogers, saying, “I struggle with this problem. Every time I look at myself in the mirror, I’m proud.” He said, “Ma’am, that’s not pride, that’s a mistake!” Now I know that you are proud of your children, but you have never been as proud of a child as a woman I met who claimed that her five year old daughter had never sinned! She was serious. I realize that this woman was not doctrinally…
A Tale of Tested Assumptions
Quincey was an exacting man, an accountant. He wanted to be forgiven by God for his many sins because his conscience was troubling him. He assumed that he must confess each of his sins to receive that forgiveness, and that this confession could not be just an act, but genuine. So he set out to do that. Not all sins are of the same weight, since Jesus talked of “greater sins” and “worse sins,” so he further assumed he must…
Asahel Nettleton: The Forgotten Evangelist
The year was 1812. America had just declared war on Great Britain in June and lost its first battle in October. In the midst of that climate, a young, unimpressive minister on his way to an assignment in New York stopped at a church in the community of South Britain, Connecticut.[1] When he was invited to preach, no one could have anticipated the impact his ministry would have, not only on this small church, but also on all the East Coast over the…
Forgetting Who We Are: A Letter From Jim
Dear CCW family, When whimpering Gideon hid himself from the Midianites in the winepress while threshing his wheat, the angel of the Lord appeared to him with this striking greeting: “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Man of valor? In Gideon’s mind, nothing could be further from the truth. But the angel continued, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.” Gideon squeaked out a lame response,…
Thinking Biblically and Strategically About Inter-Church Relationships
I am focused in this article on “inter-church” relationships, not “intra-church” relationships. There is a significant difference. An online dictionary (www.dictionary.com) gives this information: “Inter– is a common prefix that means between or among groups,” whereas “intra– is a prefix which means within or inside one group.” So the content to follow is not about relationships within a single church (intra-), but relationships between multiple churches (inter-). My church is part of a fellowship of churches that meets annually for…
When Pastors Aren’t Able to Pastor
The church is medium-sized in attendance, yet, on paper the membership roll is even larger. Its solo pastor is a frustrated man. There are some good days, and certainly some fine people who encourage him, but he’s frustrated because the job God called him to do just cannot be done. He has many people to tend to, numbers of which are missing, and even those who are present are more than any average man could possibly care for—that is, really care for. So,…
When Ball Becomes Baal
It’s rare to see kids playing sports in the neighborhood anymore. We’re now organized and “professionalized”—including uniforms, state-of-the-art facilities, endless trips to the field, competitive coaches, equally competitive parents, and the after-season tournaments designed to give parents “bleacher bottom.” In addition, you’ve got to pay to play—and when you’ve paid that much, you’ll be sure to play. It is also fun, and it can be instructive. I love to watch my kids play sports. In fact, they need to play—some.…
The Foibles and Fallibility of Christian Leaders
The inconsistencies, unattended weaknesses, eccentricities, normalizations of subtle sinful habits, relational neglectfulness or awkwardness, sometimes grating quirks, phases of tiredness and even laziness, and susceptibility to pride — just to begin the list — illustrate what kinds of things can be found in almost every Christian leader at one time or another. They should remind us that we are all treated mercifully by God and cannot claim that any leadership position or recognition is fully “deserved” but strategically assigned by…
Returning To Your First Love
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” Revelation 2:4-5 ESV Are you and those who are with you dangerously close to experiencing this judgment? Is the Light of God’s presence dim, almost imperceptible? Do you have form without power…