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Evangelism — Orthodox and “Evangelical”
I have not been a fan of using church services alone to “evangelize.” A worship service is for…well… worship. It’s FOR Christ. Not us. But that’s just me. Obviously. 😉 This interview with Bishop Kallistos Ware (bishop of the Orthodox Church in England) is a good read. I like this exchange on “evangelism”: To draw in the unchurched, evangelical churches…
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The Lord’s Prayer — Give Us This Day
One key element of prayer Jesus taught his disciples was the request for immediate sustenance. God provides for the basics. Whatever we need to live in a functional manner is sourced in God. “Give us this day our daily bread.” This is a tough request. It is a request based in confidence. Our Father does provide and we TRUST him…
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Hell is Still Selling
Introducing in this corner Francis Chan with his latest entry into the foray and fallout from Rob Bell’s book. I do not think having these conversations is wrong, but if I were conducting these interviews (be it Rob Bell or Francis Chan or Mark Galli or whoever is next out with a book), I dream it would go something like…
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The Parable of the Sower
This week I begin prep for next Sunday’s message on Parables in Matthew 13. I love Matthew 13 because it gives the opportunity to reflect on the use of parables in the ministry of Jesus. The biggest section is the parable of the sower. It is not the very top of my list for favorites in this chapter, but I…
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The CBT Responds to the Southern Baptists
The Committee on Bible Translation responded a few weeks back to the Southern Baptist resolution “banning” the use of the NIV: A brief response from the Committee on Bible Translation to the resolution introduced on the floor of the Southern Baptist Convention regarding the updated New International Version June 15, 2011 The Committee on Bible Translation (CBT) welcomes informed criticism…
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Come Now Your Kingdom
Dallas Willard walks through the Lord’s Prayer in a way that gets my mind to think more deeply about the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. He taught them to PRAY. I lack that passion at times in my own life. Today’s message is from Matt. 11:25-30 where Jesus invites the followers to take his yoke and learn from him. I…
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Being Yoked to Christ
As I was doing research for this Sunday’s message based out of Matthew 11:25-30, I came across some thoughts from Paul Tillich in The Shaking of the Foundations. The sense of being burdened “is the general human condition to be heavy laden and to labor restlessly under a yoke too hard to be endured.” For Tillich, the yoke to be…
