Since the Renaissance and the Enlightenment when numerous scientific discoveries and social advancements were made, Western culture has increasingly been marked by progress, convenience, and abundance. According to the UNU-WIDER study on The World Distribution of Household Wealth from December 2006, America and Europe comprise only 15% of the world's total population yet possess 66%… Read More »
In Galatians 6:14, The Apostle Paul boldly asserted that his only boasting should be in the cross of Jesus. In Philippians 3, he proclaimed that everything he had used for his own gain had been counted as loss for the sake of Christ. It does not take much to see that such confessions from a… Read More »
Sin, Satan, culture, and even a well-meaning church have all challenged the biblical understanding of God as a tender Father, sovereign King, passionate Bridegroom, and jealous Judge. We’ve believed lies to one extent or another, which has caused us to approach prayer like we would approach a vending machine. Our quantity of prayer and zeal… Read More »
The modern new year is an interesting phenomenon. Millions and millions across the world gather to celebrate the changing of a number. Calendars, mobile phones, and checks for the next 364 days will now prominently display a "2" at the end of the date. Somehow this man-made milestone gives permission to so many for a… Read More »
Earlier I was reading this article on Voice of the Martyr’s persecution.com, a website dedicated to assisting the worldwide persecuted church. The article briefly described how a 30-year old Indian Christian was deported from the Maldives simply for possessing a Bible in his home. Upon reading more articles from the site, I was struck afresh… Read More »
In our modern churchgoing generation, the word doctrine often bears a scholarly, academic stigma. Most western Christians would not say that they are into doctrine. However, most would probably say they are into truth. This dichotomy is an unbiblical one. Doctrine is simply the ordering of truth, and the way that Biblical truths fit together… Read More »
Undoubtedly we’ve all had a memorable teacher in our lives at one point or another, whether in school growing up, on the job, or at a later point on our life. Teachers, instructors, mentors, and tutors all serve a common purpose – to make the seemingly complex and difficult into something tenable, simple, and attainable,… Read More »
The true Christian lifestyle has not changed through the passing centuries, however in our day Christianity is often presented in a way that has very little to do with conformity to the life of Jesus. The cross is often presented as the path Jesus took to secure our leisure and comfort. Sadly, many ascribe to… Read More »
In my last post of this short series, I briefly wrote about what it means to “deny ourselves” and how it specifically relates to obedience, the way that God defines how we love Him. Jesus’ call to deny ourselves entails a violent, radical resistance to self-promotion, self-preservation, and every expression of self-service in our time,… Read More »
“Love” is a loaded word. It does not take a philosopher or psychologist to discover that it means so many different things to so many different people. What matters most to the Christian, however, is how Jesus defines “love”. The mistake we often make, in both gross and subtle ways, is applying our own definition… Read More »