Recently, my dear friend and fellow blogger Allen Nelson and I had a pleasant discussion on our new podcast “The TAU Roundtable” on the subject of Children’s Church. Children’s Church, in case you are not familiar, is a weekly event some churches practice wherein they will remove the children from all of or part of the […]
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Reasons Not to Have Children’s Church
I sincerely appreciate the heart many of my brothers’ and sisters’ have toward children, and I do not wish to attack what they are seeing as liberty and wise stewardship of their time with kids by having a “Children’s Church” each Sunday during the preaching hour. I know what I am addressing is a touchy […]
Praise Yahweh (the LORD) – Psalm 117
God has provided us with His Word that we might know Him and praise Him. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter of the Bible, yet it is packed with God-glorifying wisdom, truth, and comfort. Let’s take a look at it! Psalm 117 (ESV) 1 Praise Yahweh, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! 2 For great […]
Soft Chauvinism
It seems we have ventured into a time in Christianity where every time we write about or exhort women, it must be qualified in such a way as to soften any offense or blow to the reader or hearer. We live in a time of ‘soft chauvinism’ by the way we treat women in the […]
A Letter to a New Believer
I received a question about how to grow as a Christian and what advice I would offer to someone who was recently converted on how to “practically” mature in the faith. The person specifically stated “I need a literal path, not just read your Bible, attend church, etc.” My response is below. Feel free to […]
Review: Lemuel Haynes, The Black Puritan
Christian biographies are some of the most enjoyable books to read, in my opinion. I love to hear how God saved a man (or woman), and what good work the Lord did in that person’s life, and through that person. The biography of Lemuel Haynes, by Pastor Luke Walker of Redeeming Cross Community Church is a […]
Beth Moore the Broken Clock
I suppose I should be thankful for God’s use of Beth Moore. Normally, “thankful for Beth Moore” would cause me great fits of nausea. The woman is, at best, woefully disobedient, and at worst a heretic. She and her all-to-willing-to-cause-trouble quasi-feminist cohorts bring great damage to the church. Nonetheless, just as God used such spiritual […]
Making the Best Use of the Time
The Will of the Lord In Ephesians 5:16, Paul instructs the church to make the best use of the time (commonly known as redeeming the time). The Apostle reminds his readers that the days we are living in are evil, and that only a fool would live in such a way that he is not […]
Time to Cut the 20 Minute Sermon
Our pastor had recently left for another church and I was taking over a lot of the preaching duties in our local congregation. One afternoon the phone rang in my Youth Pastor’s study. The conversation went something like this: “Hello?” A lady from our church on the other line: “Yes, I want to talk to […]
The Problem with Identifying as a “Non-Denominational” Church
There is a trend that’s been around a few decades now about having a “non-denominational” church. I think I first consciously remember the terminology when I had a friend in 9th grade tell me he went to a “NonDom” church. I was not savvy to the jargon and he had to explain to me that […]
On the Election of Infants – Part 2
Earlier, we reviewed four of the six reasonable categories (Click here to read Part 1) one can fall in concerning their belief about the election of infants. Many folks have argued whether babies go to Heaven for centuries. For the sake of ease of writing, I will use the term “infants” to describe those “who […]
On the Election of Infants – Part 1
What Happens When a Baby Dies? Many folks have argued whether babies go to Heaven for centuries. Instead of putting forth an argument, per se, I want to summarize what the possible positions one can take would be, and at least try to eliminate the ones that seem absurd, while explaining some of the implications […]
Recent Racist Rhetoric Reflections
Hot Take My take on the recent rhetoric about race. There really is evil in the world in the form of racism. Like abortion, some Christians are on the front lines fighting that evil as the outworking of their faith in Christ. This is a good thing. Some Christians are victims of racism as well. […]
Run to Him
My older son was outside playing basketball down the street. He had stopped to wave at me as I drove past him on my way home from work. I walked in the door of my house and looked around. My wife was in the kitchen putting the final touches on dinner, and my youngest daughter […]
No, We Do Not Need to Own Hitler
1 You can hardly visit a social media thread/debate without seeing the commission of countless logical fallacies. The level at which unregenerate people and immature/uneducated Christians commit logical fallacies is only eclipsed by their perceived mastery of them. Something I have observed is that many people accuse other of fallacious reasoning when there really is not […]
Varieties of Gifts
One thing I’ve noticed over the past several decades of watching the NFL playoffs and Super Bowls is that the teams that go to the playoffs and deepest into the playoffs have the most Pro-Bowl selections. What is striking, though is the team with the NFL rushing leaders or passing leader isn’t always the team […]
2018 Arnold Classic Outreach Report
The Lord Jesus Christ blessed us with pleasant weather and friendly crowds at the 2018 Arnold Classic Outreach in Columbus, OH. The Arnold Classic is an international exposition featuring athletes from a number of different sports including, bodybuilding, weightlifting, martial arts, gymnastics, and more. Vendors of all types of nutrition supplements to exercise gear or […]
Mountains, Molehills, and Dress Shirts
It’s difficult to write about traditionally prickly, and yet non-essential matters without being both divisive and derivative of a particular tradition. No matter what side of those issues you place yourself, you align with a tradition. Today’s topic, how people should dress for Sunday worship, is no different. Typically posts like this are written because the writer […]
The Ignoble Duties of a Noble Task
So you are interested in pastoring, eh? Paul says you desire a noble task (1 Tim. 3:1). And I think many of the tasks involved in pastoral ministry can be seen as noble from other believers on the outside looking in. After all, you get to stand on a platform week in and week out […]
From Death to Life – Book Update
(Photo Credit: Stephen J. Melniszyn) I’ve had several people asking me about where I am on my current book project, so I thought I’d have a place where I could point folks to give them the latest on how things are progressing. I’m pretty new to this book writing thing. Not that I haven’t wanted to write before, but wanting […]