Our culture is infatuated with Jesus’s admonition, “Judge not, that you be not judged (Matthew 7:1-2).” But, as I explained in Sunday’s sermon, the reason this is a favorite saying may not be good news. There are, arguably, two reasons, our…
From Elaine: How Do We Know the Bible is God’s Word?
Previously, I answered questions several question from Elaine about heaven. Yesterday, Elaine let me know that she is wondering how we know the Bible and God is real and not just realistic fiction. Dear Elaine, The question you discussed with…
R.C. Sproul Punches Holes in One of Freud’s Theories
And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Mark 4:41 C.S. Lewis said that one of the reasons he believes Christianity is that…
Children Respond: When Is It Easy to Lie?
Some time ago, I asked children to identify times when they are tempted to lie and why. The question surfaced several confessions and testimonies.
6 Facts About the Giving of American Christians
Yesterday, I posted Christian Smith and Michael O. Emerson’s conclusions about why Americans don’t give. Now, here are six facts they discovered in their research about American giving. At least one out of five American Christians – 20% of all…
Why I Am Thankful for Nurses
Stories like the one below illustrate the love people demonstrate even to strangers. So many nurses excel in showing love to those they barely know. As a pastor, I spend more time in hospitals than most people with the obvious…
Augustine and Luther: A Common Excuse for Not Giving
Augustine: It is a great duty of natural affection (it will be said) for a father to lay up for his sons; rather it is a great vanity, one who must soon die is laying up for those who must…
Christian Smith on Why Americans Give So Little Financially
Christian Smith, who coined the term “moralistic therapeutic deism,” is one of the foremost sociologists in the world. In a book he wrote with Michael Emerson and Patricia Snell, Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don’t Give Away More Money,…
“Don’t Store Up Treasures on Earth”: What Jesus Doesn’t and Does Mean
The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7 : Christian Counter-Culture)
Jesus’ Ethic Not So Much Ascetic as Athletic
The oft quotable F.D. Bruner interacting with Matthew 6:19-21 in Matthew: A Commentary. Volume 1: The Christbook, Matthew 1-12 writes (page 321): Jesus does not quash ambition; he elevates it. The Christian is to be ambitious, passionate, acquisitive, enterprising —…