Leading people to a more intimate friendship with God
This message has a big title to live up to, and I thought about changing it to something less bold, because I didn’t want people to come away from this saying that the best thing about the message was the title. When you prepare a message, it is good to have a clear objective in …
Introduction I believe that Jesus is calling out to people today, almost pleading with them to come into a very close relationship with Him. The way to Jesus is meant to be so simple that no one would be prevented from coming to Him, and no one would feel like it was too difficult to …
Summary: God cares a great deal about sexual purity, but in the last decade or two, the standards for sexual purity have eroded in the American church. This post reviews what the Bible says on the topic, then urges people to change. The call goes out to those who love God and are in sexually …
Continue reading “A Call for a Return to an Ethic of Sexual Purity in the Church”
“It was Moses’ custom to set up the tent known as the Tent of Meeting far outside the camp. Everyone who wanted to consult with the LORD would go there.” — Exodus 33:7 (NLT) True confession. I’ve been going through a season in which it has been hard to connect with God, and I can …
Continue reading “Do You Need Your Own Established Place to Meet with God?”
The Church – the collection of all faithful followers of Jesus – is pledged in marriage to the very Son of God, and one day, perhaps very soon, we will experience the fulfillment of that promise (see Revelation 21). But since it is a promise, is there anything for us to do while we are …
I have been speaking to young people — mostly high school and college age — about how to live free from sin. The best verse on which to base this idea is Galatians 5:16, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (NIV). I had been thinking about how …
Continue reading “Transitioning from Law to Spirit is Like that of Child to Husband or Wife”
“You are the only you there has ever been or ever will be. God made you you on purpose. Now. For a reason. The world does not need yet another woman who despises the lovely creation that she is. God does not long for another woman who rejects herself and, by extension, him. The world …
Continue reading “Be Who You Are, Like Who You Are — A Quote by Stasi Eldredge in “Becoming Myself””
“I learned a long time ago that thinking of myself as a ‘Christian missionary’ was the quickest way to lose the interest of new friends [in the Middle East], let alone an audience. I simply tell people that I’m a follower of Jesus, and usually, with a little explanation, things aren’t so guarded and tense. …
Sermon on the Mount (Part 1) 49 total verses: Matthew 5:1-42; Luke 6:20-26 Brief description of action taking place or point being made 61. Jesus ascends to address the multitude in Matthew 5:1 62a. Beatitudes in Matthew 5:2-12; Luke 6:20-26 62b. Salt and light in Matthew 5:13-16 62c. Christ came to fulfill the Law in …
“There are two principal points of attention necessary for the preservation of this constant spirit of prayer which unites us with God: we must continually seek to cherish it, and we must avoid everything that tends to make us lose it. In order to cherish it, we should pursue a regulated course of reading; we …