Jesus was not ambiguous about the target audience of the gospel. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14, NIV). Jesus said his purpose in coming to our planet was “to seek and to save the … Continue reading The Importance of Missions in the Christian Life
What comes to mind when you hear the word Puritan? Do you think of old men in black robes, funny hats, and big collars? That picture is the most common caricature of the Puritans. There is also a misconception that a Puritan is someone who thinks that “somewhere in society, someone is having fun” and … Continue reading Learning to Follow Jesus from the Puritans
What you know and what you believe will affect what you do. That statement is true of the Christian life as well. In the last two posts in this series weI have discussed the need for being a three-fold disciple: head, heart, hands. First, we must know the truths of the gospel (head), which in … Continue reading The Three-Fold Disciple (Part Three)
I have heard it said that the distance between the head and the heart can be an eternity (though it is approximately 18 inches). Often times discipleship is measured by intellectual facts that have been learned. As we discussed in part one of this series, it is important that there be an intellectual aspect of … Continue reading The Three-Fold Disciple (Part Two)
What does is it mean to follow Jesus? The term that Jesus most often used to describe his earliest followers was the word disciple. The word disciple simply means learner. It was a term commonly know in that day to refer to the students of a particular rabbi. The disciple would follow the teachings of … Continue reading The Three-Fold Disciple (Part One)
Knowing God. This is the single most important need of the human heart. Yet all of mankind is fallen, and we cannot know God apart from his revelation. But God. These two words thunder through the pages of the Bible, and lavish grace on sinners. God in his rich mercy has made a way for … Continue reading The Life-Changing Grace of Knowing God
Augustine wrote his masterwork, Confessions, some one and a half thousand years ago (397 AD). His name in his native Latin was Aurelius Augustinus, but he is better known as Saint Augustine of Hippo. Hippo was an ancient Roman port city on the Mediterranean coast of Africa where Augustine served as bishop. Even then, he … Continue reading A Glimpse into Augustine’s Confessions
Evangelism. There is much need for it in the world today. For the gospel to go forward we must prioritize evangelism in our local churches and in our personal lives. This then raises the question: what is evangelism? Simply put, evangelism is sharing the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Apostle Paul calls … Continue reading A Call to Personal Evangelism
What does God want me to do with my life? This is likely the most common question asked by Christians the world over, and rightly so. Life is a gift from the Lord and we must steward it for His glory. Yet discovering direction in life can prove difficult, even for the most dedicated follower … Continue reading The Context and Nature of Calling
They just don’t make things the way they used to. When we hear someone use this phrase they are usually talking about cars, houses, washing machines, and other equipment that seemed to work better in days gone by. Yet there is definitely some truth in that statement. The same thing can be said about marriage. … Continue reading Four Marriage Lessons From A Godly Grandmother
In his first letter to the church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul exhorts “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV). This exhortation has seismic effect on each one of our lives, because it breaks down the barrier between sacred and secular. In Jesus we come to see that worship is not a ritual activity to be done at a holy place, but rather worship is something that can be done anywhere at anytime. Truly, all that we do for the glory of God is in fact worship. There is no aspect of our lives that this truth does not manifest itself. For it is in the “whatever you” aspect of Paul’s exhortation that we find the freedom to worship in spirit and truth (see John 4:23). There is no better example of this in the past century than the life of Eric Liddell, who’s life we examine in brief through our first installment of the study series A Cloud of Witnesses: Studying The Lives of Saints Through Biography. Continue reading Eric Liddell: Running For The Glory
Reading the Bible is a challenge for many people, especially when one embarks to read through it in one year. Many believers set the goal of reading through the Bible each year. Such a task, although not required for discipleship, is a noble task. What is most important for discipleship is to read, study, and … Continue reading A Guide For Daily Bible Reading
READING FOR THE GLORY 