On our way to Pentecost, I’m considering Baptist pastor and church consultant Thom Rainer’s insights regarding a decline in evangelism in the church over the past, well, decades. The Acts…
Over these weeks taking us to Pentecost, as I’m reading the Acts of the Apostles, I’m considering Thom Rainer’s insights regarding a noticeable decline in evangelism. Acts is like our…
Seven years ago, pastor and student of church effectiveness Thom Rainer identified several reasons why churches have become less evangelistic.[1] Rainer had his Baptist constituency mostly in mind, since Presbyterians,…
Morning has broken, like the first morning. Not one of those slow, sad women thought that. Easter doesn’t begin with joy; it was just a slow, sad walk to the…
There’s no question that God wants to be known, though He will not force anyone to acknowledge Him, until the day He does. Until then, He speaks His Word, opening…
Generosity and greed. We see both, here. We know which reflects Christ, which is worthy of the name of Christ. We love generosity and strive to be generous. It comes…
Forgiveness. Yes, please! Forgiveness sought only after God forces my hand. Ugh. Yes. But when we finally do confess, once the Spirit has so worked upon us, into us, that…
David in the desert of Judah: a dry, desolate place. Why was the favored one, the man after God’s own heart, in such a God-forsaken place? He was wanted, dead…
I shall not be moved. This psalm doesn’t use those words, yet that’s the sense of this song of praise. If God is for us—and He is—who can successfully be…
This purple season of Lent began in the early centuries of the church as a time of preparation and for refocusing upon our discipleship. That isn’t just for Lent. It…