Paul’s first letter to Timothy is a reminder—a plea—to the church to stay focused on advancing, making progress. The church makes progress as it holds fast to the Word of…
Anyone besides me hesitant to start a conversation about Jesus, hesitant to share your faith? We don’t want to offend anybody. Society and culture tell us religion is private, and…
Churches just aren’t as evangelistic as they used to be. For Presbyterians, that might not be saying much, but it still ought to cause each of us to pause a…
Between the glory of Easter and the glory of Pentecost, I’m speaking about evangelism; a decline in evangelism, actually. We Presbyterians probably haven’t noticed it, as we haven’t historically invested…
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…
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,…
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…
We’re all just doing the best we can, day by day, though that’s not all that Christians are doing. We’re doing that, too, but we’re also learning to do something…