Reading the Bible Better – “Work Out Your Salvation With Fear and Trembling”
It is right there in black and white – “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” It says what it says and it means what it means – I am to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. Except we have cultural and linguistic filters that keep us from hearing what he just […]
Culture & the Bible Part 4 – Why Mary and Martha Matter
I don’t want to wear this out but here is the thing about the Bible and culture – working through this takes time. I appreciate those of you taking the time to work through these posts. You can read Luke 10:38-42 two different ways and both get you to the same main point but one […]
Culture and the Bible Part 3 – “That was just cultural!” Does It Apply Today if it is “Cultural”?
Here is where the rubber meets the road on culture and the Bible…time to address something that has really had people tied up and also had people ignore various texts that shouldn’t have been ignored. My thesis has been – The Bible was written in a culture different than our own. And when you get […]
Culture & The Bible Part 2 – Mary, Martha, Honor and Shame
In my previous post on Culture and the Bible, I brought up the story of Mary and Martha. A few people brought up that I was misappropriating the text, reading meaning into it (which is the very thing I am saying not to do). And I want to use that as a launching point to […]
Culture & The Bible Part 1 – Becoming Aware Of How Our Culture Impacts How We Understand the Bible
This is the first post in a three part series on culture and the Bible. I am going to give you a passage from Luke 10 and I want you to answer this question – What is the problem? “38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where […]
Doctrine Without Discipleship
Doctrine Without Discipleship… We discipled people in doctrine rather than discipled people in Jesus and that has caused some major problems. Discipleship is teaching someone a way of living and specific truths to believe. We did the second without the first and the second was cherrypicked so that many important things were left out. For […]
Are we missing the point?
Are we missing the point of it all? I would much rather get 10 people to start making disciples and changing those lives than 200 people commenting about instrumental music. And here’s the amazing thing, you get to make the choice over where you give your attention, time and effort. Sometimes it takes some adjustments […]
Why We Were Wrong to Divide over Instrumental Music (buckle up)
First, I grew up in a cappella church of Christ congregations. I fought tooth and nail with others over this issue when I was younger and into my early 20s. I worshiped and ministered in a capella congregations until my early 40s. Since starting a home church six years ago we have had a mix […]
Demonic Attacks Are Real – A Few Stories & What Scripture Teaches Us to Do
Demons. I grew up very unaware on this topic. I lumped it in with the miracles that I no longer thought happened like they used to. But boy was I wrong! And if you don’t understand what I am about to share (not that I am an expert) a few things will likely happen: Five […]
10 Warning Signs of a Toxic “Christian” Leader
There are a number of toxic Christian leaders who are poisonous personalities. They will drain you for every ounce of your life and feel no remorse over it. They create entire systems to prop up their power, make you feel crazy and ensure they are untouchable. What should you look for? Next, I will give […]