Despite having believed the gospel for decades, over time I had begun to love a works-based self-righteousness that I had accumulated over years of faithful labor as a Christian, a church member, and a pastor. There are many tear stains on my copy of “Dangerous Calling,”, and some of the first of those tears came at the end of the very first chapter, where I wrote in the margin, “I compete for righteousness through theological and Biblical literacy and accuracy.”
Read MoreThree of the biggest reasons people dechurched wasn’t because they lost their faith and belief in Jesus. The most common causes of people to dechurch included the church’s focus on politics (both left and right), parents being uncharitable and hateful towards those who disagreed with them, and the church not actively serving community needs.
Read MoreI am writing this as an appeal to my fellow Advent Christians who personally hold to the full deity and humanity of Christ in his one person but who do not want to challenge those in our ranks who have no conviction regarding this teaching or who actually oppose it. Before I make the particular appeal let me state some assumptions and offer two points for you to consider.
Like so many, I’ve thought much about the death of Tim Keller this week. When he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020, many of us who benefited from his ministry and his published works knew that he faced a serious life-threatening challenge. Yet, when we heard the news of his death last Friday, it was still a shock. For many, myself included, Keller was the most important Christian apologist of our day.
Read MoreHave you considered that Jesus goes to a cross so that you may go there too? I don’t mean that only metaphorically or spiritually or any sense other than physically. Jesus went to a cross so that you could be nailed up there beside him.
Read MoreMandated. Chapel. Service. 3x a week. for college students. Who would ever imagine that any revival would spark from such a setting?
Read MoreNews of what’s been happening has spread like wildfire. When it eventually reached me, my gut response was honestly skepticism and cynicism. I’m a church kid who has been around the denominational block. I’ve seen passionate worship paired with rotten character firsthand. My instinct is to say, “Let’s see what happens next.”
Read MoreI have a confession to make: I find it a challenge to pray. It is not something I can easily do. It is hard also to be consistent in praying daily and regularly throughout the day. Prayer cannot be formalized or systematized. For me prayer exposes my weakness and at times my raw unbelief but maybe that is not so bad. If we come to prayer with a sense of our sufficiency to pray then are we indeed praying? When we pray it seems that at the core of what should be occurring in our minds and hearts is just how needy and messy we are.
Read MoreI am sure that you, like me, have been somewhat preoccupied with world events of late. I am not certain if the number of disturbing events is due to the fact that there are more now than (let’s say) two and a half years ago or that we simply have greater access to immediate information and reporting. Of course we have all been impacted by the covid pandemic. Now there is the unjust war on Ukraine by Vladimir Putin and his henchmen that threatens to spill over into Europe. Xi Jinping and China’s Communist Party have been intensifying their threats toward Taiwan. Kim Jong-un keeps cranking out new ballistic nuclear missiles. Then there is the cultural and social unrest here in our own country. Inflation is on the rise and so is horrific gun violence. It seems that the very fabric of our nation is unraveling at breakneck speed. All the political and cultural tension and stress has also made its way into the church. Rather than stand as salt and light, the (evangelical) church (my tribe) seems to have imbibed the heady cocktail of blatant worldliness!
I have come to three settled convictions regarding what I am to do in light of all these overwhelming and seemingly threatening circumstances.
Read MoreThe subject of special music in church services is one that I’ve given quite a bit of thought…
Read MoreIn most situations, is God’s will for your life really some great mystery? Yes, there are exceptional circumstances in which you are faced with competing values and the resulting confusion, but is it generally so complicated?
Read MorePerhaps, this is just who I am, mood, depressive, short-tempered, and exhausted. Is this what the rest of my life is? Fighting back irritability and tears of frustration when all I want to do is to be left alone is a recurring sense that can last hours, days, or weeks. These feelings come and go as months pass with no episodes, but then the dread and existential crisis return as it seeks to overcome me once more.
Read MoreAs you read the New Testament there are times when it seems that the Law is viewed negatively and there are times when it seems to be viewed positively. We can use Paul’s letter to the Romans to make this point. He sees the law as something under which the unbeliever is in bondage. Those who come to faith in Christ are not under law but under grace (Romans 4:14, 7:6). So in some sense the law is something from which we need to be delivered or set free.
Read MoreI fear failure. Do you? It’s not so bad that I don’t bother trying anything at all - that’s just choosing failure. Nonetheless, I still fear it.
Read MoreI have been following the posts and video debate of my fellow Advent Christians Catherine Rybicki, Luke Copeland and Robert Mayer concerning egalitarianism and complementarianism. By now I am sure all those who are regulars at Advent Christian Voices have no need for these terms to be defined or explained. Of these two positions I do believe that the complementarian one is the harder of the two to hold.
Read MoreThe Gospel is really very counter intuitive. We are wired as Pharisees. We have a hard time understanding the nature of grace. Even though we confess that we believe God saves us by grace, we tend to operate in the arena of works. We are basically performance driven. We live on a treadmill of performance in how we conceive of God dealing with us. We are treated by others this way and we treat others this way. But God does not treat his born again and justified children in this way. It is God’s grace relied upon and even to some degree felt that motivates his children to live in in loving obedience to him rather than in a quid pro quo performance oriented existence.
Read MoreWe don’t hear much about heroes today. Perhaps folks are too jaded and cynical to think that there are public figures worthy of our admiration for their character, their accomplishments, and for their contributions to humanity. Heroes are those who step up to challenges. They don’t back down in the face of struggle or difficulty. They inspire others. They do the right thing even when it costs something. They are folks who are not so much “me” centered as they are “we” centered. They are people who give us something to aspire to; folks whom you want your kids to admire and emulate.
Read MoreLaying in bed late one night, I began thinking of my life story. As I considered the plot of my narrative, I found there could be two tellings. And which way it went struck me as immensely important, not because I am immensely important, but because the story I tell myself about myself guides me into the future. This is true not only of me but also of you.
Read MoreGod looks at you and says: "You are my dearly loved child and I am well pleased with you." Or God says, "I am your Father and you are acceptable to me." We can be that bold in proclaiming God's favor to us as those who have been justified by faith in Christ.
Read MoreThe puritan theologian John Owen in his treatise on the Trinity entitled “Communion with the Triune God,” shows how believers may have intimate communion with the persons of the Godhead. This is seen in Paul’s benediction from 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
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