Bible, theology, culture, etc.
Here is the idea: if you have the ability, you should build/buy/rent a home with a spare bedroom(s) with the explicit purpose of using it for the Kingdom. There are many ways we can use our house for the Kingdom. You can have people over for meals, host a small group, use it to bless your own … Continue reading Use Your Big House to the Glory of God
I recently preached on the Christian teaching of sex. One aspect that I didn’t have time to address was the end of sex. In the gospels, when asked about marriage in heaven, Jesus responds rather curtly that “they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven,” (Mark 12:25; Matt 22:30; Luke 20:34-36). … Continue reading Sex and Chocolate
There are certain theological questions that the Bible doesn’t address directly. The Westminster Confession of Faith states: “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.” (WCF 1.6). My … Continue reading What Happens to Infants Who Die?
So, anyone who thinks he has understood the divine scriptures or any part of them, but cannot by thus understanding build up this love of God and neighbor, has not yet succeeded in understanding them. - Augustine, On Christian Teaching Over the years I’ve derived these questions for my Bible reading and preaching as a vaccine against … Continue reading Asking Questions About God’s Loveliness for Bible Reading
In my last post, I pointed to using the created world around you as a means of worship. Most of what I have been talking about prior to that, though, has been related to the media you consume, screen time, and stuff like that. While I think a large part of the battle in a healthier … Continue reading You Become What You Consume
At the risk of sounding sensational, I want to tell you about how to transform your Christian life. I recently have been writing about the crisis of spiritual formation in the church today. Last week I gave three simple steps anyone can take to help increase their spiritual calorie intake. Picture three conveyor belts flowing into your soul: (1) … Continue reading Omnivorous Worship
Last week I wrote about a calculable crisis of spiritual formation. The average Christian in America spends less than an hour a week reading their Bible, praying, or attending church, while spending more than 80 hours a week consuming other content in the form of music, TV, social media, podcasts, books, etc. Which means that Netflix, Spotify, … Continue reading 3 Steps to Transform Your Faith
Let’s create an imaginary churchgoer named Sophia. Sophia loves her pastor’s sermons and her entire church’s corporate worship service. She faithfully attends every Sunday, goes to the Sunday school class offered before service, and even attends a midweek Bible study. How much time a week is Sophia spending with her church community? Let’s estimate that … Continue reading A Calculable Crisis
Before Tim Keller wrote The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness, and before Dane Ortlund wrote Gentle and Lowly, there was A.W. Tozer writing The Pursuit of God. On a single train ride from Chicago to Texas, the Christian Missionary Alliance pastor wrote through the night, producing one of the Church’s most beloved meditations on communing with God. The book first released in 1948 … Continue reading Tozer on the Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness
In 1931, Helen Taft, the widow of the late president, William Howard Taft, unveiled a 13 ft. tall statue on the edge of the Potomac River in Washington DC. It was a monument to honor those who had died in the tragic sinking of the Titanic. More specifically, the monument was intended to honor the men who … Continue reading Chivalry ≠ Chauvinism
Marc Sims 