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FEATURE: Discipleship & Sanctification
Are we doing a good enough job of training for the costs of pastoral ministry?
This is a throwback review of a book I read when I was studying Christian counseling in college.
Do you know what “corporate preventative repentance” is? Would you agree that there are times when local churches need to practice corporate repentance? Do you know how to determine this?
A big reason why believers don’t evangelize (witness) is because they simply don’t know how to. If you couple fear, or distractions, or complacency, or not thinking you’re qualified with ignorance, you get a lethal mixture for inhibiting one’s evangelism. This blog-article will explore some simple ways of how to evangelize, equipping you with some of what you may need to be more confident when you do go.
I’m not sure how many people view the intersection between prayer & evangelism. But it is more effective if the relationship between the two are better understood. In this message I explore 3 ways of how prayer affects evangelism and show 2 biblical stories as examples.
After covering the different categories of "testimonies" we see in the New Testament, the majority of this message is me sharing my personal testimony, highlighting the grace & providence of God in my broken, crazy past that led to my salvation.
After yet another exchange about some harm & offense brought on by my fellow reformed brethren, I wanted to share my heart with them. This is not a bash post. This is a heart plea from one reformed brethren to another.
What started in Amos the Spirit led me to the Gospel of John to teach a much greater lesson. Something that is often overlooked in the reasons for why Jesus came but is oh so pivotal for the shaping of our life in Christ. Hear what Jesus said and its implications.
For about a little more than a week now I’ve been reading through Amos for my morning devo with Jesus. Today I was reading through chapter 5 and I got hit with how some of the points in vv10-24 are similar of the Church’s past and applicable for the Church today.
As I was reflecting on the power of God’s Word, a flood of thoughts hit me. I think our actions in our preaching, teaching, and discipling reveal we don’t actually believe God’s Word is as powerful as it is and we need to help in making it impactful. We could not be any more wrong.
Many Christians give many reasons why they aren't engaged in carrying out the Great Commission. In this final blog of this 4-part series, I address the most common reasons why most Christians don't make disciples and why some of those reasons are lame, irresponsible, disobedient, and dangerous.
From all of what is said about discipleship, what is the most important? What would you say is the heart of discipleship? There is one right answer, and it sets the tone for all of discipleship.
The Bible teaches many things about discipleship. But if we had to sum it up, what would that look like? In this second blog, I'm going briefly and broadly show the four sides that frame what the Bible teaches about discipleship.
Many well-meaning believers have either complicated or over-simplified discipleship, leaving fellow Christians confused as to what discipleship actually means and what is actually considered discipleship. Hence, this first blog is on clarifying discipleship.
The reality of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is undeniable in the life of the believer. So much so that in 2Cor. 5:14-21 Apostle Paul communicates 5 immediate consequences from the reality of the Gospel.
Many people that sit and attend many churches do not know the gospel. Many people around the globe that hear the term “gospel” or “Jesus” do not know what it truly is and what it truly means.
We had our first men’s night at church (9/27/15) on the heels of the Ashley Madison scandal. We entered that night by way of heavy hearts and pastoral concern for our men. I’m posting my message from that night to warn and encourage men as we are heading into 2016.
There are several trends in Christendom that have been good, some not so good, and some that have been destructive. I'm not going to speak on the trends in the past. I'm not really writing to speak on all the current trends right now. Today, I want to address the trend of what I call "Ministry Qualification Validation". It's a trend that has sadly been around for centuries.
What do we do with what appears to be contradictions with the doctrines of eternal security and assurance? The issue of these doctrines (as well as most of the other seemingly contradictory doctrines) rest upon the basis of does Scripture contradict itself.
Does our gene pool determine who we will become in life or is there a bigger picture? I believe there is a bigger picture, and if we have a proper perspective the truth we can learn...
A friend of mine questioned how to deal with the problem of not being as zealous for God as once before. May you take heed to what I told her, and may it minister to you in someway.
One day on Facebook I happened to read Mark Driscoll’s status update. He said something about Christians drinking alcoholic beverages. The comments on his update erupted with a flood of people speaking for it and against it. This led me to start thinking, “Is it really that serious?
“People are the world's biggest problem”, one writer put it. And she is absolutely right. One of the main dilemmas with people is we're born pathological liars and pure idiots. To be blunt, we as people are stupid. Even the smartest, most creative, well spoken humans are stupid. Not stupid intellectually speaking, but stupid in regards to common sense and consequence.
Hello all. This blog I'm posting is actually the message I was privileged to share at my church's Life Recovery (12 Step Discipleship) Ministry.
This is the handout for the message, "The Big 'S' Problem for Change", I shared.
NEWEST POSTS
In 2022, I was asked to address my unique calling of bridge building in the Church. You can think of this as some relational practices within a faith family filled with fallen people.
In October 2023, I guest-preached at Paramount Baptist Church (Hagerstown, MD) on Colossians 2. The aim was to show how Paul demonstrated ways we can strengthen our foundation of faith & obedience in Christ in the face of how our enemy tries to lure us away today.
Sometime last year, I received one of those emails that makes you smile as a pastor. This was one of them. A person was unsure about being saved, finding decent people to befriend, reading the Bible, etc. I hope my answers can help or encourage you as it did them.
During the summer of 2022, our church hit a serious crisis. I took some time to pray and was led to the book of Joshua for a short series on “Facing Change”. If you are facing a crisis, or in a season transition, or facing some kind of significant changes in your life, then I hope this series will encourage and equip you for whatever it is you’re facing.
During the summer of 2022, our church hit a serious crisis. I took some time to pray and was led to the book of Joshua for a short series on “Facing Change”. If you are facing a crisis, or in a season transition, or facing some kind of significant changes in your life, then I hope this series will encourage and equip you for whatever it is you’re facing.