Hey there, Christians. Quick question for you: are you spiritually mature? Take a few minutes and think about that. Pause reading the rest of this post, and really try to answer this question. I am concerned that though Peter is very clear in 1 Peter 2:1-3 that we need to crave pure spiritual milk fromContinue reading “The cause and cure for spiritually malnourished Christians”
Monthly Archives: June 2018
Two odd but important Christian phrases about becoming spiritually mature
If you’ve ever watched a newborn nursing or drinking from a bottle, it is wild how hungry they can be. As they grow a few months, and they start to be a bit more aware, they can get very excited when you start talking about their bottle. They shake, they wave their arms, and sometimesContinue reading “Two odd but important Christian phrases about becoming spiritually mature”
5 church family killers
Yesterday our community learned that police apprehended a man who is accused of, 25 years ago, killing a local school teacher. He has been living and working in our community all these years. Here’s the freaky thing, he has a long career as a popular DJ, and he recently deejayed our daughter’s 6th grade end-of-yearContinue reading “5 church family killers”
That time the Bible teaches us to take off our dirty clothes and drink raw milk?
How much milk do you drink? And what kind? Skim? Whole? 1 or 2 percent? Milk is good stuff. And what I have found over the years is that people have lots of opinions about milk. My family is a skim milk family. I have heard some people call skim milk, “chalk water.” Some ofContinue reading “That time the Bible teaches us to take off our dirty clothes and drink raw milk?”
Forgetting 9/11, Changing seats, and the breaking through the Invisible Wall (aka “3 ways we need to improve as a loving church family”)
Yesterday I mentioned 6 ways I think Faith Church does really well at being a loving church family. But how could we improve loving one another? We’re certainly not perfect. No church is. So today I am talking about ways that a church family can improve in their love for one another. I hope theseContinue reading “Forgetting 9/11, Changing seats, and the breaking through the Invisible Wall (aka “3 ways we need to improve as a loving church family”)”
6 ways a church family can love one another
How would you say your church does at loving one another deeply from the heart? Today and tomorrow I’m going to talk about Faith Church, where I serve, and how we are doing loving one another. We’re not a perfect church, and we will look at some ways we need to improve, but I amContinue reading “6 ways a church family can love one another”
If you want to be a loving church family, seize the 167!
Yesterday I said that Peter, in 1st Peter 1:21-25, says that a church family must love one another deeply from the heart. What is this love Peter is talking about? We all know what love is, right? It’s obvious. Love is love! Well even though there is one English word for love, Peter uses twoContinue reading “If you want to be a loving church family, seize the 167!”
The one thing needed for a church to become a family
One church I visited during sabbatical did something that weirded me out a bit. You know what they did? During the worship service they introduced themselves to new guests by saying, “We’re a family here, and we want you to be a part of our family.” You might be thinking, “Joel, why did that weirdContinue reading “The one thing needed for a church to become a family”
Here’s how Christians should be strangers and aliens
Hey Christians, you should be different! You should be strangers and aliens, and it should show. It should be obvious. A couple days ago I talked about my boys’ mugshots when we were immigrating to Jamaica. We lived in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, for a year from 2000-2001, and there were so many momentsContinue reading “Here’s how Christians should be strangers and aliens”
Why the bizarre Christian teaching to be strangers and fearful actually makes a lot of sense
“Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.” I love that phrase. It even rhymes. You know where it is from? It is from the biblical book of 1st Peter, chapter 1 verse 17. I’ve been posting all week about being strangers. You can read the previous posts (here, here and here) to seeContinue reading “Why the bizarre Christian teaching to be strangers and fearful actually makes a lot of sense”
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