When talking about Jesus, it might be best not to refer to the Bible? – Acts 17, Part 4

What do you think about the title of this blog post? If you are a Christian, are you wondering if it bad advice? When we talk about Jesus, why would we not refer to the Bible? When I was a teenager going on mission trips with my church youth group, and then when I wasContinue reading “When talking about Jesus, it might be best not to refer to the Bible? – Acts 17, Part 4”

3 steps to follow when talking about God (to avoid offending people) – Acts 17, Part 3

It can be difficult and scary to talk about God. And maybe for some of us, it always will be, as talking about God can feel very personal, or very easily offensive. But in this post, as we continue to follow Paul’s journey as told in Acts 17, Paul will demonstrate how to talk aboutContinue reading “3 steps to follow when talking about God (to avoid offending people) – Acts 17, Part 3”

How to be Christian during a crisis (such as global pandemic) – Acts 6:8-8:3, Part 5

How should Christians live in a liminal moment such as our current global health crisis? All week long we have been studying the life and ministry of Stephen, one of the earliest followers of Jesus, attempting to answer that question. If you want to learn more about Stephen, start by reading the first post here.Continue reading “How to be Christian during a crisis (such as global pandemic) – Acts 6:8-8:3, Part 5”

What to do when talking about faith is scary or difficult

Have you ever been made fun of for your faith?  It can feel awful, making you want to crawl into the closest hole and hide.  That feeling of shame is often so powerful that it gets stuck inside us, and we fear talking about our faith ever again.  What should we do about this? InsteadContinue reading “What to do when talking about faith is scary or difficult”

How to talk about God (and how not to)

A friend of mine was at Park City, the big mall here in Lancaster, at a department store jewelry counter.  Just down the counter stood a couple girls looking at crosses.  One of them wanted to get a cross necklace.  My friend overheard one girl say to the other, “Oh look, this one has aContinue reading “How to talk about God (and how not to)”

When Christians should stop inviting people to church

I appreciate a good provocative title.  My wife says if I use them too much, people will become callous to them.  She’s right.  But I really am serious about the title of this blog post.  At first I titled it “WHY Christians should stop inviting people to church.”  But that was a smidge misleading, andContinue reading “When Christians should stop inviting people to church”

What in the world is Christian “outreach”?

It has been a few years, but for a long time every fall Faith Church held a Harvest Bazaar.  Before that it was called a Christmas Bazaar.  Many people in our congregation would cook up a storm in their kitchens, creating delicacies for the bake shop.  Others would staff the snack shop, making amazing chickenContinue reading “What in the world is Christian “outreach”?”

A post for Christians: how to stop treating people as projects – Part 1 – The Problem

If you’ve read this blog for even a fairly short amount of time, you’ve heard me talk about about making disciples. It is the mission of God’s Kingdom, and yet I have heard many at Faith Church talk about how you can feel very frustrated about making disciples. You agree that it is important, youContinue reading “A post for Christians: how to stop treating people as projects – Part 1 – The Problem”

That time I accidentally said “fart” in my State of Faith Church sermon…and some other things as well

As I mentioned last week, this past Sunday I gave my State of the Church address.  As you’ll read below I talked about discipleship and simplicity, but also farts.  Yeah, you read that title right.  Farts.  But I didn’t talk about it on purpose.  Fast forward to minute 19:00, and listen in from there.  RightContinue reading “That time I accidentally said “fart” in my State of Faith Church sermon…and some other things as well”