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”
Tag Archives: Jesus
The extremely important teaching of Jesus that Google (and maybe your church) is missing
Today while writing this post, I googled “the one thing Jesus taught us to do.” I was looking for an image to illustrate the reflection that I usually write about the previous Sunday’s sermon. The results of my image search were very interesting. Can you predict which result was the most frequent? Prayer. I guessContinue reading “The extremely important teaching of Jesus that Google (and maybe your church) is missing”
Two things Jesus did not tell us to do (but we do), and one he did tell us to do (but we don’t)
I’m super excited that the Olympics start today. Soccer is my favorite sport, so while I’m disappointed the US men’s team didn’t qualify, the women’s team looks to make a gold medal run, and I’ll be cheering them on! In honor of that quest, I thought I’d show you this picture of a Jesus figurineContinue reading “Two things Jesus did not tell us to do (but we do), and one he did tell us to do (but we don’t)”
How to rehab a relationship
Do you have relationships that need rehab? There is help! Fellowship! In the very first account of how the earliest Christians interacted with one another, Acts 2:42-47, we read that they devoted themselves to the fellowship? What is fellowship? That word “fellowship” in verse 42 is defined by Louw & Nida as “an association involvingContinue reading “How to rehab a relationship”
How the church has gotten in the way of God’s Kingdom…and what to do about it.
The subtitle of author Reggie McNeal’s book Kingdom Come, is compelling: “why we must give up our obsession with fixing the church—and what we should do instead”. That grabbed me! In the book, he tells the story of when he was at a conference for pastors and said this: “We’ve been working at fixing theContinue reading “How the church has gotten in the way of God’s Kingdom…and what to do about it.”
Telling your story is more important than you think
Hey Christian, you are witnesses of these things! Last week on the sermon intro blog post, I suggested that one bit of Christian lingo, the word “witness,” might not mean what you think it means. So what does “witness” mean? Jesus says in Luke 24:36-53, that his disciples are all witnesses. They watched his lifeContinue reading “Telling your story is more important than you think”
He is risen? Really? So what?
“He is risen! He is risen indeed!” This is the call and response that we use on Easter Sunday. But this Sunday is not Easter Sunday. That was two months ago. This Sunday we’re revisiting Easter again. Why? In the book of Acts we learn that the earliest Christians decided to meet on Sundays becauseContinue reading “He is risen? Really? So what?”
Should we wear crosses or crucifixes?
The cross. Almost every Sunday we sing about the cross. We have crosses in our church building, and we have a cross outside our building. How many of you are wearing a cross around your neck? The cross is very common. My task this coming Sunday is to talk about the cross. Once each monthContinue reading “Should we wear crosses or crucifixes?”
How to love and be loved when you are facing hardship
Are you going through a hard time? How are you handling it? Some of you have seen The Passion of the Christ which vividly portrays the Roman flogging of Jesus just before they crucified him. I remember watching that when it first came out in the theater, my stomach churning, tears flowing. It isContinue reading “How to love and be loved when you are facing hardship”
Have you ever been falsely accused?
Have you ever been wrongfully mistreated or accused? Have you ever been blamed for something that you didn’t do? It is a horrible feeling. You know that deep down inside you have done nothing wrong. So what do you do? Remember a few years ago when some members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse teamContinue reading “Have you ever been falsely accused?”
Engaging Scripture 