In my county, there’s a company with a sign advertising “Ultimate Accountability.” How does “ultimate accountability” sound to you? Harsh? Restrictive? Legalistic? Freeing? Gracious? Good? Accountability is a fraught concept. That company is an accounting firm, working with businesses to make sure their bookkeeping and taxes are legal and ethical. Very important. But accountability can be nerve-wracking,Continue reading “Do Christians need accountability? – Holding one another accountable, Preview”
Tag Archives: relationships
How a hidden camera can help American Christians improve…Meeting together, Part 3
Imagine you are in a building like a hospital or office high-rise. You’ve just finished an important meeting on one of the upper floors, so you head for the bank of elevators. After pressing the down button, you wait until your elevator is ready, and the doors open. What you see inside surprises you. The elevator is nearly full,Continue reading “How a hidden camera can help American Christians improve…Meeting together, Part 3”
When I played a Beatles’ song for youth group, and it failed – Meeting together, Part 2
In the spring of 2003 I had been in my role as Faith Church’s Youth/Associate Pastor for less than 12 months when a nearby sister church approached us with an idea: could we combine youth groups? They were renting space at a local school, and not only did they not have easy access to additionalContinue reading “When I played a Beatles’ song for youth group, and it failed – Meeting together, Part 2”
How solo can a person’s relationship with God be and still be faithful? – Meeting together, Preview
It’s been in the news, so I suspect many of you have heard the dire reports. Christian worship service attendance across our nation is down. Way down. One report notes that in the past 30 years, 40 million people have stopped participating in the life and worship of their houses of worship. That decline isContinue reading “How solo can a person’s relationship with God be and still be faithful? – Meeting together, Preview”
Giving people another chance with gracious, truthful love – Encourage one another, Part 5
How will Paul react? Remember the situation? In the previous post, we learned that in Acts chapters 13-14, Barnabas the Encourager and Paul embark on the first missionary trip of the early church, and they take John Mark with them. But mid-trip, John leaves them to return to Jerusalem, where his mother lives. Time passes, and PaulContinue reading “Giving people another chance with gracious, truthful love – Encourage one another, Part 5”
It’s good to ask for help – Encourage one another, Part 4
It may be part pride, part arrogance, part determination, but I do not like to ask for help. I can tell myself that I can figure out whatever problem I’m encountering. Actually, I can tell myself that I should figure it out. I don’t want to come across as needy or weak or incapable. So I bristle at theContinue reading “It’s good to ask for help – Encourage one another, Part 4”
How to have hope over fear – Encourage one another, Part 3
Saul has just made a decision to turn his life around 180 degrees. He met Jesus, and everything would now change. He used to persecute Christians, and now he was preaching about Jesus. But that all happened far away from the church’s home base in Jerusalem. No surprise, then, what we read in Acts 9, verse 26, “When [Saul]Continue reading “How to have hope over fear – Encourage one another, Part 3”
One man’s example of sacrificial generosity – Encourage one another, Part 2
One of the most famous encouragers in the Bible is Barnabas. But Barnabas is not his real name. Turn to Acts 4:36-37. In Acts 4:36, we learn that Barnabas’ actual name is Joseph, but he is called by the nickname “Barnabas” because he is known for being an encourager. “Barnabas” means “son of encouragement.” ThoughContinue reading “One man’s example of sacrificial generosity – Encourage one another, Part 2”
A disturbing soccer game and some words teaching us to…Encourage one another, Part 1
When my second son was a junior in high school, his soccer team experienced something that pretty much everyone at the game found disturbing. His team was very good that year, gaining the best record in their section, section one. As the section one winner, they were the top seed in the league playoffs, meaningContinue reading “A disturbing soccer game and some words teaching us to…Encourage one another, Part 1”
Introducing a new blog series: Relationships in the church
This past fall, in front of the whole class, I had to disagree with one of my students. I was teaching Early Church, covering the New Testament books of Acts through Revelation. In that class session, a student remarked at how unified the early church was. It was early in the semester, so this studentContinue reading “Introducing a new blog series: Relationships in the church”
Engaging Scripture 