Recently, we launched our new church app, Church Center! We are excited to use it as a tool to better helps us serve one another, stay informed about ministries of our church, as well as give to our church ministries.
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Believe in the long-term value of spiritual maturity and power. Believe that there is nothing you need more than to know God deeply and to appreciate every facet of the salvation he has provided in Christ. Believe in the value of all Scripture. Believe in God’s process even when it feels dry and irrelevant or when it is complex and inconvenient. Believe that God knows exactly what you need and that he is doing more than you can see.
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Most Christians know the feeling. You sit down to read the Bible and pray, wanting to enjoy a passionate experience of God, but,…crickets. You struggle to focus on the text, and what you grasp seems irrelevant to your pressing concerns. Your prayer time is dry, and your burdens don’t feel any lighter afterwards. You wonder, “What was the point? Did I just waste 30 minutes of my life?” You’ve probably walked away from a church service with the same feeling. Neither the songs nor the sermon seemed relevant to the issues weighing on your mind. You didn’t love the songs, and the sermon was dry. Again, you wonder, “Did I just waste 75 minutes of my life? How did any of that help me address my problems?” How should we respond these discouragements?
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Appropriate spiritual care varies from situation to situation. Some people need direct, strong confrontation while others need gentle compassion. We must evaluate people, and we must tailor ministry to the need of the moment. Otherwise, we may do more harm than good. All of us can improve our ministry by building good instincts for spiritual care. By this I mean we can become increasingly adept at reading people and situations and at responding appropriately to them.
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When we endure trials and temptations, we often despair because we believe things like, “I’m the only one who has ever faced this,” “This is the worst thing ever,” or “My trial will never end.” Satan wants to isolate us in our hardship and overwhelm our perspective. If he succeeds, we spiral into despair, apathy, and bitterness. However, the Bible teaches that evil always resists God’s work. Therefore, our pain is not unique, and we are not alone, especially when we walk alongside fellow Christians.
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Life Point is transitioning to using the NASB as our pulpit translation. Find out why we are making the transition and how it will affect our life as a church.
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The birthrate in the United States is declining sharply, and a major force behind the decline is the shifting values of our culture. What does the Bible say about these shifting values, and how should Christians think about family as they plan their lives?
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I am increasingly concerned that Christians are following the culture’s lead as it spirals toward emotionalism and nonsense. However, Christianity is a religion of truth; therefore, no one should be more committed to truth, logic, and rational thinking than Christians.
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One of the greatest ministry challenges we all face is how to effectively reach people who come from a very different world than our own. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 provides important counsel for overcoming these walls and also a timely challenge for how we view people in divisive times such as we are facing today.
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I will never forget Wednesday, March 11, 2020. That Wednesday, our country began aggressively shutting down. The next 11 weeks were probably the most draining season of ministry I have ever experienced. By Wednesday, May 27, when we published our plans for restarting services, I felt as worn down as I have in a long time. The world is far from being “back to normal,” but now that I’ve had some time to reflect, I’d like to give thanks to the Lord for some important lessons/reminders that he taught me during quarantine.
Keep ReadingJun 10
2020
The world right now wants to make you decide between justice and authority, but that is a false dichotomy. God says that both are important, and both are fulfilled in the person of Christ.
May 24
2020
Last week I wrote a blog post entitled, “Human Authorities and the Present Moment.” My thesis was, “Obedience to God-ordained authorities ranks very high in the priorities of a biblical ethic; therefore, the threshold for disobeying authorities must also be high.” In this post I want to explore what type of things meet this threshold.
May 16
2020
In part 1 of this post, we introduced the interpretive problem of Psalm 91 and examined some less than satisfactory answers to that riddle. In part 2, we will discuss how Jesus’ own life, death, and resurrection helps us to interpret Psalm 91.
May 16
2020
Psalm 91 is arguably one of the most beautiful chapters in all of the Bible. However, there is a strain of teaching in Psalm 91 that doesn’t seem to mesh with reality. The psalm says that “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High” (v. 1) will escape with his life from battle, though ten thousand fall beside him (v. 7). Not only will he not die from the plague, but the plague will not come near his house (v. 10)! He will be delivered from trouble (v. 15). He will live a long life (v. 16). No evil will befall him (v. 10)–he won’t even dash his foot against a stone because God’s angels are protecting him (v. 11-12)! How, I ask, can that be true?
May 15
2020
Many Christians are growing tired of government restrictions and churches are antsy to begin meeting. Some have begun to wonder if they should ignore restrictions, they deem foolish or unconstitutional. Whenever we are faced with complicated and emotionally charged questions, our selfish bias can easily distort our view of reality or even our interpretation and application of Scripture. Therefore, it is essential that we go back to Scripture and read it honestly for what it has to say. In this post, I'd like to consider what 1 Peter 2:13-3:22 have to say about our present situation.
Apr 22
2020
We will all be receiving stimulus checks shortly. How will you steward yours?
One of the tremendous benefits of a crisis is that it forces people to think. Perhaps now, more than ever before in our lifetimes, people are asking questions. "Why does sickness exists in the world?" “What should I be living for?” “What happens when I die?" Bible-believing Christians must step to the plate and answer these questions.
However, there is a danger here. In seeking to shine light on current events, Christians can easily go too far and say more than Scripture allows! When that happens, we damage not only our own reputation, but also that of the church and of God! More than that, we displease our Lord. Whether He is dealing with unhealthy speculation (Job 42:7-9), those who would add to the Bible (Deut 4:2; 12:32; Rev 22:18), or all-out false prophecy (Jer 23:9-40; 2 Peter 2:12-17; Jude 1:12-19), God doesn’t have nice things to say about those who put words in His mouth.
So what can and can’t we say about COVID-19?
Throughout church history, Christians have recognized three forms of worship: personal, family, and corporate. When extremely unusual circumstances cause us to suspend church worship temporarily, the other two forms become all the more vital. So what are you doing for family worship?
Nov 25
2019
In my last post, I outlined three broad principles for overcoming anger. Unfortunately, knowing these principles is often the easy part of helping an angry person. The hard part is overcoming the obstacles to sound counsel that anger creates. Therefore, this post offers four practical ideas for helping others overcome anger.
Nov 25
2019
In my last post I argued that anger is a severe problem we can’t ignore. Even if you despise your anger, you may not believe you will ever make progress against it. However, the Scriptures tell a different story. This post offers practical counsel for overcoming anger.