Perhaps the greatest danger for many Christians, churches and ministries is something other than gross immorality or theological liberalism or direct rebellion against the plans of God. Dangerous as these things are, the greatest danger for many followers of Christ is something more insidious. This danger is subtle. It is not so easily recognized. But it just as deadly. This terrible danger is apathy.
Apathy (and her cohort, procrastination) is the Continue reading
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Tagged bible study, Christian, Christianity, Evangelism, faith, godliness, Jesus, passionate faith, Prayer, spiritual disciplines
Good word from my sweet wife.
It was a grand adventure. For a young mom with two preschoolers and an infant, taking Daddy to the airport was a HUGE deal. It didn’t happen very often, and the excitement of the trip to the airport helped to ease the anxiety of Daddy leaving for a few days. Seeing that big plane take off, then waving to the oblivious passengers, the joy of the moment turned into reality.
He was gone. I was alone. And I couldn’t find the car.
In the excitement of the moment, I had forgotten to memorize where we had parked the car. I don’t always pay attention well when he’s the one driving. I should have been more observant. I should have written down the exact location on my crude palm pilot (aka, my hand) like I often did to remind myself of things I absolutely needed to remember.
But I didn’t.
This…
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One of the the things I want to do in my time of service with the Southern Baptist Convention is to encourage greater support for the cooperative program (CP). Oddly enough, more attention than ever has been paid to the CP through some recent dust ups with churches and the ERLC- one of our SBC agencies. Perhaps the CP is being rediscovered.
Every church in the SBC can decide how much- if any- they give to missions through the cooperative program. Every state convention can decide how much they forward on to national agencies. Every convention can debate the percentages that each agency should receive. But, I contend, the CP remains a marvel of opportunity. Here are some of the blessings of this method of mission giving.
First, the CP has been remarkably Continue reading
I like ice cream. Who doesn’t? Ice cream comes in all kinds of different flavors from vanilla to chocolate to pistachio. The basics of ice cream- dairy and sugar- remain the same whatever the flavor, but there are lots of different types.
Evangelistic methods come in different flavors. The basics of evangelism are always the same. Evangelism is the sharing of the message of the gospel with those who are lost. The message of the gospel is the same that it has been for the last two thousand years. (I Corinthians 15:1-8 provides a great summary of that message.) The necessary response to the gospel remains unchanged. We are separated from God by our sins. We need to repent of sin and place our faith in the Lord Jesus who died for our sin and rose from the dead in order to be saved. This is the basic message of evangelism.
But, like varieties of ice cream, there are varieties of ways- what we might call evangelistic methods- by which we do the work of evangelism. Let’s talk about Continue reading
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Tagged Christianity, church, Evangelism, faith, outreach
Good word from my sweet wife.
The seasons are changing, and after weeks of unseasonably warm weather, the daffodils have bloomed and the landscape is changing.
All to be covered in a fresh blanket of snow.
Because I love the warmer weather, it would be easy for me to start whining about the sudden change of temperature–
–if it wasn’t so beautiful.
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“Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Ezra 7:10
This verse first jumped out at me while in college. I underlined it in my devotional reading (A habit I still employ) and used it to teach children’s church (I still apply my sermons to children- and to immature adults). It has been meaningful to me and perhaps you will find it to be that for you.
Note that Ezra “determined in his heart” to do three things. That is, these are the commitments that Ezra made and actions he vowed to take. Perhaps you might make the same determination in your heart.
First, Ezra determined Continue reading
Posted in bible, bible study, prayer, small groups, Sunday School, teaching, theology, Uncategorized
Tagged bible, bible study, Christian, Christianity, church, faith, ministry, obedience, teaching
It is a simple goal boiled down to a sound bite. Simple, but profound. “Less whining, more praying.”
I want my future to have less and more. I want less whining, less complaining and less caterwauling. I want less grumpiness, irritability and fussiness. But, I want my future to have more and more of one thing: prayer.
Here are three reasons to join me in this goal.
–Praying is more Christlike than whining. We are not very Christlike when we whine. Complaining is not a spiritual gift. (I just checked again. It isn’t in the list of spiritual gifts. Really, I checked this quite thoroughly!) Continue reading
Before she was even two years old, our granddaughter would entertain us with the words to this song: “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad.Take a sad song and make it better.” You’re welcome! 😉 While it is absolutely adorable coming from a two-year-old’s mouth, it is truly a sad song because the writer was a […]
Doug Munton 