If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.
“You will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22). Wow. What an encouraging word. Not! You will be hated by a ton of people. But, if you can take it long enough, if you endure until you die… Well… Well, then […]
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). What is the greatest problem I’ve had being a missionary? It hasn’t been: The language – even though we have learned one National language and one tribal language and […]
How can we know if our motives are gospel-focused or not? In the below video I outline a way to filter out motivations that are not gospel-focused.
It happened to the elect exiles to whom Peter wrote (here’s a brief overview). Our voice can vanish too. We are not immune. We can be canceled. But are we ready? Can we stand in the storm or will our house be blown to smithereens? Will it crumble on the sand that it is laid […]
This post is from chapter 11, “Hello, My Name is _____ and I am an Addict Transformed,” from my book, Gospel-Centered War: Finding Freedom from Enslaving Sin. The Bible does not deny that we were various things—addicts, homosexuals, hateful, prideful, pornographic masturbators—but that is what we were (past tense) (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Titus 3:3-5). The […]
“And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Satan disguises himself. That is a rather scary prospect. The serpent of old (Rev. 20:2), the great […]
What does baptism mean? In Scripture, we see that believers are called to be baptized (Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16) but what does baptism mean? First, let’s consider the etymology; where the word came from and what it means. The English word “baptize” comes from the Greek word baptizo. Many believe that this […]
I really appreciated Elliot Clark’s book Evangelism as Exiles. Here are some of the things that stood out to me: “Picture an evangelist. For many of us, our minds immediately scroll to the image of someone like Billy Graham—a man, maybe dressed in a suit and tie, speaking to a large audience and leading many to Christ. […]
I’m learning as Christians that we’re all fellow sufferers. We’re all limping and crawling towards the finish line. We all have scars. They’re different but we all have them. I have them, you have them, and no matter what we do our kids will have them. We live in a broken world and we’re sadly […]
1. “Engaging in radically ordinary hospitality means we provide the time necessary to build strong relationships with people who think differently than we do as well as build strong relationships from within the family of God” (Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes with a House Key, 13). 2. “The truly hospitable aren’t embarrassed to keep friendships […]
