Did Paul Tell Women to ‘Shut Up’ in Church?
I have been somewhat taken aback by the volume of material posted over the last four or five months regarding the oppression of women in the body of Christ. To my shame, I did not recognize this was as widespread an issue as it seems to be. The pervasiveness of the issue is clearly evinced…
Read MoreThe Word of His Grace
Alean and I worship and serve with a smaller fellowship of about 100 to 125 and we know we are tremendously blessed to be a part of this unique and loving church family. It took us years to find this family, and we won’t give it up easily if the time ever comes that we…
Read MoreWhat Can You Really Know?
(My apologies for the late upload of this blog posting. The passing of Mister Bear derailed so many things for me, including this blog.) One of my favorite incidents in the record of Jesus’ ministry is his encounter with the man born blind recorded in the ninth chapter of John’s gospel account. There are numerous…
Read MoreFollowing Jesus Will Cost You Everything (Part 4)
This is week four of our look at the cost of following Jesus. It is my intention that this should be the final installment in the series, and I will hold to that decision right up until the time I change my mind and do another one! 😉 You can read the first three installments…
Read MoreFollowing Jesus Will Cost You Everything (Part 3)
Over the past two weeks, we have been challenged by Jesus with some strong teaching regarding the cost of following him. It is difficult teaching because it is so uncommon in current-generation Christian thought to speak of costs when following Jesus. The more prevalent teaching is saturated with ideas regarding how easy it is and…
Read MoreFollowing Jesus Will Cost You Everything (Part 2)
Last week, we journeyed together through Part 1 of “Following Jesus Will Cost You Everything.” This week we continue that investigation with Part 2 by looking at three ostensible Christ-followers who encounter unexpected responses from Jesus regarding their candidacy for discipleship. As was common with many teachers of his day, Jesus walked from place to…
Read MoreFollowing Jesus Will Cost You Everything (Part 1)
I became a follower after Christ on January 16, 1983. It was an abrupt incident. It was a time of metamorphosis, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, but happening instantaneously rather than over time. It was a transition, a transformation, from the inside out, as though I had been flayed before my God as he…
Read MoreContext is King – Always
The meme attached to this blog posting is ubiquitous in the online world. Various forms of it are found with ease by way of a simple web search. I have no idea who deserves credit for the graphic and struggled mightily to find the originator. But it was just too funny not to share, even…
Read MoreBuilding Well On The Solid Foundation
One of the best-known verses in the New Testament teaches us that it is by grace we are saved through faith, and not of works so none may boast.1 Less emphasized is the fact that Paul also spoke of a man’s works, and how each will be rewarded or not rewarded on the basis of that…
Read MoreWowed by Signs and Wonders
Recently, I was involved in a discussion/debate/disagreement, whatever we need to call it, regarding the existence of God. The guy considered himself proficient in science, so he wanted evidence and falsifiability. Science, true science, is about disprovable hypothesis. So I flipped that around on him and challenged him to disprove my hypothesis that God exists.…
Read More