“If you love me, keep my commands.” – John 14:15 “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.” – John 14:21 “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” – John 14:23 On and on it goes. The repetition of this idea that love for Jesus is expressed through obedience makes…
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In my previous post, I contend love has become “god.” That is, we have our self-made definition of love and we shape our understanding of God around it and hold him accountable to that particular definition. But in the final analysis, we must insist “God is love.” He himself provides the essence and definition of love. This likely…
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God is love.Love is god. Look at those two short sentences closely. Take a minute to do so. I believe the juxtaposition of those two statements summarizes the fraying taking place within the broader Christian community. The implications of this are quietly, perhaps invisibly, enormous. Journey with me on this musing. When God’s Word says, “God is…
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It’s Easter season. Perhaps this creates opportunity to give some thought to religion. And one concept even non-religious people ought to think about is the faulty idea that all religions are equally valid. There are a number of ways to approach the notion that “all religions are equally valid.” For instance, we could appeal to…
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Following Jesus should never become a business deal. “Jesus, if I follow you, what will you do for me?” It is, however, difficult to avoid the conclusion that there are real benefits to biblical Christianity. I’m working my way through Rebecca McLaughlin’s new book Confronting Christianity. In it she takes up this topic. If you aren’t a passionate follower of…
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Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Judaism… there are so many options. Which one shall I choose? In college I took a comparative religions course from a self-professing atheist. I really appreciated his style and the class he taught. He was exceedingly objective – probably because he had no attachments to any of them. After poring over…
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The Ten Commandments have received a bad rap in modern culture. Frankly, they’ve been mistreated by a wide-array of worldview persuasions. So I’d like to offer just two brief reasons we ought to hold The Ten Commandments in high regard. First, they tell us what matters to God. God didn’t play a game the day he…
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The created things of this world typically fall into one of three categories, according to Steve Hoppe. They are: god, garbage, or gift. Here’s the deal: God created us in a such a way that we are shaped by what we worship and serve as ‘god’. For example, if we say “Aaron’s ‘god’ is sports.” What…
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“I can catch the sermon online.” “My church streams their worship services online so I don’t have to physically attend.” “I’m a Christian already. Church is just a ‘bonus.’” I am concerned for the souls of those professing Christians who do not prioritize church attendance at gospel-preaching churches. I have often wondered, if Jesus was…
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I’m all in favor of communicating the Christian gospel as intelligibly as possible in cultures where the gospel may appear exceedingly foreign. We certainly do not want the gospel to come across that way at the cultural level. However, the rush and push to be “relevant” may possess a counter-productive force to it we’re overlooking….
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