Seven Letters Seven Dangers: the Doctrinaire Church
Dear Beloved Church, I know of your love for the Word of God. I know how you rejoice in the life that God has given you through the Holy Spirit and that you are born again through the Word of…
Category Theology for Everyone
Seven Letters Seven Dangers: Zeal & Complacency
Dear Theophilus, You’ve just come to place your faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Your heart is, no doubt, enraptured with the glorious grace which God has shown you; the beauty of Christ, your Savior. Your heart is on…
Seven Letters Seven Dangers: Fear of Man
But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. – Isaiah 8:13 My dearest Theophilus: We live in a soft age. Our idols are soft and…
Seven Letters Seven Dangers: Pride
Dear Theophilus, Greetings in Jesus’ name! May his grace abound to you through his Spirit to the glory of the Father. As requested, I write to warn of a grave danger facing the church, namely, ungodly pride that leads to…
Seven Letters Seven Dangers
Several weeks ago I sent my cadre of writers a question. I asked them, “If you could identify and warn your fellow believers about the greatest spiritual danger that they may face in life what would it be?” I was…
Deconstructing Destruction in the Church: Repairing the Breach
A rift has formed in your relationship. Perhaps the chasm has been widening for years. Perhaps the plates shifted, as far as you could tell, like a sudden earth quake. How in that instance do you fulfill the requirement to,…
Deconstructing Destruction in the Church: Forgiveness
From one angle regarding forgiveness we can say: “The difficulty is not in understanding; it’s in accepting and doing.” From another we can say: “The accepting and the doing results from a growth in understanding.” The parable of the unmerciful…
Deconstructing Destruction in the Church: Interpersonal Conflict
I could tell the young man standing in front of me was deeply concerned. It didn’t take long to find out why. A friend of his from another church was having a difficult time with the church’s leadership. He felt…
Deconstructing Destruction in the Church: The Lord’s Supper
I once read a book about how to read good literature. The author made a clear assertion. He said a meal is never just a meal. Now, I am not a lit scholar. I don’t want to argue for the…
Deconstructing Destruction in the Church: Loving One Another
The Psalmist certainly professes a great truth when he remarks “how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.” But if we’re honest, this passage can often sound like an unattainable rhetorical ideal; not a commonly celebrated experience.…