We hear the term gentle most often used in the word gentlemen. My father-in-law’s definition of a gentleman is “a man who knows how to play the accordion, but doesn’t.” That may not be the best definition, but it makes me smile every time I repeat it. Few people, I’d wager, think much about being […]
Parables are true-to-life comparisons that break forth into fictional analogies that seem upside down to us and often deceive us into truth by opening up the government of God. This is a homemade definition of parables, with the exception of the phrase “deceiving into truth,” which can be attributed to Soren Kierkegaard. By fictional analogies […]
What’s wrong with your church? You can probably list a number of irritating flaws. Your preacher’s off-putting habits. Uninspiring music. Inadequate communication. Perhaps you dislike how the church allocates its money, or you wish the leaders put more emphasis on (choose one): youth, senior adults, married couples, singles, doctrinal instruction, local needs, or global missions. […]
“I’m already a believer. Why do I need to become a disciple?” You may hear comments like this when discussing discipleship. It’s not uncommon to meet with confusion or even skepticism when talking about our call to carry out the Great Commission. In some cases, it’s a matter of fearing what we don’t understand. Confusion […]
My sister-in-law’s bucket list got shorter over the Christmas holidays. She went skydiving in Hawaii. Of course, she didn’t jump out of the plane on her own. She was harnessed to an experienced skydiver who had jumped out of an airplane hundreds of times. And although she felt slightly afraid, especially when he told her […]
