Category Archives: The Gospel Message

Teaching Life Change (part 2)

I’m afraid that far too many well-meaning pastors and teachers stress “life change” in their teaching in a way that creates guilt, along with the sense that they do not quite measure up to the level of spirituality that the “super … Continue reading

Posted in Christian Discipleship, Christian Life, Salvation, Spiritual Formation & Discipleship, The Gospel Message | 1 Comment

Does God Punish Us When We Sin?

To answer this question I believe we have to differentiate between believers and non-believers. Furthermore, we have to distinguish between how God ultimately “judges” sin at the end of this present age, and how God responds to and deals with … Continue reading

Posted in Christian Life, Doctrine of God, Spiritual Formation & Discipleship, The Gospel Message, The Person & Work of Jesus Christ | Leave a comment

Thoughts About Christmas, part 2

In the first part of this post, I stated that the proper response to the contemporary assault on Christmas, for believers, would be to figure out how to bring Jesus back to the forefront of Christmas. I suggested we might  begin … Continue reading

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Does Hebrews 6 Say We Can Lose Our Salvation?

Hebrews chapter 6 is a section of the Bible that for many people is disturbing and perplexing. Its words are challenging but confusing. I don’t claim to be a Bible scholar in the same league as those who have written entire commentaries, … Continue reading

Posted in Christian Life, Doctrinal Issues, New Covenant, Salvation, The Gospel Message | 1 Comment

Do We Need A Book On This ???

In case you don’t know, I love books. I am especially intrigued by the multiplicity of books that are related to the Bible, theology, history, philosophy, the ministry of the Church. If you saw my library, you might say I … Continue reading

Posted in American Church, Doctrinal Issues, Mission of the church, The Gospel Message, The Person & Work of Jesus Christ, Theology | 2 Comments

Would Jesus Organize a Koran Burning?

As I hear the buzz about the outrage over the plans of a small church in Florida whose pastor made plans for his congregation to gather on September 11 to burn copies of the Koran, that is the question that … Continue reading

Posted in Christians and culture, current events, The Gospel Message | 2 Comments

Sharing the Gospel: Who Wants To Hear It ?

Have you ever tried to share the gospel with someone, only to be met with a put-off response? The kind of response that amounts to saying “I don’t want to hear it”, or “I’ve heard it all before”, or maybe … Continue reading

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My Theory: Why We Don’t See More Conversion Growth In The Mega-church

This post is part of the series “Exposed But Not Infected” Ok, as I promised, I’m going to list for you several reasons why mega-churches, with all their big budgets, slick marketing, and flashy programs struggle to produce conversion growth … Continue reading

Posted in American Church, Doctrinal Issues, Mission of the church, The Gospel Message | 1 Comment

Why don’t “mega-churches” see more conversion growth ?

Since I said I would share my “theory” about this, AND since I have had a few people ask me about it, I am going to take the time to do just that. In a previous post, I had said that one … Continue reading

Posted in American Church, Doctrinal Issues, Mission of the church, Salvation, The Gospel Message | 1 Comment

The Christian Sub-culture We’ve Become

I was just thinking about the word “Christian” and how often you seem to hear it used. Living in the middle of the Bible belt (the southeastern part of the U.S.) I certainly hear the word used alot, but sometimes … Continue reading

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