The title is a condensed version of the question I was actually asked. When pursuing God, what are the key practices to pursuit? Is there a difference between pursuit and rote obedience? My most recent series of messages focused on our need to be people who pursued God, but never in the series did …
How can we engage in evangelism without judgment and hypocrisy?
How can we engage in evangelism without judgment and hypocrisy? It has widely been held by Christians that evangelism–the practice of leading another person to become a Christian–is one of the central components of what it means to be a Christian, and I totally agree; however, the common way of …
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Can we trust apocryphal books like the Book of Enoch?
Can we trust apocryphal books like the Book of Enoch? It depends on what you mean by "trust" and it depends on which book you are talking about. For example, Jude, in the letter he wrote, actually quotes from the book of Enoch, but he doesn't tell us we should "trust" the book of Enoch. Also, just …
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Where do Neanderthals fit in a Biblical context?
Where do Neanderthals fit in a Biblical context? This is a fascinating question. Let me address it in two different ways. First, I want to describe the best understanding science has about the interplay between the different "hominid" species, and then I'll get into how this fits into our …
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Historical Questions from Sunday
Historical Questions How old was David when he struck down the giant? When he was anointed? The only definitive age given for David in the Bible is that he was 30 when he became king and he reigned 40 years. His age at his anointing and when he fought Goliath are not given. However, we have some …
Personal, Silly and LCC Questions from Sunday’s Q&A
Personal / Silly Questions What is your favorite letter of the alphabet and why is it E? Jessica, our keyboardist loves the letter "E" and a couple weeks ago, I was kinda teasing her about it, so she asked this great question and a number of you voted for it. I don't think my favorite letter would …
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More Questions from Sunday’s Q & A
See previous question & answer posts here. Q & A On Sunday, we had another Live Q&A session, and this time I think I got more deep doctrinal questions than ever before. Because of the depth of the questions and also because many questions came in that never made it to the screen, I …
Chapter 8: Mission and Strategy
Mission and Strategy Let’s recall our four governing questions: Which values are central to the Christian life and which are peripheral? Which central values are internal to the Church only and which should Christians promote in the society at large? How should individuals and churches promote …
Chapter 7: Idols, Temples, and Politics
Idols, Temples, and Politics I ended the previous chapter with this phrase: “As Christians, we rise above such petty, temporary, earthly allegiances because we have a higher calling for a higher purpose from a higher authority." That’s a strong statement, and it’s biblically true, but I’m not …
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Chapter 6: Modern Applications
Modern Applications In the last chapter, I addressed the first two questions of the church’s moral dilemma: Which values are central to the Christian life and which are peripheral? Which central values are internal to the Church only and which should Christians promote in the society at …
Does God Control Evil Spirits?
There is a confusing verse in 1 Samuel 16 (italics mine): Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. 1 Samuel 16:14 NIV This has been an incredibly uncomfortable passage for me. I have studied this passage a number of times in a number of …
Chapter 5: Scripture’s Call to Moral Action
This is the longest chapter in the book. Over 12,300 words. Take your time with it! Scripture’s Moral Truths In Chapter 1, I described the overall dilemma facing the church as this: How much of the “not yet" is it the responsibility of the church to advance in our real world today? And then I …
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Chapter 4: A Confession
A Confession I ended the previous chapter with four questions Christians need to answer as we consider our responsibility to be agents of the gospel in the world today. However, before I can address any of those questions directly, it’s important for me to openly address the biases from which I am …
Chapter 3: Gospel Integration
Gospel Integration Some traditions refer to the transformative work of the gospel as “progressive sanctification," but the application of that concept is almost exclusively individual and “spiritual." For those traditions, the gospel begins a spiritual work in the heart of a person to make that …
Chapter 2: A Re-United Gospel
Our Different Gospels Not long ago, I was in a meeting with a variety of pastors from a variety of traditions and we were talking about something scholars call “Liberation Theology." Before long, we found ourselves in the midst of a heated debate over the true meaning of the word gospel. For the …
Chapter 1: The Dilemma of the Church
The Dilemma of the Church Incongruity From the earliest days of Jesus’ ministry with them, the disciples faced a difficult dilemma. Borne largely out of the incongruity between what they thought the Messiah was supposed to do and what Jesus was actually doing, they constantly and repeatedly were …