Triperspectival Evangelism

Christianity is a fighting religion.

At least, that what C.S. Lewis tells us in Mere Christianity (affiliate link). Lewis is making the point that something has gone wrong with God’s creation and God “insists very loudly” on making it right.

But Christianity can be pretty ugly, primarily because people assume that it is their version of Christianity that should be fought for. Instead of fighting for Christ, we end up fighting for the way that we think things should be… ignoring that our version may not fully reflect God’s version.

I Killed Jesus Christ

Jesus died for our sins. Today, one thousand nine hundred and seventy seven years ago Jesus Christ suffered, died, and was buried. For our sins.

But today, one thousand nine hundred and seventy seven years later, much of the significance of this day gets lost. In the rush to Easter Sunday, we seldom pause to think about what transpired on this day – what Jesus went through and why he did.

I know that Easter Sunday is the reason for hope and the source of new life for those who find salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. And I would never ever want Good Friday absent of Easter Sunday.

But I would not want Easter Sunday without Good Friday, either. Because for me, in order to fully grasp the beauty and power of Easter, it has to be understood from the events of Good Friday. (more…)...

Gospel Decision Making

Dustin Neely, an Acts 29 pastor and church planter in Kentucky, posted an interesting article on The Resurgence blog called “ 3 Questions to Ask Before Committing iDolatry “. You should go read it here.

In it Neely examines his desire to purchase Apple’s new iPad through the lens of the Gospel. He suggests three questions to ask yourself in order to “make a Gospel-informed, wise decision.”

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Are You In Hell? I’ve Been There, Too. (Thoughts On Suffering)

In 1793 Andrew Fuller, Secretary of the first Baptist Missionary Society of England, commenting on the need for missions efforts in India said, “… it seems almost as deep as the center of the earth. Who will venture to explore it?”

To which William Carey replied, “I will go down, but you must hold the rope.”

I love that.

I love the idea of standing up and volunteering to go bring the Gospel to people who are suffering. The imagery of Isaiah 6...

The Beauty Doctor and Gospel Centered Parenting

My family currently has health insurance through a local Michigan company that operates its own Family Medicine centers. Basically it means that we all (me, my wife, and my two youngins) go to the same place for all of our medical needs. We’ve been with them for over two years and there are a number of things I like about the family-practice model, some things that I don’t but that’s not what this post is about.

Our doctor’s office building is home to a number of different facilities for various medical services, for the most part, it is a one-stop-shop for basic medical needs. In our two years with them, we’ve really only spent time in four areas of the center (listed in order of amount of time spent, greatest to least): the doctor’s offices (including the waiting area), the pharmacy, the play area , and radiology (for various, pregnancy-related ultrasounds).

The Beauty Doctor

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Ministry Opportunities For 59 Year Olds

What a great way to start this day…

*Well, it’s not really the “start” of my day. The start of my day was (per usual) wrangling two small children, bundling them in layers and layers of winter clothes, and driving them up to daycare (while singing our ABC’s at the top of our voices).

But once that was all sorted, I settled in in front of my laptop, opened my web stats site (I use GetClicky.com because it shows real time stats) and saw that I someone found Kingdom Strategist by searching Google for:

“ministry opportunities for 59 year olds”

If You Ever Want To Know Which Vanities, Fears, or Insecurities Plague Us…

… check your spam folder.

{I have the vague feeling that I’m reiterating something someone else said recently so I don’t claim this as an original thought…}

I was reminded just now by an email I received that spammers prey on people’s vanities, fears, and insecurities. I peruse my spam filter from time to time to be reminded that I am not man enough, rich enough, or successful enough; because I then get to tell myself that there is someone else who is. Someone who loves me just the way He made me. And for that I am grateful.

Business as Mission Adresses the Big Issues Facing the Church

In Tim Keller’s latest blog post, he points out five big issues facing the Western Church. They are:

I recommend you head over to the Redeemer City to City website and read what Keller has to say about these issues. It helps to focus on these shifts in the evangelistic landscape of the West. Doing so will help us to anticipate new opportunities and threats to our efforts to achieving our goals as Kingdom strategists.

Book Review | Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

“Most people spend their lives trying to make their heart’s fondest dreams come true… We never imagine that getting our heart’s deepest desires might be the worst thing that can ever happen to us.” –Timothy Keller

Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller

“But, If Not” My Favorite (lesser known) MLK Speech

Everyone knows Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. At least I hope they do. I remember in grade school spending a lot of time studying Dr. King and his contributions to the Civil Rights movement (I’m particularly happy about this seeing as I went to school in, what was at the time, a rural suburb of Atlanta, GA where racism was very real).

But my favorite — FAVORITE – speech by Dr. King is from a sermon he gave on November 5, 1967 at Ebenezer Baptist Church called “But, If Not” (download MP3 of the sermon).

I say to you, this morning, that if you have never found something so dear and precious to you that you will die for it, then you aren’t fit to live.

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