Countercultural Living: What Jesus Has to Say About Life, Marriage, Race, Gender, and Materialism
AN OVERVIEW OF JESUS’ TEACHINGS ON LIFE’S MOST PRESSING TOPICS Consulting Jesus on how to find eternal life is common. But what relevance do Jesus’ teachings have for contemporary life? When it comes to core worldview topics such as human…
Carol M. Swain
Is Baptism a “Bullseye Belief”?
*Editor’s Note: Chad Ragsdale wrote the following blog after the release of his Renew.org’s book, Christian Convictions: Discerning the Essential, Important, and Personal Elements. For a full discussion on baptism—and the Renew.org perspective—see the book Baptism: What the Bible Teaches by Tony Twist, David Young, and Bobby Harrington. See also New Birth: Conversion and Baptism (Renew.org, 2021)....
Chad Ragsdale
What Is the Difference between Essential, Important, and Personal Elements?
This is Question #2 in Chad Ragsdale’s Christian Convictions: Discerning the Essential, Important, and Personal Elements.
Chad Ragsdale
Chad Ragsdale
The Best Thing about Essential Beliefs
Let’s think through a couple phrases: essential oils and essential beliefs. As for essential oils, I bet each one of us has at least one essential oils enthusiast in our lives who has told us, “You have to try them out! They’re amazing!” As for essential beliefs (as in, the essential beliefs of Christianity), the...
Daniel McCoy
Does It Really Matter What You Believe?
This is Question #1 in Chad Ragsdale’s Christian Convictions: Discerning the Essential, Important, and Personal Elements.
Chad Ragsdale
Chad Ragsdale
Sermon on the Mount: Fulfilling the Law
In the second century, some of the early church fathers thought the Old Testament was weird, kinda pointless, and should be cut out of the Bible entirely. (To be fair, some of them were, like many Romans, horribly anti-Semitic.) Nowadays, we realize that’s going way too far. Instead, some of us accomplish the same thing...
Jeremy Bacon
Is Faith Mainly about Feelings?
*Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from Christian Convictions: Discerning the Essential, Important, and Personal Elements. Starting in the spring of 2020, much of society temporarily shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. These shutdowns, of course, dramatically affected local churches because they were forced, in many cases, to stop meeting in person for...
Chad Ragsdale
Christian Convictions Author Q&A – Chad Ragsdale and Bobby Harrington
Join Chad Ragsdale, author of Christian Convictions, and Bobby Harrington as they talk about how we can know the essentials of our faith, prioritize what’s important, and treat people who disagree with kindness.
Introduction to Christian Convictions: Discerning the Essential, Important, and Personal Elements
Chad Ragsdale introduces Christian Convictions: Discerning the Essential, Important, and Personal Elements, and gives an overview of the book.
Chad Ragsdale
Chad Ragsdale
The End: The Return of King Jesus and the Renewal of All Things
A GUIDE TO HISTORY’S FINAL EVENTS AND ETERNITY’S CENTRAL CHOICE It is a disquieting fact that our lives will come to an end. What can cause even more uneasiness is the question of what happens next. Yet God does not…
Gary Johnson
A Simple Definition of Grace? Yeah, About That…
We know grace is amazing, but what exactly is it? For starters, the Greek word translated “grace” is charis (it helps that the two words sound alike, doesn’t it?). Before Christians picked up charis and connected it to the gospel, the word was useful for describing the patron-client relationship (we’ll get to that in a...
Daniel McCoy
How Do We Seek the Holy Spirit’s Leadership in Our Lives?
This is Question #5 discussed in Holy Spirit: Filled, Empowered, and Led by David Young.
David Young
David Young
In the Shadow of Apocalypse: Reflections on Marvel’s “Loki”
“Apocalypses are points of revelation.” I pulled the above quote from an Instagram post by Rich Villodas, pastor of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York. This quote was not inspired, as you might expect, by the books of Daniel or Revelation. This preaching point originated from the newest addition to the Marvel Cinematic...
Nathan Storms
The Life and Legacy of One Kingdom Worker
“But how will I get in?” That was the question my friend Vince once asked our church secretary a few days before attending our church worship service for the very first time. Vince was a student at the University at Buffalo and had come to faith in Jesus by examining the veracity of Scripture. The...
Sean Cronin
How Does the Holy Spirit Make Us like Jesus?
This is Question #4 discussed in Holy Spirit: Filled, Empowered, and Led by David Young
David Young
David Young
Make Your Choice: Learning from the Chinese Church
Over the last couple decades the underground church in China has served as an inspirational story to many in the West. Despite pervasive persecution, the Chinese church has grown exponentially, in numbers and proportions that are difficult to quantify. So what are some of the catalysts for the rampant underground church? First, not to nitpick,...
Jake Sutherlin