The Book of Job: A Guide in Suffering (Part 2)
(For Part 1, click here.) One of the tough parts about understanding Job’s story is figuring out which voices to trust. We have the narrator, God, Satan, Job, Job’s wife, the three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar), along with a fourth friend Elihu, who is the last to speak before God interjects. I find it...
Luke Gray
Could You Be a Church Planter?
In Act 1:8 Jesus offers His disciples this strategy for spreading his good news: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” What is Jesus telling his disciples to do?...
Sean Cronin
Lessons from the Church in China
Q1: Can you give a brief history of the church in China? We know that in AD 635 a Nestorian monk named Aluoben arrived in China. His impactful story is told on a nine-foot high stele unearthed in 1623. The first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in 1206, followed centuries later by the influential Matteo Ricci...
Mike Stone
3 Steps for Choosing Obedience When You Suffer
When I contemplate human suffering, two words come to mind: lamb stew. One winter evening I joined a friend in her home for dinner. I looked forward to it as her cultured culinary skills always made our shared suppers delightful and delicious. We sat down to an elegant table setting. She served the main course....
Julia Martin
Satanic Imagery in the Bible
In a previous article, I laid out some of the information we find about Satan in the Old Testament. We looked at the serpent in Genesis 3, in the book of Job, and elsewhere in the Old Testament. In this part, we will look at the information in apocryphal literature, which we do not consider...
Jonathan Lichtenwalter
Why Plant New Churches?
Do we really need more churches? That was the question posed to me when I was working to establish a new church in my hometown of Buffalo, NY, several years ago. At the time, Buffalo was the 8th most post-Christian city in the nation, according to Barna. Yet many Christians wondered why we were attempting...
Sean Cronin
Satan in the Old Testament
In recent scholarship, the traditional Christian interpretation of Satan has come under some scrutiny. Scholars like Dr. Michael Heiser, Dr. Miryam Braynd, and Dr. Archie Wright have focused on the development of the Satan character throughout biblical literature. Much of this scholarship has been helpful and enlightening, but the data presented can make the Satan...
Jonathan Lichtenwalter
The How’s of Humility
We have every reason to get humble. Here are six big reasons: God shows grace to humble people (James 4:6). God gives victory to humble people (Psalm 149:4). God hears humble people (Daniel 10:12). Humble people are able to build healthy one-another relationships (Philippians 2:2-8). Humble people receive blessings (Proverbs 22:4). Humble people gain wisdom...
Angel Maldonado
Did Jesus Really Mean “Judge Not”?!
“Judge not, lest you be judged” (Matthew 7:1; popular paraphrase). Can we talk about what Jesus is saying here? Or do we have to address the elephant in the room? Sigh. Elephant it is. Because when church people hear the verse, “Judge not, lest you be judged,” we don’t hear Jesus saying it. We hear...
Jeremy Bacon
The Book of Job: A Guide in Suffering (Part 1)
It was my junior year of college and I was sitting in my Western Civilization Class at the University of Kansas. While I’d already taken Western Civ. at a community college, the credit had only been accepted as an elective, so there I was taking Western Civ. for a second time. Admittedly the K.U. rendition...
Luke Gray
Do Prayers Work in a Pandemic?
According to cage-rattling atheist Dan Barker, the answer is no. In an article called “The Coronavirus Proves that the Christian God Does Not Exist,” Barker writes, “It’s simple logic. The Christian god promises to answer prayer. Prayers to this god are not answered. Therefore, the Christian god does not exist.” You might have rolled your...
O.P.E.N.: 4 Things Elders Must Do
Believe it or not, last Sunday, May 3, was declared “ReOpen Church Sunday” by Liberty Counsel, an organization that defends the rights of churches. Though we may have the legal right to do so, elders must determine if now is the right time for their local congregation. Throughout America, we hear of many states and communities reopening businesses,...
Gary Johnson
Church Leaders Need Friends
It shouldn’t be a surprise that church leaders need solid friendships. But how? What does it look like? For help on this, I reached out to some trusted church leaders who have cultivated solid friendships. It looks like…Levels. John Caldwell There are several levels of healthy relationships. For instance, I have many acquaintances, men whom...
Biden, Trump, and Other Urgent Things That Come Up
“But I thought you said you would [fill-in-the-blank].” “Something important came up. It was [fill-in-the-blank]. Sorry.” Throughout life, you’ll fill in these blanks. And when you look at what you’ve filled in, you come to understand what people really value. *** Psalm 14 offends me. Well, first it offends atheists. But just in the middle...
Daniel McCoy
6 Reasons to Get Humble
What’s so great about humility? Surely, there are virtues which are more fun to get. So, what makes humility worth cultivating? Here are a few reasons to get humble: #1 – God shows grace to humble people. James 4:6 tells us that “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Pride puts us...
Angel Maldonado