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Christian Doubt? What to Do, Part II
The author explains that experiencing doubt about faith is common, even among biblical figures. The core message is that God’s love is profound and unchanging, as illustrated in Zephaniah 3:17, where God is depicted as rejoicing over his people with singing. Accepting this love helps overcome spiritual doubts.
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Christian Doubt? What to Do, Part I
In the throes of doubt, even the devout like John the Baptist and Jesus' disciples experienced uncertainty. Emphasizing that such doubts are commonplace among believers, the narrator offers reassurance that feeling this way is not unusual—even those closest to Jesus doubted. Consequently, he suggests looking to Jesus' reactions of grace and a promised continuous presence as a reminder to persevere in faith amidst skepticism. The author teases a forthcoming part that will address sustaining faith in challenging times.
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Jim Palmer’s 14 Points-Part II, Helping People
In Part II of his discourse, the author contrasts his motivations for ministry with those of a former evangelical pastor, Palmer. While the author admires Palmer's initial intent to help people and make a difference, he questions if that aligns with the core tenets of Christianity. The author argues that his own ministry is not about being a difference maker but is driven by the transformative power of Christ. Despite Palmer’s departure from the pastoral path, the author reflects on the potential of misunderstood intentions and the risks within megachurch models, advocating for authenticity and adherence to Biblical doctrine over the pursuit of personal or public approval.
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Answering Jim Palmer’s 14 Objections…Part I, Doctrine
Former megachurch pastor Jim Palmer’s rejection of Christian doctrine and the ensuing debate on social media is the subject of discussion. While some celebrate his stance, others vehemently criticize it. The author expresses a desire to understand Palmer’s perspective and finds common ground in questioning the blind adherence to traditionalism in organized religion. The interpretation of Scripture and the true essence of Christian doctrine, centered on the love of God, are explored with a plan for further analysis in subsequent posts.
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The Search for Perfect Church
Church-hopping or even becoming a “non-attender” has become common. I hear many who do this defending their decision by criticizing the imperfections of the church or churches they have tried out. Perhaps the worship is too dull and unenthusiastic. Or it is too spirited and alarming. Are there hypocrites, cliques, or politics going on? What about sexual sin? We find a lot of reasons to be critical of church—and there is perhaps an unexamined assumption in our quest for what we might term the “perfect church.” Let’s see what the Word has to say about all of that. Worst. Church. Ever. The church at Corinth was located in the epicenter…
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Pray Without Ceasing? Really?
So. yeah, the Bible says to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). For the longest time I thought that was sort of metaphorical. What Paul the Apostle really meant was “pray regularly” or “pray a lot.” Not any more. Paul was on to something vital to our spiritual formation—something profound and…beautiful. We can and should “pray without ceasing,” but the reason why I thought is was metaphorical is because of some basic misunderstandings about some really important realities. The Nervous Pray-er I learned what I initially learned about prayer mainly from watching men at church lead public prayer. Way back in the 90s’ I had a group of young friends…
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The Need for a Spiritual Reset, Part II
In Part I, we discussed how sometimes when things aren’t going well in just about any area of life, we could benefit from a reset. This is especially true in spiritual matters. While many have identified problems amongst the people of God, the suggested solutions are often unbiblical and not helpful in advancing the kingdom of God. I left our discussion last time with a tease about what the Spirit informed me when I was asked to preach on the topic of “Does the Church Need to Change?” His answer was, “Yes.” What needed to change? What did the guy who taught others how to initiate and sustain conversations, to…
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Spiritual Reset? Could be Good…
“Honey, my computer is doing this weird thing, it’s really slow and this window keeps popping up,” said my lovely wife on the phone. I was 1,600 miles away on a trip, being asked to fix a computer I couldn’t see. At some point my advice was “turn it off and then back on again.” In other words, reset. I was doing the preflight inspection on a McDonell Douglas MD-11. We were getting all sorts of strange warnings on cockpit displays and nothing seemed to remedy it. We called the mechanics, they saw all the confusing indications and decided to “take all the power off and then back on again.”…
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Revival, the Spirit, and Your Spirit, Part II
Why I Am Concerned for Our Young Revivalists In part one of this blog series, we talked about the challenges of understanding how the Holy Spirit works as the Scripture instructs us, and one of the cultural reasons why we should pray King David’s prayer and beg that God would “….try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any grievous way in me…” (Ps. 139:23). That reason is narcissism—for we live in an incredibly self-promoting time. Self-promotion is so common now that we hardly notice it. Are we participating in “revival” for the advancement of God’s Kingdom, or for our own image? In Part II, however, I…
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Why Do Superhero Movies Appeal Today?
The Reason Behind My New Book Superhero: Being Who God Says You Are Isn’t it strange when someone claims to believe something strongly, but the entirety of their life demonstrates this claim to be untrue? While an increasing majority of people around us claim to believe in moral relativism, autonomous individualism, narcissistic hedonism, and reductive naturalism—the most popular superhero movies go completely against these claimed values. The question is, why? Can I tell you that the reason why is an encouraging spiritual reality that can ignite your passion to live as the person God intends you to be? Let’s unpack our friends and neighbors tension between their claimed values and…
