“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Gal. 6:14).In the world in which the apostle Paul lived, this statement was both absurd and shocking. The cross was an instrument of execution and control and would not be spoken of in polite society. The cross was a place of shame, disgrace, humiliation,...  Read More

"We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints," (Colossians 1:3-4)In these opening verses of the book of Colossians, the apostle Paul sets the tone for a letter full of spiritual wisdom and encouragement. He begins by expressing gratitude for the faith and love of ...  Read More

Eternal Life: Not Just a DestinationFor every Christian, the subject of eternal life holds a position of great importance. If you ask someone what eternal life means, you find it is often described as a heavenly destination or a “better place” where there is comfort and peace after earthly life is done. However, a deeper understanding of scripture reveals that eternal life is not merely a place we...  Read More

In the book of Galatians, the apostle Paul devotes most of his epistle to clarifying the gospel for the Galatian believers who were thrown into confusion by false teachers preaching a perverted gospel (Galatians 1:7). These false teachers were imposing portions of Old Testament law as a requirement for salvation. The gospel Paul preached was quite different. It was a gospel that declared that salv...  Read More

In a 2014 interview with Lifeway Research, Dann Spader, author of “4 Chair Discipling: Growing a Movement of Disciple-Makers”, was asked this question: What will the future of the American church look like if we get disciple-making wrong? “We will continue to decline in impact and influence as “salt and light”. The command to “go and make disciples” is not an option.This is not a great commission ...  Read More

I recently ran across an article that described a societal condition called “The Complexity Bias. It offered this up to explain why we humans lean towards complicating our lives rather than keeping things simple. The principle was this: when we are faced with too much information or we are in a state of confusion about something, we will naturally focus on the complexity of the issue rather than l...  Read More