This is a double-edged question, applying to believers and unbelievers alike. People today have all kinds of funny ideas about what the Bible says, ideas that they did not get from the Bible. For instance, I once read a letter to the editor in a daily newspaper by a lady who claimed that the Bible … Continue reading Does the Bible say what you think it says?
spirituality
What is wrong with the world?
Yesterday at the Walmart checkout there was a lady with three children ahead of me. The oldest child, a boy of about eight, was sitting in the shopping cart. The mother kept asking him what happened to a small toy that he had picked up, and he denied knowing anything about it. Finally she wrestled … Continue reading What is wrong with the world?
The acid test
I was sitting in a small town restaurant eating my dinner when a business lady from that community walked in. I am acquainted with this lady and know that she is a Christian and that her business is still in the growing stage, thus unexpected expenses are not very welcome. She seemed deflated as she … Continue reading The acid test
The church is a faith community
Forty years ago the pastor of the church my wife and I were attending went to California for several weeks to take a course in church growth. He was really pumped when he got back and expounded to us how the key to growing our congregation was to target people in our community who had … Continue reading The church is a faith community
Is the salt losing its savour?
"But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in … Continue reading Is the salt losing its savour?
Dumbing down the gospel
I think it is dawning on many people that evangelical Christianity has shallowed out over the past generation or two. I will be so bold as to suggest some causes which are not often mentioned by others. Children's Bible story books: Parents have felt inadequate to help their children understand what the Bible is all … Continue reading Dumbing down the gospel
Sitting around the fire
We were in a small mission congregation in a major Canadian city. A middle-aged single lady, I'll call her Anne, had been attending for a year or more. One day she said to me, "It seems like there is a warm fire burning here and you are all gathered around to warm yourselves by that … Continue reading Sitting around the fire
No compulsion in matters of religion
Around 204 AD, Tertullian wrote: "As the religion of others does not concern us, and neither profits nor harms us; therefore it does not become any one religion to force itself upon another; since it must be accepted voluntarily, and not by coercion, for what is required is the offering of a willing mind." In … Continue reading No compulsion in matters of religion
Don’t be anxious for anything
We were going through self-examination before communion when a frail elderly brother stood and said "I want to say that I have peace with God, but it seems like I should do something to be able to claim that I have peace. I have prayed God to show me if there is anything I need … Continue reading Don’t be anxious for anything
The church in perpetual tune-up mode
[Adapted from a question in an old Bible study book.] The purpose of the church is to win souls. It is important that the church be kept pure. Is it possible, though, that so much time and energy is spent on the details of church work that we have come to see that as our … Continue reading The church in perpetual tune-up mode
Flatlander Faith 