Neil Cole’s recent book, “Primal Fire – Reigniting the Church with the Five Gifts of Jesus” looks at “APEST” or what is sometimes referred to as the five-fold ministry. This is based on Ephesians 4 where Paul says, “These are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the
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Book Review: Jesus, Bread, and Chocolate
John J. Thompson recently published what I believe is his first book. Entitled “Jesus, Bread, and Chocolate – Crafting a Handmade Faith in a Mass-Market World”, the book is one part auto-biographical, one part informational (overviews of how beer is made, where chocolate comes from, etc.), one part biography (he shares brief stories of several
Jesus’ Death and Resurrection – What to Know
This week we approach the celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. These event are truly central to the Christian faith and, assuming they are true as I do, central to the story of human history. So I think it’s quite worthwhile to look at some of the significance of these events. Forsaken? While on the
Jesus’ Radical Teaching on Provision
Many Christians have the idea based on scripture that God promises to provide for us. I have a sense that this is true, but not in the way we thought. It seems that we have the idea that God will provide everything and keep us from trouble in this life, unconditionally. But something inspired me
How Effective Does A Ministry Have To Be In Order To Be Worthwhile?
I expect this is a question many leaders ask themselves in some form or another. When you spend your time, energy, and other resources on something, you want to believe that it is worthwhile. You also want to be getting the most out of this investment, not necessarily personally, but in terms of moving toward
Book Review: The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis
The C. S. Lewis book titled “The Weight of Glory” is actually a collection of essays or lectures made by Lewis. The title of the book comes from the first of these lectures and is also the most quoted of them. Since this book is a compilation, I provide below a brief overview of each
The Problem of Evil, Part 5 – Love Not Micromanagement
In my previous post, I explain why the “magical” view of God is ruled out by his unchanging nature which fixes reality within certain parameters. In this article, I share how one of God’s specific characteristics rules out him micromanaging the world. One of if not the most primary characteristic of God is love. I
The Problem of Evil, Part 4 – The Fixed Nature of Reality
In my previous post, I shared two misconceptions about God’s power: that it is “magical” and means controlling (or micromanaging). I now want to make a case for why God’s being all power can’t mean these things. When we say “God”, we must mean something or else we are talking about nothing. By saying God
The Problem of Evil, Part 3 – Misconceptions About God’s Power
So far in this series I have assumed that evil does exist and that we as Christians want to believe that God is both all powerful and all good. However, it seems like we can have at most two of these three options. I want to argue that we tend to hold two misconceptions as
The Problem of Evil, Part 2 – God Behind Suffering?
In my previous post, I introduced the dilemma caused by the existence evil. There is another angle which is unique to people of faith: believing that God specifically wills or allows bad things to happen for some good purpose. This one which is particularly troubling because it sounds really good in certain respects so long