What Proverbs 6:16–19 Reveals About God’s Heart You’ve probably heard the phrase, “All sins are the same in God’s eyes.” It’s a common sentiment, and it’s true in one sense: any sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:23). But does that mean all sins are equally serious? According to the Bible, the answer… Continue reading Are All Sins the Same?:
Many people today have an imbalanced view of Jesus. Some see Him only as loving, kind, and accepting, while others focus solely on His authority, judgment, and righteousness. Both sides miss the whole picture. This imbalance isn’t new, but it seems more pronounced in our culture. In a world that values personal freedom, many prefer… Continue reading The Full Picture of Jesus in an Unbalanced Age
Conflict is inevitable. Any time you spend time with other people, you will eventually have conflict. So the question isn’t whether it happens, but how you will handle it. James gives three ways Christians are to behave during conflict. (Really this is good for any situation.) James says, “Let every person be quick to hear,… Continue reading 3 Tips for Listening During Conflict
God’s Word is powerful and encouraging. Here are five Bible verses that will remind you of this and carry you through the new year. All of these verses are best studied in their context, so take time to look at the surrounding verses. Psalm 31:23-24 Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves… Continue reading 5 Verses to Start the New Year
We tend to think that disagreements of how a worship service should look are modern debates. But worship styles and practices have changed throughout the history of Christianity and Israelite services. In fact, there was a worship war as far back as the days of King David, which can be found in II Samuel 6.… Continue reading Basic Guardrails for Worshipping God
There is a modern cultural disagreement about the idea of speaking the truth in love. On one side we have people who do not believe in truth. (Well, they will say they believe in truth, but that truth is relative. If all truth is relative, there is no truth). On the other side you have… Continue reading Why We Must Speak the Truth in Love
A pervasive idea today is that being nice equals being Christian. It is used as a bludgeoning stick in today’s area of debate to attempt to control people in their thoughts, actions, and words. In some circles, even religious ones, being nice has become the 11th commandment. But if we look to Scripture, is it… Continue reading Being Nice is Not the 11th Commandment
Should we “apologize no matter what?” Some people live by this motto. Generally, they are perceived as people-pleasers with weak spines. Their chief end is to avoid conflict. Others were children raised to “just apologize.” Others are those who want to “just keep the peace,” so they apologize. Others live by the phrase, “happy wife,… Continue reading Apologize No Matter What?
Part III Consequences to Misunderstood Experience We have discussed how experience does not always equal truth in the first two articles. The first showed us how we need to test our experience to ensure it is true. The second looked at Cain’s belief that he experienced true worship, only to find that God rejected it.… Continue reading Does Experience Equal Truth?
Part I: Testing Our Experience We live during a time when people have placed massive amounts of stock into the market of experience. Think about something as simple as shopping. We often don’t just want the duty of buying something, but “lifestyle shopping.” A business friend of mine recently explained this concept to me. He… Continue reading Does Experience Equal Truth?
