Dig Deep

Does the Bible Contradict Itself?

Never! . . . Right? The Bible is an amazing book, written by forty people over thousands of years; yet, it has only one author: God. If we were to invite forty people to dinner and asked them to tell us about their experience, we would likely get a wide variety of reports. Those who loved the filet mignon would focus on how it was cooked to perfection, seasoned just right, and served with butter sizzling on top. Others at our imaginary dinner party may have given slight mention to the steak because they were overwhelmed with the novelty of […]

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Four Keys to Understanding the Bible

By: Dr. Sam Lamerson Whether you have been in church your entire life or are brand new to the faith, you will undoubtedly, at times, encounter Bible passages that are difficult to understand. The scriptures themselves speak of this, as the Apostle Peter says, “. . . just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as […]

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Love Needs No Legislation!

(Scroll down to leave a comment on why love needs no legislation) Back in August I had the privilege of marrying Mark and Kaitlin, the young couple who head up our Young Adults ministry at Cross Community Church. Starting with pre-engagement coaching, we spent a considerable amount of time over the past year talking together about the stuff of marriage. I remember discussing the all-too-common prenuptials that many bring into their marriages today, even Christian marriages. A prenuptial is defined as: “A contract entered into prior to marriage which commonly includes provisions for the division of property and spousal support […]

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Living the Good Life

How do you live the good life? What do you need to know or do in order to really live life as it’s meant to be lived? Jesus taught that, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). This means that there are two ways to pursue this sense of life to the full. There’s one approach that works and one that doesn’t. What you can’t live on What does Jesus mean by “live” and “bread”? The Greek word he uses for live is zoe, and it means […]

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The Scandal of Grace

I often hear the phrase: “Grace doesn’t mean you get to do what you want.” At first glance, who would disagree with this? I mean, we cannot just have people running around engaged in extramarital affairs, living it up at wild parties and quitting their jobs, can we? If grace means people can do what they want, what kind of world would this be and what would become of our churches? Christians would sleep in, not tithe, and skip small group! Total chaos would ensue! Grace defined But this line of reasoning exposes a negligent understanding of grace, and that’s […]

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Progressing Downward

Last month, I talked about Reader’s Digest Christianity, and how it reduced the Christian faith to pithy, easily-achievable goals that ensure our personal improvement. Today, I have a different (though depressingly similar) target: “LiveStrong” Christianity. LiveStrong bracelets are today even more popular than the infamous WWJD bracelets were 10 years ago, despite the public fall from grace of their namesake, Lance Armstrong. In the minds of many people inside the church, Livestrong is the essence and goal of Christianity. You hear this obsession in our lingo: We talk about someone having “strong faith,” about someone being a “strong Christian,” a […]

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Is This the Year?

Is 2014 the year that you are finally going to write that book, buy that house, become that professional or start that business you have been dreaming of? Do you have a dream? Perhaps a more important question is: Has God given you a calling for your life? “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God” (Ephesians 4:1). You’ve heard pastors describe being “called into the ministry.” But calling does not necessarily mean becoming a pastor or missionary. It may mean opening a […]

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Superhero Depression

He had just defeated the enemy in the most spectacular way possible: a double-dog deity dare to prove which god was really true. The prophet Elijah succeeded in exposing Baal as a fraud and Jehovah as omnipotent. He killed 450 prophets of Baal and demonstrated his spiritual authority and power to the king and his people. What happened next? He ran for the hills, afraid of a girl. Of course, this was no ordinary girl. This was Queen Jezebel, the wicked Sidonian princess turned Queen of Israel, overseer of magic arts and the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth. Still, after […]

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Reader’s Digest Christianity

For a while, my parents were getting Reader’s Digest every month while I was growing up. Because they were stored next to the toilet, they were widely read. In each and every issue there was an interview with some celebrity, usually an actor or an athlete. Reader’s Digest‘s favorite kind of celebrity was the “self-made” variety; someone who had come from nothing, preferably a broken home in which the single mother had to work multiple jobs to afford the windows that protected the family from the ceaseless gunfire outside. The interviewers inevitably ended their pieces by asking the celebrity something […]

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Seven Habits of Effective Prayer

Prayer is extremely important. But you probably already knew that. Most people don’t need to be convinced that prayer is one of the most important practices in a believer’s life. But what seems to elude a lot of people is the “how” of prayer. How do you maintain a healthy prayer life? How do you pray with any sense of satisfaction or effectiveness? Prayer is important, but prayer is hard. It can look like prayer comes easy for some people, but it doesn’t. Not right away anyway. An effective prayer life is developed over time through a series of habits […]

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