The idea of stepping out in faith to engage in one-on-one personal evangelism can be daunting. Often, we are afraid of rejection, worried about achieving results, or we don’t want to feel as if we are imposing our beliefs on others. But if what we believe is true, we have the light and the truth to share with a lost and dying world. Here are some practical tips and key concepts to remember. Remember what interests people Most people love to talk about themselves, their families and their own personal interests. This can be a natural way to start a […]

Weird. Nerd. Fat. Ugly. Just words? Maybe. But when used to hurt someone else, words become devastating and painful. Words become objects thrown at a child, transforming his or her life forever. Bullying. It’s something that happens on the playground. It’s something that happens on the bus. It happens on the playing field and in the classroom. It happens through email, text messaging and social networks. It can even happen in a child’s home. Bullying has been around for as long as we can remember. It is recorded as far back as biblical times. Remember Goliath? He was a bully. […]

High school cliques, racial prejudice, and atrocities such as genocide all have one thing in common. They originate and exist because one group thinks they are superior to another group. This phenomenon could be called the “psychology of superiority,” and is the cause of much of the conflict in the world at various levels. A problem with a solution Psychology is the study of the human mind and emotions. A more literal translation of the word would be “a study of the human spirit or soul.” There seems to be something innate in all people that consider their group superior […]

“I think that possibly, maybe, I’ve fallen for you…” As the song played in the background of the quaint Italian coffee shop, people ordered their café lattes and pastries, walking mindlessly past the young couple. To the passersby, they were two regular people having coffee — nothing noteworthy. That’s a fair judgment, though, seeing as how they felt the same way. “No one understands me quite like you do…” The song kept on, as though hand-picked for the scene, fitting perfectly as they sipped their lattes and let their eyes do all the talking. The only words that seemed to […]

The Bible makes it clear that self-righteousness is the premier enemy of the Gospel. And there is perhaps no group of people who better embody the sin of self-righteousness in the Bible than the Pharisees. In fact, Jesus reserved his harshest criticisms for them, calling them whitewashed tombs and hypocrites. Surprisingly to some, this demonstrates that the thing that gets in the way of our love for God and a deep appreciation of his grace is not so much our unrighteous badness but our self-righteous goodness. In Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels, I retell the story of […]