Opinion

Doctrine & Theology are Important

Doctrine. Theology. The very mention of those two small words may cause you thoughts of anxiety, intimidation, boredom, or an awful combination of all three. Throw in “exegesis,” “hermeneutics,” “concordance,” or “original language” and the average Christian is probably thinking that a Novocain-free root canal sounds more appealing. However, having a correct understanding of what the Bible actually says is vitally important to your relationship with God and others, and you may be surprised to learn that it doesn’t take a trip to seminary to get the tools you need to dig down deep into the truths of God’s word. […]

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Is Tithing for Today?

Commentary Does the Bible teach that tithing (giving 10% of our income/increase) is the essential and enduring requirement for Christian giving? Christians through the years have supported this based on various scriptures, reasoning that since the Old Testament patriarchs like Abraham and Jacob gave tithes at certain times, then the practice must be God’s abiding standard. Since tithing appeared before the law, it must transcend the law. This argument, however, has many flaws and, after careful review of scripture, we discover that there is no formula or percentage for how much we ought to give. Giving is a matter of […]

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True Freedom

Freedom is a wonderful word. In fact, freedom or liberty is at the heart of what it means to be an American, “where at least I know I’m free.” In the height of any election season, protecting the various American freedoms is rightly at the forefront of the political debates. But have you ever asked yourself, “What is true freedom? Is freedom simply the accumulation of my various civil rights? Is freedom merely an outward experience or more of an inward experience? Am I truly free?” True Freedom There’s a famous scene in the movie Braveheart where William Wallace (played […]

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Settled Pilgrims

There is a recurring theme in Scripture of the people of God as pilgrims. Much of the narrative of Bible is built around the framework of nomadic journeys. There is the story of Abraham and his journey from Ur to Canaan, and the story of the Exodus when the Israelites journeyed out of Egypt and then traveled through the wilderness for 40 years before reaching Promised Land. Annually, the Israelites had to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast days. Then there is the story of the Babylonian captivity and the return to the land 70 years later. Even Jesus […]

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Salt and Light

Commentary If you hang around Christian circles long enough, you may hear someone talking about the need for Christians to be “salt and light” in the world. Or, if you’ve been a Christian since early childhood, you probably remember singing “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” But what do these metaphors actually mean? Let’s dig a little deeper. By identifying His disciples as the “salt and light” of the world (Matt.5:13-16), Jesus was saying some pretty strong things about the condition of the world and the Christian in the world. The Condition of the World Let’s […]

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My Weakness, His Power

Commentary I can remember sitting in class as every student took turns reading aloud.  I would count down the number of students ahead of me until it was my turn to read. There were times I would get up and run to the restroom just to avoid reading in front of the class. I was always nervous to talk in front people because of my speech impediment. My stuttering did not consist of repetitive words but word blocks—an inability to get words out. That speech problem continued to persist throughout junior high, high school, my young adulthood and even still […]

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Do You Know What A Sandhog Is?

Commentary We take fresh water for granted. For most, it is as simple as turning on a faucet.  However, it wasn’t always so easily attained. In the early 1800s, before modern plumbing and sewage, the city of New York faced a severe lack of fresh water to meet the needs of their rapidly growing population. Aside from some scattered wells, the city had one major source of water – a large pond in lower Manhattan called the Collect. It served as a reservoir and increasingly as a sewage tank. People dumped all manner of things into the Collect – garbage, […]

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Grassroots Gospel

Commentary Social justice is a mandate that God gives to His people, grounded in the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but it can certainly become a dangerous and trendy work as well. Fashionable buzzwords often circulate throughout the culture of Christianity and become a part of the “Christianese” that flows effortlessly from the lips of many well-intentioned saints of God.  Not only do we experience buzzwords, but buzz movements; great movements within the church that seem to polarize as passing fads or inauthentic revivals.  Certainly the social justice movement that has resurfaced over recent years, even in the […]

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Worthless Likes?

John is an old friend, but we hadn’t talked in years. Five years to be exact. So when I bumped into him last week, I didn’t know what to do. Should I apologize for not staying in touch? He didn’t give me the chance. “Hey Nathan! I love what you’re doing to your home. The exposed brick looks amazing,” he said. I’m shocked. How could he know that? Instinctively, my eyebrows raise, as if to ask, “Are you stalking me?” “Well anyway,” he says, “I enjoyed the pictures of it that you posted on Facebook.” Touché. This brief exchange got […]

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Public School: A Viable Option

Commentary I am the product of public school education. My public education shaped me, not all for good, but much of it was. It was instrumental in my growth – not only intellectually, but spiritually as well. The spiritual growth was not by any design of the school administration or teachers, but even unintended, it was real and substantive. Thankfully, I had a strong church and a Christian family to keep me grounded. Public school served as a counterpoint to these spiritual anchors. In hindsight, I can see at least three things I gained through public education. A Lens for […]

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