If “aw shucks” inclusivistic sincerity were enough to commend a soul to heaven, hell would starve. Unfortunately, Joel Osteen’s “gospel” is enough to populate hell. Recently, the pastor of the nation’s largest church, Lakewood Church (Houston, TX) was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s “The Situation Room.” Blitzer asked Osteen whether or not Romney, a Mormon, was a Christian. Osteen’s answer was not surprising. He said, “When I hear Mitt Romney say that he believes...
I awoke this morning with this thought rolling around in my mind: “What would I do with all that money.” In case you have been under a rock for the last three days, this morning’s thought dawned courtesy of the Mega Millions lottery drawing on Friday March 30th. The story of the biggest lotto ever led the headlines for at least two days. So, the question on my mind had already been the topic of...
What’s So Great about the Church? Opinions about the nature or the need of the church abound. You may have heard someone say that the church is only one generation away from extinction. I suppose what is meant is that in a generation, it is possible for the church or a denomination to abandon Christ and his teachings. This is not a fictitious threat. If you look at the letters written to the churches in...
You will look in vain for a section of the Bible entitled “Guidelines to Christian Parenting.” There are a few texts and they are extremely important and they fall under the general heading “Families that serve the Lord and live for him do these things.” With regard to children, parents are to instruct their children in the ways and commands of God (Prov 22:6; Eph 6:4). Fathers in particular are to guide their children in...
There has seeped into the church culture a “new normal” with regard to children “growing up Christian.” I say “new normal” because I can only imagine it has not been this way in past generations of believers. Nothing in Scripture seems to support the idea that children growing up in a Christian home will “graduate from God when the graduate from high school” and return after they are married with children of their own. That...
In a recent staff meeting, the children’s ministries director told us that a family was “leaving our church for another place where their children could connect.” The presenting complaint was that the pre-teen and teenaged children could not understand the Sunday sermons. Therefore, they had a find a church where the preaching on Sunday suited their teen children. Being the elder who does the majority of preaching, I’ll leave the quality of my sermons and...
It’s time to make a significant difference in our homes; specifically with regard to the spiritual formation of our children. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, my wife and I are becoming expert empty-nesters. I believe we have a way to go before hitting the “veteran” level. But right now, we have adjusted to the quiet and the freedom. Our daughters have been on their own for a number of years. One is married...
Denver stations want to know: did you find the Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch about Jesus appearing in the Denver Broncos locker room after a big win in Chicago, funny or sacrilegious? If you aren’t a fan of SNL or haven’t seen the sketch it can be viewed at any number of websites including the Denver Post, ESPN, Westword, USA Today, etc. If you don’t want to go on-line to see it because you already know the tone...
If you live in Colorado, you will likely hear a news or sports story about Denver Bronco quarterback Tim Tebow at least once a day. However, when the Wall Street Journal Weekend dedicated two pages to Tebow, I knew it was time for pastors to start blogging. Tebow came to Denver in the 2009 draft, simultaneously heralded and maligned. He didn’t see much on-field action in his first seasons. The few times he played at the QB...
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