What is truth? If you’ve been on a college campus in recent years, this question has been popping up more and more. Aside from humanities majors having to write papers on this question, it is the result of something tragic in our culture. Something that if it were not so sad would be one of the funniest things you’ve ever heard. Read the rest of this entry »
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Though I’ve always sworn not to make B2C into a personal confessional or a public display of my private walk with the Lord, after neglecting this blog for over a month I feel I must begin again with repentance. It is a sad thing when you have the time to write and to serve like I do yet do not provide any content for anyone to benefit from. I cannot blame it on lack of material. God is an inexhaustable topic, as Paul says in Romans 11:33, “How unsearchable are His judgments and how unscrutable are His ways!” For that, I am sorry, to all two of you reading this.
As I begin to blog again and as Tyler and I sort out our future vision for this website, I want to take you on a personal journey that we can all relate to. Before the big books on theology, before the worship songs always played in G, before the word “encouraging” takes a predominant place in your vocabulary, before you at some point become obsessed with marriage, there is this experience all Christians share. We all know the call to believe, whether you have a distinct moment where you know you were saved or cannot remember when you were converted. We begin our stories in the most important part of the greatest story ever told: at the foot of the cross. Read the rest of this entry »
This is part 3 in a series on biblical illiteracy and its effects on America and within the Church.
For being dead in my trespasses, I knew quite a bit about the church. For about ten years, I grew up in a local church and participated in the various activities they had for kids. I was in Sunday school, I was a shepherd in a Christmas pageant, I could even repeat to you the Apostle’s Creed (We believe in one God, the Father…). But if you were to ask me about God Himself or about Jesus, I could tell you very little. I knew church. I didn’t know the gospel.
Part of that may have been that I was just a kid and I did not think in theological terms. But my experience in the church is like so many in our so-called Christian nation. We go to church, we learn the basics about how to do good and we come out of it Christianized non-Christians. And this leads to the main modern effect of biblical illiteracy: a Christ-less Christian nation.
This is part two of a series on biblical illiteracy and its effect on American culture and the Church.
I never thought of Billy Preston as a preacher. But his words, more often heard in commercials nowadays, ring true in this age of biblical inerrancy. ”Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.” Preach it, brother!
His words remind me of many conversations I have had with people who claim to be Christians but who reject the gospel. One story in particular comes to mind. I had been trying to reach out a friend and we had once gotten into a fight because I basically told him that he wasn’t a Christian. Needless to say, it was a while before I could share the gospel with him again. When I finally got that chance, I simply shared with him the basic tenets of the faith. I talked with him about Christ’s life, death and resurrection, that we must be born again and that no one could attain salvation based on merit. After I finished talking, he simply said this, “I just don’t interpret it that way.” This baffled me. How could his interpretation lead him to a completely different basis for his faith? How could we both be Christians and see God as two different Gods? Read the rest of this entry »
This is part one of a 9 to 10-week series on biblical illiteracy and its impact on America and within the Church.
My life’s ambition is to be a sponge.
While most will find that statement curious, I believe it is all by grace. Sponges absorb liquids quickly. They need no training or technological improvements to do their job. My job is to know God’s Word. Therefore, I long to absorb its contents like a sponge. I want to cram its wisdom inside my head. If I know nothing else, I want to know Scripture.
Many Americans, including evangelicals, do not hold this same view of the Bible. With secularism on the rise and fewer people attending church, many simply have a Bible on the shelf just to have it on the shelf. Some even share the view of atheist comedian Pat Condell, who once said, “If all you have is Scripture between your ears, then you’ve really got nothing between your ears.” Unfortunately, American culture has turned the Word of God into another ancient book. While some folks recognize the Word for its wisdom, I believe the majority of young American evangelicals, due to either ignorance or familiarity, fail to recognize its true quality. In the Bible’s 66 books, you get to learn about the most important person of all time. You meet the living Jesus of Nazareth. Read the rest of this entry »
Even though the Christmas season has not yet begun, the holiday ads are already flooding the airwaves. Businesses across the nation are looking forward to the extra revenue especially this year with its economic crisis. The winter holiday has become not only a celebration for Christianity, but also one of four national holidays, the others being Thanksgiving, Independence Day and the Super Bowl.
This became clear when Lori Littman Brown, lobbyist with the Secular Coalition of America, appeared on the “Colbert Report” and explained the secularization of the holiday in America:
“In fact, Christmas is now a secular holiday…which means it’s no longer just about a religious thing, it’s a secular thing and we can all have parties and enjoy it.”
I understand that I have been very quiet on this blog and for that I must apologize. With that being stated, I am going to start a series on Evangelism that could last a very long time. I am unqualified to write on such a topic, but I pray that God would give me grace to do so and that He would be glorified through this leaky vessel’s work. I am a sinner in desperate need for the grace of God.
What is the etymological root of “evangelism”? “Evangelize” comes from the Greek work “euangelion” which means “object of good news.” To evangelize is to share one’s object of good news. I purpose this short essay and its ensuing series to the labor of showing some weaknesses in the modern construction of evangelism and to cultivate a more accurate, biblical and authentic view of evagelism, encouraging Christians to love their Savior more.
This is somewhat an echo of yesterday’s post, but I wanted to talk about the cost of following Christ and give you a song to encourage you in your trials. Lately I have been listening to Lecrae, Trip Lee and Shai Linne. These three guys are Christian rappers whose songs are like a preaching jam. One song especially affected my soul. It’s called “Cling to You” by Trip Lee featuring Shai Linne. This song is about clinging to Christ in trials.1
Trials are a necessary cost of following Christ. This idea of the cost is very important. As people we are always evaluating the cost of things and trying to get the best deal possible. Scripture has some difficult things to say about what the costs are to follow Christ (Luke 14:25-35; Matthew 16: 24-25).
When you read those scriptures, it will become evident that the cost is great. A person must count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8) and count their life as no value to themselves so they can testify the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24). Since the cost is so great and people still choose to follow Christ, then there must be a reward that is greater than the cost. The reward is Christ (Romans 5:1-5)!
- http://www.rhapsody.com/player?type=track&id=tra.20676098&remote=false&page=&pageregion=&guid=&from=&pcode=rn&hasrhapx=false&__pcode= [↩]
Where do you run when you are under trial? To sleep and video games or to Jesus Christ? Trials are never anything that we want to go experience. Yet, our experience with them are a sweet and precious time to learn to lean on God only and to sanctified through the Son. Where we run to bring us comfort tells us what is dear to us. As C.H. Spurgeon put it: how deep the affliction we experience because of Christ’s “absence” in our lives, depends on how much we love him.
Please read or listen to this Spurgeon message entitled; “Night and Jesus Not There!” It is amazing and highly quotable. He extracts a lot from just one short line in John 6:17. The man who is reading the sermon is also very engaging and you forget that he is not the original speaker. Enjoy!
Who are you fighting for?
When I was making the promotional video for this series I was thinking of a whole gamut of Christians; from the newly re-born to those who have been in the service for most their lives. It doesn’t matter where you are at in your walk with Christ; there is always a question begging to be answered, “who are you fighting for?”
When the spiritual world becomes known to someone it can be frightening. C.S. Lewis called this world “enemy-occupied territory.” What they never tell a person when they are considering Jesus is that things will get tougher than they are now. Before a person serves Christ, Satan already has them in his hands. They are not a threat in anyway to his power or dominion. However, once a person dedicates their life to Jesus, they become a walking bull’s eye for evil beings and evil people alike. The formula goes like this:
