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Do you expect captives of the enemy to act like they are free?
Would the non-Christians you know label you as "judgmental"? How do we walk in the tension between maintaining our principles and standards while wooing people to Jesus? How did Jesus do that? These are critical questions that we must wrestle with if we want to be Christ-followers in our post-Christian world. In a series of interviews with sixteen to twenty-nine-year-old outsiders, 87 percent of them labeled Christians as judgmental (UnChristian, What A New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity And Why It Matters, Baker Books). They described most Christians as people who looked down their noses at anyone different from them. They said that most Christians they knew reflected a…
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Do you expect captives of the enemy to act like they are free?
Would the non-Christians you know label you as "judgmental"? How do we walk in the tension between maintaining our standards while wooing people to Jesus? How did Jesus do that? These are critical questions that we must wrestle with if we want to be Christ-followers in our post-Christian world. In a series of interviews with sixteen to twenty-nine-year-old outsiders, 87 percent of them labeled Christians as judgmental (UnChristian, What A New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity And Why It Matters, Baker Books). They described most Christians as people who looked down their noses at anyone different from them. They said that most Christians they knew reflected a "holier than…
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Our Freedoms
Today, many Americans will grill burgers, eat red, white and blue cake, watch fireworks and maybe even a parade. Today is a day of celebration in the U.S.A. We celebrate our independence from Great Britain since 1776. As Americans, we are grateful for the freedoms we have because of the great work and sacrifices of others. And yet so many live without even a fraction of our freedoms. So many in the world live without the freedom to speak, the freedom to learn, the freedom to travel, the freedom to worship, the freedom to choose work, the freedom to eat and on and on. So many live in slavery of…
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The Glad Game
“Let’s play the glad game!” The golden-haired, azure-eyed child declared to a group of grumpy-faced adults. Her silly phrase got me thinking, do I look for reasons to be glad? Two Fridays ago my husband and I nestled onto the sofa and put in the Disney classic Pollyanna. I prepared myself for a few cheesy lines. I expected the drama-turned-to-joy storyline. But I didn’t anticipate learning a spiritual practice from the 1960 film. If I take an honest inventory of my life, gratitude is often absent. I overlook the good things before me—friendship, food on the table, family, —because I’m focused on what I don’t possess. And as gripe about…
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F-R-E-E-D-O-M!!!
On this Fourth of July, what is on your agenda?