THE BLOG
Topic
- Anxiety 2
- Beauty 1
- Bible 7
- Blessings 1
- Body of Christ 1
- Burden 1
- CEO 1
- Christian Living 199
- Christlikeness 6
- Christmas 14
- Commandments 1
- Community 2
- Conflict 1
- Cults 1
- Culture 1
- DDM 1
- Death 2
- Discipleship 6
- Emotions 6
- Eternity 2
- Evangelism 7
- Faith 2
- Forgive 4
- Freedom 1
- Fusion 1
- Gambling 1
- Gather 2
- God 2
- Gospel 3
- Gratitude 2
- Hebrews 11 1
- Holiness 1
- Holy Spirit 1
- Homosexuality 1
- Humility 1
- Israel 2
- Jesus 9
- Joy 2
- King of Glory 1
- Lying 1
- Missions 3
- Outreach 1
- Pastor Jeff 1
- Perspective 2
- Prayer 8
- Psalm 119 3
- Reading 1
- Salvation 13
- Sanctification 1
- Satan 1
Aspects of Discipleship
In the 1980s, while serving as Treasurer of our small church in Sacramento, I had the opportunity to book the President of Shield of Faith Mission International, Dick York, to speak at one of our annual conferences. Dick was a missionary in the 1950s and 1960s, evangelizing and church-planting in the postwar villages of South Korea. He brought the gospel to Korea years before Billy Graham held his massive Asian crusade there. Having served two tours in Korea myself in the Army, and having married my Korean wife, Dick took a personal interest in both of us.
Cover Our Mission Team in Prayer
Hey Church Family,
As we prepare for our Fusion Summer Mission Trip, we would really appreciate your prayers in the following areas:
Pray that God would be glorified by our mission efforts.
We go in obedience to Christ's commission to preach the Gospel and to bring him glory (Matt 28:19–20, 1 Cor 10:31).
The American Revolution: Justified or Unjustified
Perhaps you have never stopped to think about whether the American Revolution against the British Crown was morally justified or unjustified according to Scripture.
We just celebrated 250 years of our founding and independence as a nation and it doesn't take much to recognize the many ways our Lord of the nations has clearly given us undeserved blessing
Doesn’t the Bible Say We Should “Hate Our Enemies”?
Some Christians have wondered about passages like Psalm 139:21–22, where David writes: "Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?... I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies."
At first glance, this seems to contradict Jesus' command to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt. 5:44). In fact, it likely contributed to the common teaching in Jesus' day, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy" (Matt. 5:43). Yet a closer look shows these passages are not at odds.
The Roman Catholic/Protestant Divide: Does it Matter?
When you hear or read about Christianity in the news or an analysis of Christianity around the world, the groups that are represented include Roman Catholicism, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Latter Day Saints (Mormons), and Jehovah Witnesses. What you quickly realize is not all that is identified as Christianity is true Christianity.
Spielberg's Threat
Breakpoint shared the following article “Spielberg Wants to ‘Mess With’ Your Faith” about the recent remarks by Steven Spielberg about his new film "Disclosure Day" and how it will likely “mess with” a lot of people’s theology. The movie is about what would happen if there were a sudden mass revelation about the existence of extraterrestrial life. According to Spielberg, it will force people, especially Christians, to rethink Who God is.
Don’t Misrepresent
I am not trying to be political (though I faithfully vote, pray about election choices, try to be a good citizen), but I am guessing that by now, most, if not all of you have heard the name James Talarico in the news. He is a member of the Texas House of Representatives and is running in a highly publicized race to be a U.S. Senator from Texas as the Democratic nominee.
Resist the Devil
One of the things we quickly learn about living the Christian life is that it is a battle—against the temptations of the flesh (1 Peter 2:11), the allurements of the world system (1 John 2:15–17), and the seductions of Satan and his demonic forces (Ephesians 6:11–12). This battle is fierce, subtle, powerful, and relentless. As usual, the Lord gives us all the tools we need to fight with so we can win. Let me focus on how God has directed us to battle our fiercest enemy, the devil.
Liberated Living
One of the many blessings we have as followers of Christ is freedom. As Christians and Americans, we get to celebrate two kinds of freedom: one as a political nation (“with liberty and justice for all”; freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, to peaceably assemble, to petition the government for redress of grievances, from unreasonable search and seizure, etc.), but the greater freedom is as a holy nation (God’s people in the church—1 Peter 2:9).