Ten years ago, when I moved from rural North Carolina to uber-urban Tokyo, Japan, I brought with me a lot of baggage – and it wasn’t the kind immigration likes to rifle through. It was the baggage of a small minded boy who thought he had a grasp on God. Narrow views of religion are [...]

Good, good. (say it like the Emperor, you know you want to!) Okay, so JC makes a good point. I just say, check and see if that is based or contradicted anywhere else in the Bible. It is in fact found else where. Here is what I found. In the Greek, (the modern Koino anyway) [...]

“Do you have any tips for finding a good church?” Short Answer: Well, there is only ONE church, as stated in the Apostles’ Creed, “sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam” or “the holy catholic church,” that is, eternal and universal. The gathering of the people of God throughout time and space. When you profess faith in Christ, as [...]

申し訳ありません、このコンテンツはただ今　English　のみです。

申し訳ありません、このコンテンツはただ今　English　のみです。

I’ve just finished reading the complete Chronicles of Narnia (thanks to Robin!) and finally made it to one of the parts I’ve been looking forward to since I began the seventh book, The Last Battle. This is the section I’m sure you’ve heard about even if you haven’t read the series. It is the bit [...]

As Grace has posted a quote from Baxter Kruger: “As the light of Jesus shines into our darkness, we will not be yearning to escape the ordinary, we will be stunned and full of wonder at the ordinary presence of the blessed Trinity in our humanity. Heaven is not a bodiless state in an invisible [...]

While both Dave and I love to promote other Christian endeavors, we love to promote Christ above all. So while we have both agreed that Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola’s A Jesus Manifesto that is wandering around the net isn’t the first thing we would put our names on, not at least without clearing some [...]

Image via Wikipedia Frank Viola receives a lot of flak; a good deal of it may be deserved, but I think he is onto something. Yes, returning to more “Biblical” church practices and fellowship is necessary, but Viola sometimes says things that sound … just a little too aggressive. In his recent blog tour of [...]

Kingdom Grace has posted a few thoughts on “Not Starting a Church” originally from Wayne. The talkbacks are fascinating. Very insightful thoughts indeed. For instance, on the vacuum created by requiring care to occur in the context of relationship, For if there is no ‘group’ who cares about the person sitting beside me then there [...]

“For me the dynamic of a commitment to Scripture is not “we believe the Bible, so there is no more to be learned,” but rather “we believe the Bible, so we had better discover all the things in it to which our traditions, including our ‘protestant’ or ‘evangelical’ traditions, which have supposed themselves to be [...]

“You have a such a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your own tradition!” Mark 7:9Mark 7:9English: Contemporary English Version (1999) – CEV9 You are good at rejecting God’s commands so that you can follow your own teachings!WP-Bible plugin It is for absolute certain no man, woman nor child has ever [...]

What is Christ’s deepest passion? He was always about doing His Father’s work. He preached, taught, proclaimed and died for the Kingdom of God. Christ came to establish His Father’s Kingdom and I too must be about this work. No, not because I’m a citizen nor because of the benefits a citizen receives. Honestly, I [...]

This is probably my favorite painting of all time. Painted in 1872 by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoi (Иван Николаевич Крамской) – don’t know if you can see that, it’s cyrillic if you can’t – (1837(1837)-1887(1887)). This painting brings me to the point of tears, my heart aches for the humanity and humility that seeps through Kramskoi’s [...]

“It’s the people, it’s us, not the building.” We know that. We get that. So let’s really explore it a little bit. Let’s see what Christ has to say to us unclouded by the last two millennium of tradition. It might prove shocking. We are the “body of Christ” and many of us work together [...]

But woe unto you, O torrent of human custom! Who shall stay your course? When will you ever run dry? How long will you carry down the sons of Eve into that vast and hideous ocean, which even those who have the Tree (for an ark) [cross] can scarcely pass over? Augustine, Confessions Book I [...]

President Obama landed in Turkey earlier this week speaking urgently in his attempts to pull the US and Turkey back into a more friendly accord. What did he say? Well, this may prove controversial, angry and narrow-minded, so please forgive me – I am not attacking the president whose speaking skills only perhaps Reagan matched, [...]

“Lord, God, Father in highest heaven, I need a job. Please, Lord, if it be pleasing to You, grant me a good job. Lord, as well, You know that I am an impatient man. If it isn’t too much to ask, in the name of Jesus, grant me patience. And make it fast.” I prayed [...]

Someone has asked “In your kind response to my question, you mention concern for our souls … almost as if differences in doctrine preclude being saved. I am a member of a conservative Baptist chruch … though I’m not sure for how much longer. We practice ecclesiastical separation … one of the reasons I’m contemplating [...]

At any rate, we also seemed to get off subject a bit. This was never meant to be a debate against brothers, but a study in how to actually use the Bible when defending it.How does one use the Bible to defend the Bible. Are certain doctrines wrong?Why is this done the way it is?Where [...]