What Is a Christian?

A Christian is one who recognizes Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, as God manifested in the flesh, loving us and dying for our redemption; and who is so affected by a sense of the love of this incarnate God as to be constrained to make the will of Christ the […]

A worthy life

A few years ago, Dennis needed to some same-day cleaning for some clothes that were necessary for a trip he was taking. Then he remembered a store on the other side of his hometown of Katy, TX — “One-Hour Dry Cleaners.” So he gladly made the out-of-the way trek to the cleaning company and as […]

Little Christs

Several years ago, Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, offered WGN Chicago Radio sports-talk host David Kaplan $50,000 to change his name legally to “Dallas Maverick.” When Kaplan politely declined, Cuban sweetened the offer. Cuban would pay Kaplan $100,000 and donate $100,000 to Kaplan’s favorite charity if he took the name for one […]

Denying self and following Christ

Jesus: And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles recently spotted on the internet: Douglas Groothuis offers wise counsel on listening to sermons in “A short theology of listening.” An excerpt: Listen . . . with all your might; hear the living and active word. The teaching and preaching of God’s imperishable word is truly a sacred event whereby the Truth […]

Grab bag

From around the internet: A brief Q&A with Billy Graham revealed some reflections on aging (both how older and younger should think about it) and his life of ministry. I statement that I found particularly interesting: I also would have steered clear of politics. I’m grateful for the opportunities God gave me to minister to […]

Are all religions equal?

In God Is Not One, Thabiti Anyabwile quotes from a recent book to demonstrate that all religions are not equal — Which of the following–baseball, basketball, tennis, or golf–is best at scoring runs? The answer of course is baseball, because runs is a term foreign to basketball, tennis, and golf alike. Different sports have different […]

Religious theists and saving faith

Faith in God is not enough to save a man. Two related stories that came across my computer screen this morning authenticate that statement. The USA Today references this morning a survey by Lifeway Christian Resources about the so-called faith of young adults (age 18-29). In this study, among those who identified themselves as “Christian:” […]

Today’s Quote – Approval (Carson)

D. A. Carson, The Cross and the Christian Ministry: …many of us…have unwittingly become more like Corinthian Christians than like Pauline (that is, biblical!) Christians. Many of us are well-to-do and comfortable, with little incentive to live in vibrant anticipation of Christ’s return. Our desire for the approval of the world often outstrips our desire […]

Today’s Quote – Christianity (Guinness)

Os Guinness, The Dust of Death: Modern Christianity is crucially weak at three vital points. The first is its compromised, deficient understanding of revelation. Without Biblical historicity and veracity behind the Word of God, theology can only grow closer to Hinduism. Second, the modern Christian is drastically weak in an unmediated, personal, experiential knowledge of […]

Today’s Quote – Church (Guinness)

Os Guinness, No God But God: The overwhelming majority of Americans, more than 85%, identify themselves as Christians. But if the statistical indicators of faith are up, the social influence is down, and the reasons are becoming plain. There has been a carelessness about Christian orthodoxy, a corruption of Christian obedience, a vacuum of Christian […]