Christian Living

I have always enjoyed the story of Moses sending the 12 spies from the 12 tribes of Israel when they were on the verge of entering the Land of Canaan. I was taught the song in Sunday school as a little boy, “Twelve men went to spy in Canaan; ten were bad and two were good!” I am sure many of you remember that song as well! I would like to draw your attention to 4 things the spies saw.

Peter knelt in the water, intent on washing his nets. Unaware of the crowd of people thronging Jesus, he, along with James and John, continued the task of rinsing grime from the Galilean Sea off their empty nets. The night had been long and fruitless. They had not a single fish to show for their efforts.

These are alarming times. Financially and economically, the world seems to be barreling down the road toward the precipice. Politically, the country seems to have lost its sanity. Morally, everybody seems to have thrown it all overboard. And Christians seem to have no idea what to do.

You know them—they slap your back and say an encouraging word…without really pausing to hear how you’re doing, or if you actually need encouragement, or maybe a listening ear. That’s annoying, but the worst problem with a professional backslapper is not what they do, but what they miss—especially when they are a spiritual leader.

From time to time, I hear people criticizing Christianity as being too negative. They often point to the “legalistic” rules of the Bible, the “hell fire and brimstone” preaching, or the conservative lifestyle of its followers as reasons for rejecting the message of God. The very words Baptist, or fundamentalist, or even Christian scare them. They fear that an acceptance of Bible truth will make their lives miserable and lonely.

The best way to define revival is biblically. Oftentimes we get off on the wrong foot by defining revivals by history. We learn about revival from the Bible, but history simply illustrates Bible truths about revival. Revival is God bringing His people back to spiritual health.

Some of the most impressionable memories are those of personal encouragement. Most of us can easily remember timely words or actions of encouragement that took place even years ago.

One of my favorite things about serving the Lord as a missionary in a country that does not have a Christian heritage is that virtually everything in the Bible is new to the people. Sadly, many Christians who grew up with the Bible eventually get bored with the Bible. I don’t think it has to be that way, but oftentimes it is.

If you think it’s difficult to read through biblical genealogies, try preaching through one! I recently preached from Luke 3:23–38—a full sixteen verses listing the genealogy of Jesus. If it weren’t for the fact that when I began the Journey with Jesus preaching series I promised our church that we would cover every verse, I think I would have skipped these verses!

God sees more in us than we see in ourselves. While we see our own insufficiencies, He sees His ability to do mighty things through the lives of those who will take Him at His Word.

For the longest time, I thought faithfulness had died in our culture. I was so wrong. Faithfulness has not died; it has been misplaced. Every single person on this earth is faithful to something. The problem with our faithfulness is the object of our faithfulness.

No one could have listened to John the Baptist’s preaching and left wondering what they were to do. John had a one-word message: Repent! John’s purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry. Repentance—true, heart-plowing repentance—is the key to making room for the seed of God’s Word to take root.

There’s not a committed Christian in America who wouldn’t like revival. But I’m afraid there are few who are desperate for revival. We stand in dire need of revival, but we don’t always carry a personal urgency for revival. Much of the book of Lamentations is the cry of a prophet who sensed the immediacy of his nation’s need for revival. Yet his cry was one of anguish because the people to whom he ministered were content to live without it.

Over the years, it has become a common practice among certain Christians to treat others as if they are wearing either black or white hats, like the main characters in the old cowboy shows. Some will remember that the ones with the white hats were “the good guys” and the ones wearing the black hats were “the bad guys.”

Have you ever been disappointed as you learned the faults of great Christians? When you discover the flaws in a well-known Christian leader, are you tempted to discount the truths they have preached? I think all Christians go through struggles of this nature.

There is no verse that says, “Thou shalt not shoot up heroine,” yet we know it is sinful because of Bible principles. Likewise, the Bible is filled with principles which make gambling undeniably sinful. In this article, we will examine several of those principles from God’s Word.

If I had a nickel for every time I have to push past rarely-worn clothes in my closet…I wouldn’t have very many nickels. And that is by conviction. (That is, by a conviction about not having a cluttered closet, not by conviction about not owning many nickels. I have no conviction against owning nickels.)

Notice very carefully what John is saying to us (born-again Christians addressed as “little children”) in the First Epistle of John, chapter 2, in the first two verses. He is telling us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit how we should deal with sin. But take note of what he actually says to us. Let us understand what he means by the context.

I’m going to postulate about your weekly schedule: it is too full. And I’m going to make another assumption: there is something you are regularly doing that can be removed. Am I accurate? If I was accurate on the first point, I can guarantee you that I’m accurate on the second. (If you’re not convinced, keep reading.)

On July 4th, 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote some of the most powerful words in all of history: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”