I’m sure you’ve been told before that, as a Christian, you are to ‘be salt and light’ to the world. Because you’re aware of Jesus’ sermon given on the mount, you understand that this means to love your neighbour, forgive your brother from your heart, avoid sin, and love God.
You’ve reached the end of a fantastic study. The group has been engaged, asking good questions; you feel like you’re seeing a group of people keen to apply the word of God to their lives. You reach the application questions. And nothing. No one comes up with anything.
Vine Journal features longer articles and essays that convey the best of cross-centred theological thinking, applied to real-world evangelical ministry.
Four video studies on the big ideas and people of the Reformation.
Do you know about and care about the Christian ministries your congregation members are engaged in that are outside the programs of your church?
If as Christians all we have to share online is how great or memorable parenthood or our children are, it’s not helpful for us or others.
Prayer from God’s children to our heavenly Father is never wasted. Every prayer is heard, and we “ought always to pray” (Luke 18:1-8). Throughout Scripture, though, I have noticed that, whilst individual prayer is vital and significant in the life of each believer, it’s when Christians gather together to pray that God chooses to intervene.
This is the first book I'm aware of since Vatican II that looks at Roman Catholicism as a system (rather than just a set of isolated beliefs) and then critiques that system. The advantage of this is that it helps us Protestants understand how all the different bits of Catholicism fit together, and as a result be wiser in the way we speak about it.
Sometimes we take good advice. Sometimes we don’t. What about biblical exhortations? Take the following, for example: “always [be] prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15). This instruction makes a lot of sense to a Christian.
When we read of God's plan of salvation, it's our natural tendency to put ourselves at the centre. We want a customized plan for our lives from God, and may subtly (or openly!) assume that God's plan for the world has us at its centre.