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Peter writes, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." (1 Peter 2:11) A nice, solid, straightforward beginning to a rather large set of instructions (1 Peter 2:12-3:22). Who is Peter talking to? Well, clearly it is Christians, but he describes them (us) as "aliens and strangers". Interesting description. We are not part of this world anymore (Galatians 6:14). As aliens and strangers to this world, he has a simple instruction: "Abstain from fleshly lusts." It's funny. I…  ( Click for more )

We Americans live in a mostly "religious" society -- some 90% or so still believe in God in some sense or another -- but we primarily serve another deity: independence. There is nothing more important than American independence. This sounds good at the surface, but aren't we supposed to be dependent? You know, like, on God? On each other? We worship independence at least in name. And that, I'm pretty sure, is the reason for the growth in the "I'm spiritual, not religious" crowd. A growing number of people classify themselves as "spiritual" but not connected…  ( Click for more )

We are commanded in Scripture, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15) Pretty harsh. Okay. Fine. And then we read, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Okay, now wait! On one hand we must not love the world, but on the other hand the Father loves the world. Now, how is this making any sense? As it turns out, the term "world" is not as simple as you might think.…  ( Click for more )

There is a segment of Christianity -- has been all along -- that believe that Jesus was a pacifist. "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor…  ( Click for more )

It was some time ago now, but one of the first people I had to ask not to comment on my blog anymore was a guy who made it a practice of accusing me of "playing the victim card". I tried to explain I wasn't. He disagreed ... in a less than friendly manner (the basic rule of commenting on my blog). I explained that repeated accusations like that made conversations difficult. And after awhile, we parted ways. We know what it means to "play the race card". It might be something like, "She gets away with it because she's white." Or "You wouldn't treat…  ( Click for more )

I spent several years in the Air Force in my younger days. My job was Avionic Navigation Systems. I remember one night when they asked me to do a "ride along" to see if one of our systems was working. It was a KC-135 out of Rapid City, SD. We started making runs between Memphis and Albuquerque refueling C-5's, at the time the world's largest aircraft. We had a pilot-in-training at the helm and a pilot-in-training in the C-5 and I was riding in a flying fuel tank with a refueler-in-training trying to stick a jet-fuel-filled stick into a small hole above the windshield of…  ( Click for more )

Why were we created? What was God's purpose in creation? Specifically, in creating us? Here's what we know. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) In that process, God made Man. Here's what He said about that. "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:26) Now, isn't that strange? I mean, doesn't the Creator…  ( Click for more )

There are a lot of things written about the question of people leaving the faith. Of particular concern are the kids who grow up in a Christian home, seem to be fully involved, and then leave for college and come back without faith. It happens a lot. And lots of people are trying to tell us why. For instance, research tells us that a lack of training in apologetics is a serious problem. Kids simply don't have the arguments to retain their faith. One author suggests that failed fathers is a key factor. Those who leave cite things like disillusionment and a lack of "Christian authenticity".…  ( Click for more )

The Bible is clear that all humans face a final judgment at the end of time. Sure, there are temporal judgments. A drug addict faces the consequences of his or her choices in his or her body in this life. That kind of thing. But theactual judgment, the final judgment of human beings is yet to come. The same is not true for nations. Israel faced judgment in the Old Testament from their repeated idolatry. From the thousands killed over the rebellion of Korah (Numbers 16) to the exiles into Assyria and Babylon, the nation of Israel encountered the clearly stated judgment of God in real…  ( Click for more )

The other day I was talking to a guy about what it means to be a Christian. You know, the standard difficulties. "It means being good." "I mean, why would God allow bad things to happen?" "How is it fair for God to send people to hell who never heard about Jesus?" The regular mistakes and objections. The difficultly (for me) is that there are answers. The problem is that they are not generally emotionally satisfying. I mean, which feels better? "I worked hard and got into heaven" or "By grace you have been saved through faith; and that…  ( Click for more )

Anyone who has read very much of my stuff knows that words are important to me. Not just the recent redefinition of "marriage". All kinds of words. Are we saying what we mean and do our words mean what we intend to express? Over and over it seems that words, in their natural shift, are moving so fast that it's becoming increasingly difficult to actually express what we mean to say. So "love" now means mostly sex and perhaps warm affection. A lot of words have been hijacked from their original meaning to an almost exclusively sexual connotation. But beyond that…  ( Click for more )

How much is too much? Evangelism is a biblical command. And lots of churches are working on it. They have strategies and plans like "Set a goal for the number of professions of faith, conversions, or baptisms." Use more entertaining music, better videos, more inviting language. Build bigger churches with more room and comfort and programs. Because that's what works. One of the worst evangelical strategists was in the Bible. When the jailer asked Paul, "What must I do to be saved?" (which, you must agree, is a soft pitch to any evangelist), he quickly offered,…  ( Click for more )

The Great Commission. It isn't new. Or controversial. Most believers know what it is. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. Go and preach the gospel." No, that's not what Jesus commanded. That was part of it, but it was much, much more. What's interesting to…  ( Click for more )

The phrase is biblical. "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds." (Matthew 11:19) So it must be true, right? And, so, if Jesus was the friend of sinners (I'm not so sure these days we'd be willing to extend that totax collectors), what are we doing bringing up the whole "sin issue" these days? We claim to be followers of Christ. Follow Christ. Be a glutton and a drunkard and hang out with sinners! Of course, I'm making a leap,…  ( Click for more )

We feel pretty free here in America. We have plenty of comforts and luxuries. We're doing pretty well. We get to vote on representatives and leaders and laws, even if sometimes the courts counter the people. We mostly get to decide what's good or bad. It's the luxury of a democracy. (Okay, a republic, but you know what I mean.) For some reason, there are lots of people that seem to port that over to places it cannot go. They seem to think that truth is something to vote on. That is silly at best and dangerous at worst. They seem to think that God's views are variable and, let's…  ( Click for more )

If ever there was a completely outdated and therefore useless verse in the Bible, it would be this one, wouldn't it? Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD! (Isaiah 31:1)

Oh, sure, we can translate from "horses" and "chariots" to "humvees" and "jeeps", but, seriously, we (Christians) aren't waging war anymore, so what's the point? If that's what you come away…  ( Click for more )

I know a lady who is a devout Roman Catholic. She is divorced, so she is not really in good standing with the church. And she has met a guy she would like to marry, but the church doesn't allow remarriage, so she's living with him instead. She told me, "I think the church needs to change its position on divorce." It is popular in the media to hear of those (loud) voices calling for the church to change its views on homosexual behavior and other sexual sins. Many have argued that Pope Francis has changed the Catholic view on marriage, divorce, and homosexuality. If not,…  ( Click for more )

There is little doubt that the influence of (genuine) Christianity is on the decline in America today. We all know that. The Pew Research Center and Washington Post (among others) all affirm this. But we don't need polls to see it; it's right there. What's the problem? The answer depends on where you're coming from, of course. If you're one who has never been a part of the Christian world or has defected from it, you might say, "We're waking up to the truth." If you're looking at it from the Christian perspective, however, the answer is different. As it happens, however,…  ( Click for more )

Did you ever see The Final Cut? It was set in the future where everyone (almost everyone) has memory implants that record everything you ever did. Robin Williams plays a "cutter", someone who goes through those records when you die and makes a "final cut" of your life to give comfort and lasting memories for those who survive you. Of course, given the "uncut" version, with all its hidden sins, perversions, activities, and all, this can be quite a daunting task. In this movie, the person for whom Williams was hired to produce a final cut was a guy who…  ( Click for more )

One of the wonderful promises that we have from God is that He forgives and forgets sin. "I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins" (Isaiah 43:25). How wonderful! So while I am pretty good at remembering my own sin, God inflicts Himself with some divine form of Alzheimer's, with some sort of supernatural selective recall where not only does He not remember my sin, but He also doesn't pay attention when Iremember my sin. "Dear God," I might pray, "I still feel so bad for that particular sin. Please, please,…  ( Click for more )

What is "objective good"? The term is meant to describe that which is, in and of itself, good. It is intended to stand in opposition to subjective good. This would be that which is good to me (or you, if you prefer). You can see this, right? I remember the story of two villages along the Amazon (which originally was a river in South America, not a book-selling website). A heavy rain came through, and the question was, "Is that good?" The village upriver was delighted. They needed the rain for their crops. The village downstream was devastated. The rain caused a…  ( Click for more )

We all know the evils that people do. There are murderers and rapists. There are those who injure children and those who torture puppies. There are those who rob banks and deal in drugs. We all know of these bad things. It's awful. It seems that we have, on the other hand, a range of "acceptable sins", things that, well, if you're going to get technical, are sins, but, look, everyone does them and, really, they're not that bad, are they? The first one that comes to mind for me is unforgiveness. I mean, if someone does you wrong -- serious wrong -- who would blame you…  ( Click for more )

James writes "to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion", to the Jews who are throughout the world. He has a lot to say about a lot of topics, but in chapter 4 he brings up the problem of infighting. Why do we have conflict? "The reason," he says, "is that you desire and do not have." So we fight to get what we want. Bad. Then, as if in disgust over the whole thing, he writes this: "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" (James 4:4). This is an odd concept on the face of it. Since "adultery"…  ( Click for more )

We all know the Great Commission, right? Go and preach the Gospel. Well, no, not quite. Although that might be the answer you will hear ... or even think. No, Jesus said something a little different. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

What's my point? Didn't that just say we were supposed to…  ( Click for more )