Book Review: A Christian Survival Guide

Posted on by

A Christian Survival GuideThere’s an old saying that goes something like this: People don’t plan to fail, they just fail to plan. The goal of A Christian Survival Guide: A Lifeline to Faith and Growth by Ed Cyzewski is to help Christian believers make a plan.

Cyzewski points out in the introduction that former Christians that have left the faith are often most aware of the serious issues Christianity presents. The last book I reviewed by Mike Hamel asks serious questions that the author doesn’t have good answers for; while he hasn’t left the faith he is no longer as certain as he used to be about the tenets of the Christian faith. A Christian Survival Guide wants readers to anticipates issues that will arise and be prepared ahead of time. From the introduction: This book aims to help the saints persevere, and so we’ll focus on answering that last question—what will help you survive as a follower of Jesus? Surviving as a Christian depends on having the right beliefs, putting them into practice in community with other Christians, and most importantly, meeting with God regularly. If we fail to address basic survival matters such as understanding God’s story from Scripture, defeating sin, or living in step with the Holy Spirit, we run the risk of missing out on the abundant life Jesus promised us, if not losing our intimacy with Jesus and leaving the faith altogether. Continue reading →

Aaron’s Golden Calf

Posted on by

golden calf“Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 

Begin by reading Exodus 32:1-6. The Hebrews demanded that Aaron make gods for them to worship and remarkably Aaron did so. Up until this point of the Exodus narrative Aaron had been as the spoken voice of God to the people of Israel. God would instruct Moses, Moses would share the commands with Aaron, and Aaron would in turn relay all that God had said to the people. They had all witnessed the plagues in Egypt, miraculously crossed the Red Sea, and trembled in fear as smoke and fire descended onto Mount Sinai. They had not yet received the written tablets but the words of the Ten Commandments had been spoken by God in Exodus 20. Before and after the commandments were listed all the congregation of Israel said together “All that you say we will do.” So why after all that would they risk provoking the anger of God by making an idol to worship? Continue reading →

Happy Monday

Posted on by

singles ministry

If you’re on Twitter we recommend following Church Curmudgeon. This is also a public service announcement to all guys everywhere: Valentine’s Day is this coming Saturday. Alright then, it’s Monday – let’s Happy! Continue reading →

Please Pray for Ergun Caner

Posted on by

A very vocal critic of Ergun Caner once wrote to me via social media “If you are Caner’s friend you must be a liar too.” He further suggested I re-examine whether or not I am truly a born-again believer. Such is the foolishness that Ergun Caner has dealt with for many years.

I am going to politely suggest reading two pieces and strongly suggest, rather implore, that my Christian brothers and sisters pray for Caner and his family. The first is an article appearing yesterday in Baptist Press. This story not only provides background of the particular issues in an objective manner but attempts to set the record straight concerning conspiracies and cover ups. The second is a highly emotional plea from Bucky Kennedy to please put the issue to rest. Kennedy currently pastors First Baptist Church of Vidalia, GA and has previously served as President of the Georgia Baptist Convention and Chairman of the Board at Brewton-Parker.

Please read the linked articles. Please thoughtfully and prayfully consider how you will respond when you hear gossip and criticism. Please pray for Ergun Caner and his family. Thank you.

Happy Monday

Posted on by

 

Poof, Monday

Yep, here we are again. The weekend is over and it’s gonna be Monday all day. If you need a few scripture quotes and words of inspiration, we have you covered. If cute animals, cartoons, comics, funny stories and pics of coffee get you out the door then you’ve come to the right place. Continue reading →

In Jesus’ Name

Posted on by

Jesus nameLast week I tried to answer the question Why Do We Pray in Jesus’ Name? Paul Wilkinson combined that post with another from the All About Prayer blog for this 2-for-1 special at Christianity 201. When I preached this sermon on Sunday morning I expounded on the name of Jesus by including two other scripture references: Acts 4:12 (And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved) and Philippians 2:9-11 (Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father). emphasis added  Continue reading →

Why Pray In Jesus’ Name?

Posted on by

prayer In the company I keep (Baptist churches in the Southeastern United States) it is a common feature of every pray to end with the words “in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.” Whether you invoke the name of Jesus at the beginning or the end of prayer, it’s probably something you do or have heard done even if you are not fully aware of the reasons behind it. We should address our prayers to the heavenly Father in the name of Jesus, but it is important to understand why and not just keep repeating words because we’re supposed to. Continue reading →

Shoutout to Blog Friends

Posted on by

Every week there are two or three new followers (and I’m sure as time goes by followers drop off the radar but I don’t get alerts from WordPress about those). I have noticed The Master’s Table pop up on a few blogrolls recently and wanted to give a shoutout to those blog friends and perhaps you might want to visit them as well.

Screenshot 2015-01-15 at 10.08.18 AMShe calls herself Writerwannabe and blogs at hometogo232. I believe we first crossed paths at the Inspirational Christian Blogs website but can’t say for sure; I’ve been asleep since then. You will find encouraging words, scripture quotes, poems and generally uplifting sort of posts on a regular basis.

 

Screenshot 2015-01-15 at 10.18.43 AMEvelin blogs at EvelinTampobolon, in both English and Indonesian. Her blogroll includes several Christian and inspiration websites. Shoutout and thank you Evelin.

 

Screenshot 2015-01-15 at 10.34.39 AMFinally I’d like to introduce you to a new blog friend that is really an old friend in real life. Miriam was a 6th grader when I when met the Waslewski family in 2003 (that’s her dad Mike on the surfboard). She recently graduated from Asbury University and will be traveling to the mission field in Northern Ireland. She has started a blog and will be sharing her new adventures as a missionary soon.