Be The Fruit

What is going on at Willow Part 4

I started this series with the intent of it being a single post, but that initial post was beginning to get long so I decided to make it a two-part series.  Well, now we are into part 4, which will be the last post of this series.  At least I think it will be the [...]

What is going on at Willow? Part 2

Instead of covering the REVEAL findings, in this installment I want to point out one positive that I think has come out of the seeker-focused movement that Willow Creek has been a leader of. 
From my perspective, one positive that has come out of the seeker-focused movement has been the trend to strip away traditions in church that get [...]

What is going on at Willow? Part 1

I first heard about the REVEAL study last August while attending the Leadership Summit at my church which is a satellite location for the conference.  The news of the study, however, seems to keep being discussed as if it were brand new.  In fact, a couple weeks ago the topic came up in class, and [...]

Keys for Soul-Winning

From The Soul-Winner by Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Spurgeon lists eight key qualifications that a preacher must have in order to reach men and be the instrument to save their souls.

Not an ignoramus – Don’t be ignorant about the content of which you are preaching. “being to a great extent ignorant of the things of God himself, I [...]

Warning Signs of Sin

One of the topics we discussed today was the purity of marriage.  This topic lead to a brief discussion on internet pornography.  Dr. Scott shared that he keeps on guard and watches 3 signs that almost always lead to sin. These signs are:
Isolation – Desire – Means (Provisions)
If you are alone or isolated with a [...]

What are your essentials?

This past Sunday my pastor, Rick White, gave a message on 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.  You can watch the sermon by clicking here.  As you may know, this section of Paul’s letter deals with divisions that existed withing the church at Corinth.  One of Pastor Rick’s points was to “Know the difference between Essentials and Non-Essentials.
The [...]

Rahab’s Lie.

In Joshua chapter 2 we read the story of how Rahab hid the two Hebrew spies from the soldiers that were searching for them.  In verses 4-6, we read how she lied to the soldiers to send them away so that the spies could sneak out later.  There are different theories regarding this, but this [...]

The Golden Compass

So what should Christian parents like myself do about this one?
If you don’t know, The Golden Compass is a new children’s movie that just came out based on a book by Phillip Pullman by the same name.  By all accounts, Pullman is a “devout” atheist dead set attacking anything Christian, apparently writing this book, and [...]

Something to think about.

“…the chief purpose of life is not happiness, but the knowledge of God.”
From:  Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, by J. P. Moreland & William Lane Craig.

Note from my thought journal.

I have been reading The Confessions written by Augustine this week to wrap up my assignments for my church history class.  I had to read and keep a thought journal for additional credit.  Here is a thought some of you will appreciate.
The thought comes from reading pages 266-276 from my version where Augustine writes about [...]