Ever meet a fellow Christian for the first time? There’s always that thing. That thing they are jazzed about. That thing that drives them. That thing that turns them on and sets them aglow. That thing that manifests itself quickly after they start speaking. Here are some of the many “things” that the Christians I’ve met throughout the years were stuck on, obsessed with, fascinated by, and well, just plain in love with. Evangelism. Theology. Pacifism (war, guns, the military,... Read more

There are two kinds of Christianity. 1. The Christian “religion.” 2. The Christianity we find in the New Testament. The Christian religion is built on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Christian religion can be studied using the same categories of thought used to study any other world religion. It can be analyzed just as Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism are analyzed. The difficulty with the Christian religion (like all religions) is that it makes its adherents think... Read more

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From the Lips of Lazarus . . . It’s been more than thirty years since I met Him. The day He first entered our home is etched in my mind forever. I shall never forswear those memories. My sisters, Mary and Martha, are no longer with us. Neither is my father, Simon, whom Jesus healed of leprosy. Most of the Teacher’s close disciples, all of whom I had the privilege of knowing, have rendered their lives for His Name’s sake. A number of... Read more

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Be good anyway. Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People need help but will attack... Read more

I keep hearing people in ministry say, “I have no hope for today’s Christians who are in their 20s and 30s. They aren’t interested in the deeper things of God. They are only interested in celebrity Christianity and what’s supposedly popular but shallow.” My response: This may be true for the majority, but the deepest Christians I know who are in their 20s and 30s are part of *The Deeper Christian Life Network* and they are an impressive tribe of... Read more

Most errors circulating in the Christian world today can be found in the New Testament era. In particular, the two main enemies of the gospel—legalism and libertinism (license to sin)—were both present in the early church. Galatians was written to legalists—hence the strong emphasis on liberty, freedom, and grace. James was written to libertines, those who presumed on the grace of God and turned it into a license to sin. Thus the book of James is strong on obedience, faith... Read more

“Another cause back of our top-heavy and ugly over-organization is fear. Churches and societies founded by saintly men with courage, faith and sanctified imagination appear unable to propagate themselves on the same spiritual level beyond one or two generations. The spiritual fathers were not able to sire others with courage and faith equal to their own. The fathers had God and little else, but their descendants lose their vision and look to methods and constitutions for the power their hearts... Read more

One of the talks from the Kingdom Message Master Class is available. It’s a message called Pressing Into the Kingdom. The talk is a practical unfolding and application of these two texts: “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it.” ~ Luke 16:16 “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by... Read more

“Every issue facing the church today has a slippery Caiaphas, a vacillating Pilate, a betraying Judas, and a centurion who will drive the nails because it’s his job.” ~ Lloyd John Ogilvie   Read more