“Think Christianly” – A Review

Zondervan sent me a free copy of Jonathan Morrow’s Think Christianly for review.  The book can be purchased here.  Any parenthetical page numbers refer to this book unless otherwise noted. _______________________________________ For my first term paper in seminary, I wrote a strategy paper for planting a church in Stockholm, Sweden.  I hand-picked this city because it [...]

The Peculiar Case of Dakota Cochrane

Ultimate Fighter contestant Dakota Cochrane represents a good case study in the major point of contention between Evangelical Christians and gay rights activists.  This is so primarily because of his past in gay porn.  Cochrane has said he is not gay, he just did it for the money.  He now regrets this decision, he says. [...]

Survive or Thrive

Growing up Pentecostal I always held intellectually to various aspects of Pentecostal doctrine. Of course most notably were the doctrines that distinguish Pentecostalism from other theological camps. Among these doctrines are our beliefs about Baptism in the Holy Spirit (BHS) with initial physical evidence (IPE) of speaking in tongues (SIT). And of course this leads [...]

Tuned To An Out-of-Key Piano

Yesterday my mother was helping my little sister tune a guitar. I know very little about tuning instruments. I know there are knobs you twist on the top of a guitar, but beyond that I’m pretty useless. There’s also a key, not a literal key. But a key that sort of sets the standard for [...]

Christian Consumerism: Idolatry in Disguise

Over the past few months I’ve been growing more and more dissatisfied with something I’ve noticed has thoroughly infiltrated and saturated the Church like a virus. Perhaps the most troubling thing about it is the fact that it’s all done in the name of Christianity. Without thought we accept it simply because it’s endorsed by [...]

Christianity’s Outrageous Claims

“If the spiritual view of the world is the correct one, as Christianity boldly asserts that it is, then for every one of us heaven is more important than earth and eternity more important than time. If Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be; if He is what the glorious company of the apostles [...]

Drastic

This was originally written and published on Facebook, but it applies here as well: Sometimes I look at the model established by Biblical characters and just wonder… Think about it, some of these people went to incredible lengths to advance the Kingdom of Heaven. These men and women took drastic action in obedience to God [...]

Questioning Low Expectations

My hope is that in the course of my writings here my readers have come to realize that things are not as they should be.  The status quo of the Church does not align with God’s plan and purpose for the Church.  This conviction sparked this blog. The problem is not one solely of ecclesiastical [...]

Holiness, Hype, and Hypocrisy

Often times when we think of revival we have images of big tent meetings, massive excitement and unbridled passion.  There’s nothing wrong with those things, in fact I think a certain level of excitement and passion is good and necessary.  However, we must avoid equating holiness with hype. I was born in a place that [...]

Principles of Revival: Ezra Part 6

Looking at Ezra 4 through chapter 5 we find that those opposing the rebuilding of God’s Temple succeed, at least for a time.  It should be noted that they succeed through manipulation and making false charges (if the Temple is rebuilt, a revolt will ensue).  But we should expect nothing less from such people. Ultimately, [...]