One cannot be a serious Christian without being strong and courageous. There are two particular elements of growing in Christ that require courage and both are a result of being obedient to Jesus. First, obeying Jesus in public life requires great...
Have you ever noticed that Israel has to go through the wilderness before they can inherit the Promised Land? As the story goes, Israel was delivered from slavery in Egypt, and the way out of Egypt was through the desert. The final destination was...
I mentioned in this post that the Bible compares Jesus and the Church to a married couple. I noted that the points of comparison between the two are deep love and commitment (self-sacrificing love and commitment). This isn’t the only metaphor the...
Not long ago I wrote about guarding our minds and hearts by being careful about what we allow ourselves to be exposed to in the world. I said that the same way that we have to be very careful about eating clean food, we likewise have to be very...
At the end of each academic year here at Emmaus Biblical Seminary in Haiti, we do a deep clean of the cafeteria kitchen. My ministry partners have spent the past three days washing, scrubbing, bleaching, mopping, wiping, painting, and bleaching...
This week, people around the world celebrated Mardi Gras. Mardis Gras, which is French for “Fat Tuesday” has its roots in Roman Catholicism (and other Christian traditions). Fat Tuesday is the Tuesday just before Ash Wednesday, which marks the...
I recently had the privilege of writing a chapter for the forthcoming book, Leadership the Wesleyan Way. The title of my chapter assignment was “Holiness and Power: The Recapitulation of Power in the Book of Isaiah”. The chapter explores...
Sanctification is a hard thing. It’s an intimidating thing. The word itself essentially means “the process of becoming holy”. One of the issues with this definition, however, is the lack of clarity that many have regarding the...
It is crucial that the church of Jesus remember its precise mission and calling when facing challenges of epic proportions. It is tempting, especially in times like these, for the church to react out of human impulse rather than respond with the...
Post-Pentecost we get into the habit of talking about the Holy Spirit. Most people from my tradition (Protestant evangelical), when thinking and talking about the Holy Spirit, have the tendency to talk about the “gifts” associated with...