Category: Faith

Bible, Book Reviews

Book Review: “Erasing Hell” by Francis Chan & Preston Sprinkle

Chris

erasing_hell_coverThere has been a lot of discussion over who said what and what the Bible says about Hell. If you have taken note of the discussion, or are just curious, this book will interest you.

But there is far more at stake than the “Hell” debate, and Chan & Sprinkle make it clear right from the beginning. This is about more than doctrine; it is about the destinies of human beings.

Erasing Hell is not a direct response to Rob Bell’s Love Wins book that started the recent rounds of debate. While Chan & Preston refer to Bell in a couple of chapters, it is not a Bell-bashing book. It is an investigation into the biblical description of Hell.

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Bible, Christian Living

One Reason God Is Not Answering Your Prayers

Chris

Are you waiting for God to do something in your life? Is God providing in your time of need? Is He intervening in your relational problems? Has He brought healing to your life?

desperation

You have probably heard of various reasons why your prayers are not being answered. Some typical answers from Christians are, “It just isn’t God’s time,” or, “God is waiting to see if you continue to trust Him, praying until you receive.” Some harsher reasons might be, “You don’t have enough faith; you have to really believe,” or “There is sin in your life and you have to get rid of it first.” We also hear more biblical reasons such, “You aren’t asking for the right things.”

Jesus told His disciples about one key to answered prayer. If we are crying out to God and aren’t seeing results, we take a moment to see if this key is part of our lives.

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Bible, Christian Living

Week of Prayer Devotional: Excellence

Chris

This week a number of churches in our community are joining together for a Week of Prayer. The theme this year is “Excellence in Prayer.” We drew names for dates to speak, and I drew the first night. That was last night.

The reason we’re focusing on excellence is because of a devotion I gave at one of our pastoral meetings. In the devotion I briefly explain how we came to our theme, and then explain three keys to striving for excellence in prayer, or any other part of your life.

View “Excellence” on Google Docs

Bible, Christian Living

Be Careful How You Listen

Chris

“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a bowl or hids it under a bed. Instead, the person puts it on a lampstand so those who come in will see the light” (Luke 8:16 NCV).

Many of us have heard these words of Jesus from our youth. We have sang, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” It has been paired with the thoughts of being the salt and light of the world, and to be a light unto dark places.

But this verse is one slice of a greater message. While these are true statements and are implied and connected to these words from our Savior, they are part of something different.

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Christian Living, Faith

The Sound of Heaven

Chris

A good friend of mine in life and ministry, Andrew Duncan, posted these thoughts on his Facebook a few days ago. I truly appreciate Andrew, and am blessed to be included in the long list of musicians and worship leaders he has ministered with. Besides his involvement in music, Andrew travels and speaks, and God follows him wherever he goes, even onto the Facebook chat room. Be encouraged and challenged by his thoughts on “The Sound of Heaven.”

(P.S. Thanks, Andrew, for letting me repost this here.)

So I’ve been in the Kingdom now for almost a decade and I must say it’s been a sweet ride. With playing in various and mixed denominations there’s been a consistent topic that keeps coming up. The topic that we aren’t supposed to be receiving during worship, we are supposed to be giving God everything we’ve got. To a small degree I agree; on the most part, forget it.

In order for proper Levites to help the Holy Spirit lead others into worship, we first must create the musical atmosphere that Heaven can say amen to. If this atmosphere is missed and an order of service takes precedence over the spirit moving, we have not done the proper duties as Levitical worshippers.

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Bible

Exploring Hope – 6

Chris

If you’ve been following through our Exploring Hope posts, you might be glad to hear that this will be our last one. Some might have felt like we were going through a course to learn Klingon (a comment I received when preaching this sermon a few weeks ago). But these are the words from the Hebrew that we translate to “hope” in the Old Testament. Here is one last word that delivers an intense picture of our hope.

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