Do you believe that you are a Christian? If so, 33 percent of the world’s population would agree with you, based on research by Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2006.
How do you know that you are a Christian? What truths make an impact on your life to the point that you call yourself a Christian? There are four basic points we must understand, believe and live in light of before we can claim the name “Christian.”
We are often called towards growth in our walk with Christ. Ministry organizations and pastors are making a push for discipleship, moving beyond attendance and “casual” Christianity towards actively following and pursuing Christ-likeness.
There are warning signs that we are not growing in our relationship with Christ; signs that say, “Hey, you’re still a baby when you should be growing towards maturity.” We must honestly examine ourselves and realize that if we have one or more of these conditions, we need to get more serious about our personal growth in Christ.
Continue reading “Giving Up Childhood for Maturity in Christ”
I’m finishing up a sermon series on the book of James. Turns out, we’re talking about prayer. Here’s a slice from the opening of the message. It just might help if you’ve heard too many sermons about prayer.
You’ve probably heard many sermons on the topic of prayer. They are abundant and cover many forms, sometimes many formulas, and everyone who preaches on prayer says that if you aren’t doing it, there is something wrong with you. Have you heard that sort of teaching on prayer before?
What do you think results from those types of sermons?
I read a tweet tonight that was a few days old. (I’ve been “offline” for a number of days and am trying to catch up.) The Tweeter asked, “Who are you discipling? Who is discipling you? Blogs and vids don’t count. Imagine if the Amer[ican] dream was to disciple and be discipled.” While I understand the writer’s point, I would argue that blogs, tweets and videos are actually huge influencers when it comes to discipleship in our lives.
Chris MacKinnon 