7 Reasons Young People Question The Transforming Power Of The Gospel

~ Lawless

If you want to hear some honest but painful thoughts, ask some young people in your church (teens and young adults) if they really believe the gospel has transforming power. Often, they express at least skepticism if not blatant denial of this possibility. Here’s why:

1. They’ve seen hypocrisy in the church. They’re not deaf or blind to reality. They’ve seen and heard us speak of a Christianity that our lives often don’t model—and they don’t give people much grace when they see hypocrisy among us.

2. They’ve never really seen transformed lives. Frankly, we’ve raised them in churches that reach few non-believers and are often led by people whose own lives have settled into Christian mediocrity. Stagnant, plateaued believers have little cause to talk about transformation.

3. They’ve not heard much preaching about the transforming power of the gospel. Sure, they’ve heard calls to Christianity and righteousness, but those calls have not always been accompanied by the promise of power. They’ve heard condemnation, with little attention on the Holy Spirit.

Read more: http://chucklawless.com/2018/08/7-reasons-young-people-question-the-transforming-power-of-the-gospel/

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“Ten-Minute” Steps To Strengthen Your Walk With God

~ Lawless

Almost all of us, if not all of us, can find ten minutes a day to focus on God. In fact, we can likely find several “ten-minute segments” to devote to Him throughout the day—which means that we can grow in our walk with Him a little bit at a time. Start here: plan to use ten minutes each day this week to do one of these tasks:

1. Read a couple of chapters of the Bible. You don’t have to read a whole book in a single setting. I’d rather you read consistently for ten minutes each day than read once a week for an hour.
2. Pray for a few non-believers. Focus on them, and ask God to turn their blinded minds (2 Cor. 5:3-4) to Him. Ask Him to send someone—including the possibility of you—to speak the truth to them.
3. Meditate on your blessings. Do what the old-fashioned hymn told us to do: “Count your many blessings; name them one-by-one.” My guess is that this simple exercise will pick up your entire day.
4. Tell somebody how good God has been to you. Ask a co-worker, a fellow student, a neighbor, or a family member for permission to tell your story – and gladly jump into it when you find a willing listener.

The rest are at: http://chucklawless.com/2018/08/ten-minute-steps-to-strengthen-your-walk-with-god/

The Golden Rule of Bible Reading

• Look at the Book by John Piper

https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/the-golden-rule-of-bible-reading

Poor Interpretation Lets Us “Believe” the Bible While Denying What It Actually Says

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/randyalcorn/2018/08/poor-interpretation-believe-bible-denying-says/

A Meeting with God in a Tree Stand

As a kid, I loved the outdoors, the woods and lakes, hunting and fishing – so they naturally became a passionate pursuit for me as an adult. I love being outdoors and hunting is a great opportunity to unwind and take some deep breaths in the quiet and stillness of God’s creation.  I remember one hunt in particular.  It was a “draw hunt.”  If you are not a hunter and are unfamiliar with the term, a “draw hunt” is where you can put your name in a hat, and a certain number of hunters will luck out when their names are drawn to hunt for a specified time on government lands that are normally closed for hunting.

Continue: https://www.afa.net/the-stand/faith/2018/08/a-meeting-with-god-in-a-tree-stand/

Why It’s Dangerous to ‘Build a Church on the Bible’

This past Sunday First Baptist Dallas celebrated it’s 150th anniversary, a historic milestone of longevity and influence however you define it. But in an interview with the Christian Post preceding the anniversary, Pastor Robert Jeffress made a statement that on the surface seems doctrinal, but I believe is in fact dangerous. Here’s a printed portion of the interview between the Christian Post and Pastor Robert Jeffress:

CP: At a time when many churches are in decline or closing, how is it that First Baptist Dallas is celebrating its 150 anniversary and still going strong?

Jeffress: I think there’s one simple answer to that. We are a church that’s not built on a denomination or a church built on tradition or a church built on popular opinion. We are a church built on the Bible. The fact is, denominations change, culture changes, opinions change, but God’s Word never changes. I think the reason God has blessed First Baptist for these 150 years is, this is a church that has been dedicated to proclaiming the unchanging truth of God’s Word.

So, what’s so wrong with the statement? I’ll ask it this way: if you would have sat down with the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, perhaps even some early church fathers like Clement of Rome or Tertullian, and asked them what the church was built on, they wouldn’t have said ‘the Bible,’ and for a very good reason. ‘The Bible’ didn’t exist yet as we now know it, not being finalized in its canonical form until the 4th century. In the decades immediately following the resurrection of Jesus, even before the letters of Paul were written and the eyewitness Gospel accounts recorded, the church thrived and flourished not because of a book but because of an event.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/newwineskins/why-its-dangerous-to-build-a-church-on-the-bible/

Ten lessons for growing older

https://out-of-theordinary.blogspot.com/2018/07/ten-lessons-for-growing-older.html