Memorial Day weekend, graduations, and the opening of the YMCA swimming pool means summer is here. The change of schedule and shift in routine can leave many people feeling a bit disconnected from encouraging friendships and church life. Here are a few ways to stay connected...
Fifteen years ago I read this paragraph: "Revival I define as a work of God by his Spirit through his word bringing the spiritually dead to living faith in Christ and renewing the inner life of Christians who have grown slack and sleepy. In revival God...
Let's not move too quickly to a new topic now that Easter Sunday is behind us. The content of many churches has changed in the past two weeks. The resurrection has been replaced by other themes important to our faith. But wait, when I read...
"In his great mercy God has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3 The Christian hope focuses not only on our individual future (the resurrection of the body) but also on our cosmic...
"The Lord Jesus Christ . . . will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20-21 Christ's conquest of death also indicates the nature of resurrection. Firstly, the risen Lord was not a resuscitated corpse. We do not believe...
"If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." 1 Corinthians 15:17 The second significance of the resurrection is that it assures us of God's forgiveness. I have read the statement of the head of a large English mental...
"The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the deadwhom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior . . . We are witnesses of these things." Acts 5:30-32 It is hard for...
"I want to know Christ . . . and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings." Philippians 3:10 The fact of suffering undoubtedly constitutes the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith. Sensitive spirits ask if it can possibly be reconciled with God's justice and love....
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 How can we believe in the love of God when there appears to be so much evidence to contradict it? The apostle Paul spells out...
"For Christ died for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:18 This is one of the great New Testament texts about the cross. It tells us the major reason why Christ died. Now we need...
