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Blog Posts
God is Doing Just What Jesus Said!
About four months ago I wrote a post entitled, Does it Seem Like No One is Interested? (here). I explored some key phrases from John including, “my Father is working until now, and I am working,” “no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,” “they will all be taught…
Growing the Kingdom of Christ
John 18:33-37. Jesus is a great King (v. 37), but his kingdom is not of this world (v. 36, twice). Rather, it is from “above,” from God (cf. John 3:3, 5; 8:23). This means God is ultimately the one who establishes and extends the kingship of Christ (Isaiah 9:7; Daniel 2:44; Mark 4:26-29). Remarkably, however,…
It is Better for Jesus Not to Be Here
How would you like to have Jesus preach at your church in person this Sunday? Most of us would be delighted, but I’m going to suggest that it is better that he not do so! In fact, I’m going to suggest that it is better that he not be here on earth at all, at…
Testifying Today
In the previous post I mentioned that a more complete and in depth article would be coming soon on the whole matter of testifying to Christ. If you are interested, that article has been completed and is now available on the Resource page of the Empowering Subjects website here. You can click on the link…
Is Witnessing a Biblical Idea?
When I was a teenager I heard some of my Baptist friends talking about witnessing. I didn’t know what that was at first, but eventually I figured out it meant talking to others about Jesus. Then I heard them talking about people giving their testimony at church. I learned that this had to do with…
Does it Seem Like No One is Interested?
God’s instructs us to pray, watch and make the most of every opportunity. The context of these words suggests they are referring especially to influencing others toward Christ (Colossians 4:2-6). Sometimes, though, it seems like no one is really interested in Christ. So we get discouraged, and we stop praying, watching, and reaching out. I’ve experienced…
What it Means to be a Christian
Surprisingly, the word “Christian” only occurs three times in the New Testament. Believers and disciples are much more common terms. Still, the word is used to describe us (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16), and it is important for us to replace society’s negative understanding of what a Christian is with a biblical perspective. One…
The Senses of Making Disciples
Most of us would agree that discipleship is a central part of our calling, but we don’t all think about it in the same way. One common difference is whether discipleship is about bringing new people to Christ or helping existing Christians become like Christ. Some also think of discipleship mostly as something they should be…
Authentic Gospel
How You Can Tell God’s Good News. If you were following this blog, you know that I have been on an extended break so that I could work on a book. That project has proved to be longer and more difficult than I expected, but I’m happy to say that I have now completed a…
I’m Still on Break
I took a break from writing blog posts this summer (2023) so I could concentrate on some other writing. I made good progress on that writing but did not finish my project, so I am going to continue to break from this blog so that I can work on that other writing. Hopefully I can…
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