Author: S&P

The church is sometimes accused of being bigoted, angry, hateful, arrogant, elitist, and hypocritical. This doesn’t describe the churches I have been a part of, and in fact most of the churches I know well are characterized by love, generosity, humility, and the pursuit of godliness. Where does the negative perspective come from? Why are Christians seen as mean? Are they just “haters?&...

Christianity has been called a “bloody religion.” Christians have built their faith, after all, on the bloody death of the crucified Jesus. We sing with gusto, “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!” And with the apostle Peter we confess that we have been ransomed “not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb wi...

Earlier this week I was playing cards with some locals at the cigar shop in town. I spend a lot of time in this place both studying and hanging out with people in the neighborhood. At the table with us was a young lady—college student studying music at the local university. We had a good conversation about the Millennial generation, and their lack of interest in the local church and even the Chris...

Less than a month after releasing his controversial book, A Letter to My Congregation, pastor Ken Wilson of Vineyard Church Ann Arbor gave an interview explaining his recent change of view on what the Scriptures teach about sexuality. In short, Wilson no longer believes that the Scriptures condemn homosexuality. He is not alone. Last year Exodus International, a Christian ministry formerly dedicat...

Ask any Christian parent what their dying wish would be, and they will tell you, “That my children will love and follow Jesus.” Unfortunately, many parents face the unbearable experience of watching their children leave the faith they grew up learning about every week in Sunday school and youth group. Things like frequent attendance at youth group, being involved in a small group, or even going on...

In many ways, the book of James has not had an easy journey into the New Testament canon. We have few references to it in the earliest stages; it was doubted by some church fathers, and, of course later, Martin Luther himself referred to it as “an epistle of straw.” However, we should be immensely grateful that God has preserved this book for us. Despite its detractors, the book of James provides ...

“You’re a heretic.” That’s a powerful claim, one with the ability to destroy. And like all weapons of mass destruction, it should be used with extreme caution. A recent blog post highlighted 7 Heresies Inside the Church. As I read through the post, I noticed two things. Yes, the author correctly identified seven dangerous ideas that the church needs to watch closely today. But there isn’t a single...

We live in a time of the anti-hero. Too often, the good guys are the bad guys and vice versa. Celebrities are often held up as heroes, until we learn too much about them. But to see a true hero, look at the real St. Patrick, who has a day dedicated in his honor. Unfortunately, many people only observe his holiday, March 17, by drinking themselves silly, which is totally contrary to the spirit of t...

Not the Thing that Comes from Your Dryer Born in the Bible Belt and raised in an evangelical church, I didn’t know what Lent was until after I graduated from college. That was nearly ten years ago, and since that time I’ve seen an explosion of evangelical observation of Lent. I’ve seen that surge in the church where I pastor, without any promotion from me. I’ve seen the same on social media, going...

When I spoke about the Seven Deadly Sins, you could see the squirming as I talked about pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, and covetousness. Most of us can see our pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, and covetousness and we feel convicted. Then I got to the sin of sloth and the group relaxed. Hardworking people who put in long hours at the office and then add on exercise, kids sports, church, and...

The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century changed Christianity forever. Roused to action by the corruption and abuses they saw in the Roman Catholic church of the time, visionary pastors and leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin spearheaded a movement that transformed Christianity and eventually led to the emergence of the Protestant denominations that exist today. The Reformers were gui...

Growing up in North Alabama, I remember going through specific routines in the event of an emergency. I doubt there was a kid who did not know why or when you need to stop, drop, and roll. We were trained in protocols in the event of a tornado, calmly lining up in the hallway and securing our heads from potential debris. We knew how to exit the buildings in case of a fire in a single-file line to ...