Can Positive Thinking Save Your Soul?
In 2006, Rhonda Byrne released a New York Times Bestseller entitled The Secret. This book dominated bookstore shelves, online blogs, and book discussion groups everywhere. The book’s message proclaimed the power of positive thinking. Essentially, if you think positive thoughts, positive things will come your way. You can be healthy, wealthy and wise—just be more positive about your situation. Byrne’s own words are actually more...
The Danger of Answered Prayer: When Our Daily Bread Turns Into Stone
It was in a garden in Gethsemane that Jesus Christ offered one of the most desperate prayers in all of human history: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Mt. 26:39). Yet the Scriptures tell us that the cup did not pass. For millennia believers have offered prayers to God. While some requests are granted, others are denied or, in some cases, seemingly unanswered. It...
Caught Between ‘Try Harder’ and ‘Trust Christ’: Keeping Christ Central to Biblical Teaching
If you happened to grow up in an evangelical church during the past fifty years, it is likely that you are familiar with stories such as Abraham and Isaac, David and Goliath, Moses and the Exodus, and Jonah and the whale. Such lessons are usually accompanied by a flannel-graph that makes any child feel as if he is right in the midst of the story. This adventure is often concluded with the “moral of the story” (similar to what is found...
The Preference Problem
Society has taught many of us to avoid discussing two things: politics and religion. Even regular churchgoers know to avoid certain topics pertaining to worship–particularly music. When we happen to find ourselves discussing music, often we attempt to construct a defense for our favorite style of music. However, such a conversation often results in either one party being angry or both parties “agreeing to disagree”. How do we...
The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love (Jonathan Leeman)
Review by Jesse F. Owens Since the dawn of the Church there have always been those opposed to the work of God and His Church. Some have persecuted it, others have corrupted it and, in the present day, many are largely apathetic toward it. Understandably, pastors are concerned for the culture and are curious as to what may done to bolster their church’s attendance. While the Church has properly diagnosed the problem, an appropriate...
Recent Comments