From Faith
What do motives matter when we do things for God? “For whatever does not come from faith is sin.” -Romans 14:23b It is quite possible to do godly thing for ungodly reasons, and the Bible calls this sin. It is quite possible to do things with godly motives and still sin. Why? God never places […]
Adorn the Gospel
What do earrings and good works have in common? In his pastoral letter to his protégé Titus, at least five times Paul stresses the importance of “good works,” that it is for this purpose that we were saved. He says that the reason for this is that we might “adorn the gospel.” To adorn something […]
So Prove to Be
Fruit matters, and whether or not it’s real makes all the difference.
Prove it
If you say you follow this Jesus, prove it. Mark’s Gospel demonstrates that along with the preaching of Good News, Jesus proved the power of the Kingdom as a witness to the authority of the messenger and the authenticity of the message. The crowds often focused too much on the miracles and too little on what […]
Salt and Secrecy (part 3)
Principles do no good if there’s no practical way to apply them. Have you discovered this? High-minded ideals may be nice to think about, but to really make a difference in our lives, they need to have some skin on and work in the real world. The last two posts have been part of a […]
Salt and Secrecy (part 2)
Should I do good deeds in public or in private? In response to a question about my message last week, called “The Surface and the Substance” (), I shared some thoughts yesterday about the importance of following Jesus’ command in Matthew 5:16, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good […]
Salt and Secrecy (part 1)
Don’t you just love it when the Bible contradicts itself? Now before you get upset (if you believe the Bible) or cheer (if you don’t), hear me out. A friend called me the other day with a question: “In your message yesterday you said we are supposed to do our good works so people can […]
