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Christian Living

Glimpses of the Believer’s Glory

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship, Leadership, Podcast
Have you thought biblically and clearly about your coming glory? That's right. Your glory. Does that sound heretical to you? Then, you'll want to listen to this episode. In this episode, you'll be surprised at the findings that we, as believers, are headed for a glorious existence that we can't even imagine and will receive rewards or glory from Christ that will shock us. This is the third episode in a three-part series on glory. ----- We want to help you raise strong disciples of Jesus Christ, who can stand strong in today's culture, and you can get the audiobook...
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Glory: Understanding a Confusing Religious Word

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship

At different times, I have been asked, “Why do you write?” One reason is when something is bothering my brain. I feel like I have to figure it out and clear in my head. I hate fuzzy thinking! That is part of the motivation behind this three-part series that I am posting on the podcast. I became increasingly bothered by our regular use of the word glory. What do we mean when we speak of God’s glory and our glorifying him? I ended up preaching a series of three short messages on Sunday night at my church. The first is entitled Glimpses of God’s…

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Glimpses of Christ’s Glory

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship, Leadership, Podcast
Do you feel stuck in your spiritual walk? Are you an older Christian who opens his Bible and thinks, "I've heard this before?" Do you worry that you are coasting in your Christian life? In this episode, we will look at the key to finishing strong, which is pressing more into the glory of Christ. We will learn Jesus is the focal point of God's glory, and we are to sense that glory increasingly. This is the second episode in a three-part series on glory. ----- We want to help you raise strong disciples of Jesus Christ, who can stand...
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Words That Last Forever: The Importance of Scripture in Today’s World

By Christian Living, Discerning Culture, Family Discipleship, Scripture & Scripture Lists

In 1949, George Orwell wrote 1984 as dystopian novel in which books are banned.  Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World in 1931 as a dystopian novel in which books don’t have to be banned. They are ignored by people. As many have noted, we are living in Huxley’s world. Between the Internet, our phones, and our conversations, who knows how many words a person encounters in a day? Yet, how many are the word of God? We don’t have to ban the Bible because it’s getting drowned out. The following list might encourage you with the gift you have in your hands. Read, meditate on, memorize, and…

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Glimpses of God’s Glory

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship, Leadership, Podcast
Have you ever wondered what the word "glory" means? As Christians, we throw that word around a lot, but we don't actually know what it means. In this three-part series, we will cover the topic of glory. In this first podcast, Glimpses of God's Glory, you can listen in on a short topical sermon as I take us through four different uses of the word. ----- We want to help you raise strong disciples of Jesus Christ, who can stand strong in today's culture, and you can get the audiobook of the Disciple Making Parent absolutely free. Simply visit: http://www.thedisciplemakingparent.com/freeaudiobook/...
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Hospitality: A New Testament Value and Duty

By Christian Living, Church Life, Family Discipleship

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. Acts 2:42, 46, 47 Practice hospitality. Romans 12:13 Now the overseer must be…hospitable. 1 Timothy 3:2 There is something mystically bonding when true hospitality occurs. The more a church becomes building oriented, the more this spiritual activity will atrophy. In a healthy church, hospitality and table fellowship are occurring in families and across families. There is nothing…

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Recovering Proverbs 22:6 for a New Generation

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship, Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years, Parenting: Teens and Beyond
In a previous article, I had us reexamine Proverbs 22:6. In this proverb, God states, Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  Clearing Up Misunderstandings Years ago, this verse was understood as a discipleship verse. Parents thought, “if I train up my child in the Christian faith, then when he is older, he will not depart from that faith.” It was understood as a promise. As a result of thinking this way, when young people walked away from the faith, these parents felt guilt. "What did I...
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Dads: Don’t and Do Defend Your Wife

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship, Leadership, Marriage

I was recently presenting a workshop on overcoming anger, and two moms brought up a point that may help all of us. I stated that anger is an emotion given to us when we see something that is important and wrong. However, Ephesians 4:26 tells us, “In your anger, do not sin.” That is to say, anger is a special temptation to sin. We are often wrong in our understanding of how important and how wrong something is. We can be sinfully angry in how we address something. But we also need to allow that anger, I said, to prompt…

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Pastor All the Sheep

By Christian Living, Church Life, Family Discipleship

I recently was asked to give a very short talk to pastors about the pastor’s family. I wrote about the subject several years ago here: How Churches Can Care for Their Pastor’s Children How Pastors Can Care for Their Children *The following are my rough notes from my most recent talk.* dHaving pastored for over 30 years and raised my children as a pastor, what advice would I give that is unique to a pastor? Here are three specific thoughts. 1. Pastor all the sheep. When you study the life of Jesus you see that there was a priority in discipleship: the crowds, the 70,…

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Living to Please the Lord

By Christian Living, Family Discipleship, Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years, Parenting: Teens and Beyond

Have you thought of the fact that your walk with Christ can please him? In fact, this should be one of the motivations in our Christian life. Though we are in Christ and therefore well-pleasing to him already, we also should be motivated to please him in our daily life. You can see that encouragement referenced in verses like: 1 Cor 7:32, 1 Thes 2:4, 4:1, 1 Tim 2:3, 5:4. But this drive to please is also in our children. Read the following excerpt from page 90 of The Disciple-Making Parent. I would love to know your thoughts. – Chap Wired to Please…

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