keyword
Search by topic, scripture, category etc..
100 Results in 937ms
Display
Sorted By
-
illustration
We are people of desire. We want things
We are people of desire. We want things. We long for things. It is primal to our nature to yearn. As Saint Augustine reflected, “The whole life of the good Christian is a holy longing. . . . That is o... -
blog
Keeping Christ at the Center
Christmas in May I’m pretty sure it was Stephen Covey, back in the day ( The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People ) who originally said, “The main thing is to let the main thing be the main thing... -
illustration
The Power of the Worldwide Church
It is a phone call no parent wants to receive. “Jerry,” Bethany said, “Catherine’s had a little accident.” “Accident! How bad?” “She’s going to be okay. You want to talk to her? We’re in a kind of am... -
illustration
Living up to the Name "Christian"
Some years back, on the Today Show, Maya Angelou was asked, with all that she had accomplished, could there be any more objectives, unfulfilled wishes, for her to pursue? Angelou said, “Oh, my, yes. I... -
illustration
The Crucial Thing
In a journal entry by the Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, the great existentialist philosopher describes the importance not simply of grasping the truth of the Christian faith, but having the tr... -
Quote
But what seems to happen in our lived practice of worship is that we don’t simply enjoy the stimulation; we expect it from God. We don’t just value “positive” emotions, but in our lived experience and... -
illustration
Who Determines Your Behavior?
Some years ago, the syndicated newspaper columnist Sidney J. Harris shared an interesting anecdote from one of his friends. Each evening, this friend would stop at the same newsstand to buy a newspape... -
illustration
Creating Christian Consumers
I’ve served on staff at a few different churches throughout Silicon Valley for the last decade and a half, including a medium-sized church, a young church plant, and a multisite megachurch. At each, w... -
illustration
Sometimes Easy, Sometimes Hard
You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. He says, “Take up your Cross”—in other words, it is like going to be beaten ... -
illustration
A Day with Jesus
A group of fourth-graders at a Christian school was given an assignment to draw what they would like to do if Jesus spent a day with them. After working diligently on their pictures, one little girl a... -
illustration
Don’t Let the Church Keep You from Being a Perfect Christian
In this satirical excerpt from How to be a Perfect Christian by the Babylon Bee, the point becomes clear that our often-consumeristic approach to church leaves much to be desired: You want to be a p... -
Quote
When we believe that we should be satisfied rather than God glorified in our worship, then we put God below ourselves as though He had been made for us rather than that we had been made for Him. -
Quote
[The chief aim of Christianity] was to give room for good things to run wild. -
illustration
What is the Gospel?
I recently visited a missions school at a large church in Waco, Texas, and decided to try a similar test in a class-sized proportion. “Tell me,” I said to the group, “what is the gospel?” A young lady... -
Quote
The god of Consumer Christianity does not inspire awe and wonder because he is nothing more than a commodity to be used for our personal satisfaction and self-achievement. -
illustration
Christianity: A One-Way Ticket to Heaven?
Most people today imagine that the point of Christianity is “to go to heaven when you die.” That’s what most believers believe. It’s what most unbelievers unbelieve. It’s certainly what journalists, b... -
Quote
American Christianity is a story of perpetual upheavals in churches and individual lives. Starting with the extraordinary conversion experience, our lives are motivated by a constant expectation for t... -
illustration
The Strong & the Weak
Every other religion and philosophy says you have to do something to connect to God; but Christianity says no, Jesus Christ came to do for you what you couldn’t do for yourself. Every other religion s... -
Quote
We are settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves. -
illustration
The Most Striking Feature of Jesus’ Teaching
The most striking feature of the teaching of Jesus is that he was constantly talking about himself. It is true that he spoke much about the fatherhood of God and the kingdom of God. But then he added ... -
Quote
I was told that our worship services should be designed with seekers in mind, and that unchurched people have neither the attention span nor the interest to give to the reading of Bible passages. The ... -
liturgy
Live Your Love
Holy Trinity, Community of Love, Draw your children together Across human boundaries Across denominations Draw us together in your creative light Awaken us to collaboration and mutual callings Quick t... -
illustration
Not Found Wanting
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it’s been found difficult and not tried. -
Quote
Hold material goods and wealth on a flat palm and not in a clenched fist. -
illustration
The Anti-Gift League
If you ever find yourself sympathizing with Charles Dickens’ character Ebenezer Scrooge regarding the commercialization of Christmas, you’re not alone—this has been a common complaint for quite some t... -
lectionary
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Summary The Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22 In the first chapter of this letter, Peter sets out the reason for writing. He affirms the eternal state of the believer: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lo... -
Quote
Conversion in the U.S. seems to mean we’ve exchanged some of our shopping at Wal-Mart, Blockbuster, and Borders for the Christian Bookstore down the street. We’ve taken our lack of purchasing control ... -
illustration
Context Matters
My friend Mike Metzger of the Clapham Institute once used the following example to demonstrate how important frames are if we are to make sense of reality’s puzzle. This may seem like a head scratcher... -
Quote
How is it then that we’ve come to imagine that Christianity consists primarily in what we do for God? How has this come to be the good news of Jesus? -
illustration
The Church of My Choice
One Sunday morning at a Colorado prison, a group of inmates was being led to the Catholic and Protestant chapels. One young man, however, kept walking past them and headed toward the main gate. A guar...
![[The chief aim of Christianity] was to](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1568028753525-d37f2c19bc1f?ixid=M3w1NzU0OTZ8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxDaHJpc3RpYW5pdHl8ZW58MXwyfHx8MTcxMDUzMzEzNnww&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&auto=compress&fit=crop&w=200&h=200)
Page 1 of 4
Keywords by Topic
C
- Christ and Culture
- Christian Character
- Christian Culture
- Christianity
- Christians
- Church
- Church and Power
- Church Growth
- Church History
- Church Membership
- Churches
- Communion with God
- Confession of Faith
- Consumer Christianity
- Consumer Culture
- Consumerism
- Conversation
- Creeds and Confessions
- Cultural Christianity
- The Christian Faith
- The Christian Life
- The Christian Walk
Keywords by Reference