1. FGT ignores the seriousness of sin, and therefore promotes casual Christianity One of the most common misconceptions of Free Grace Theology (FGT) is that it downplays sin and leads to lawlessness. The argument goes that if someone is not fearful of losing his salvation—if his works don’t matter—he will pursue sin with reckless abandon.

By Bud Brown It has been my privilege to mentor pastors who want to see their churches become more effective at winning people to faith in Jesus. I’ve read countless volumes, journal articles, and academic papers on this topic. At one point, over twenty feet of my library shelves bulged with these materials. I have

By Lucas Kitchen Chapter 11, Eternal Rewards: It Will Pay to Obey. Available in the bookstore. I was speaking at a small church in South Texas one summer. The church had been flooded recently and was getting a much needed update. This meant that while I was preaching, some workers, who were not church attendees,

By Marcia Hornok A 46-year-old believer, whose husband died after a debilitating illness, felt like she could not go on. She said, “I don’t know if it was self-pity, if I was seeking negative attention, or if grief made me feel like I would self-destruct. My gut-wrenching sadness at times seemed unpreventable and untreatable. Often

By Summer Stevens 1 Show up. Showing up says to your pastor, “I believe in what God is doing here at our church.” Prioritize Sunday attendance as a family. There are dozens of competing activities for Sunday morning—children’s sports, camping, sleeping in, visiting family—but it says a lot to your family and your pastor when

By Bud Brown Is there a distinctively Free Grace way to motivate Christians to talk about Jesus and eternal life with those who don’t believe? Many are urging pastors to exhort church members to evangelistic effort. A wealth of books, blogs, electronic resources, videos, and ministries have been devoted to creating evangelistic momentum in churches.