Shawn Lazar – Page 65 – Grace Evangelical Society

The Effects of Reading the Bible Four Days a Week

February 21, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Bible reading, inerrancy, spiritual disciplines, spiritual practices

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). How important is it to read your Bible on a regular basis? In 2009, the Center for Biblical Engagement issued a report that concluded that people who read the Bible at

Priestly Celibacy Nullifies the Word of God

February 19, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - lavender mafia, priestly celibacy, Roman Catholic

The issue of priestly celibacy is being debated again in the Roman Catholic Church. For one, there is a shortage of priests. Reformers think that allowing for married priests would encourage more men to take the role. But that would go against a thousand years of Church tradition and law (by contrast, in the East,

Sin-Based Assurance?

February 17, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Assurance

“I used to have a struggle with sin, but not anymore,” the man said. We were talking about assurance. He was explaining that his past struggles with addictive substances had caused him to doubt his salvation. How could he be saved if he was getting drunk all the time? But since he had overcome drunkenness,

Are You Discipling Your Family? (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)

February 14, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Church, Deuteronomy, Discipleship, kids

My kids are getting to the age where they can ask serious questions about the faith. Recently, we attended the funeral for Abby’s grandfather, Roy Whisler. It was a good funeral. Jesus was front and center. Roy’s nephew officiated, and Abby’s brother gave a eulogy. They both made it clear that Roy believed in Jesus.

Don’t Treat Jesus Like a Spiritual Product

February 12, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - church growth, marketing, preaching

Do you ever feel like you have to “sell” Jesus? Or church? Or youth group? You want to have a spirit of excellence in all you do, of course (cf. Col 3:23). If you want to preach or write or publish or make PowerPoints or put on a conference or make music or do anything

Contradictions in a Family Catechism

February 10, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Bevins, catechism

I’ve been reading Winfield Bevins’s Grow at Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Family Discipleship. It is a simple introduction to every parent’s responsibility to teach his or her children about Jesus. The book (or booklet) contained little new information for me, but it might be helpful to a family thinking about this issue for the

Does “Dead” Always Mean “Unable”? (Luke 15:11-32)

February 7, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Death, Total depravity, total inability

One area of theology that needs to be rethought is the doctrine of total depravity, particularly the ability or inability of the unregenerate to respond in faith to God. Often, Calvinist and Lutheran theologians will appeal to the use of the word “dead” to prove that someone is unable to respond. After all, how can

Paul Had Nothing

February 5, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - ministry

Those of us in the Free Grace movement tend to come from small churches and work in little ministries, with few resources, and even less (worldly) prestige. And that can be discouraging, especially when we look at the big ministries churches and their cool, cutting edge, and expensive buildings and activities and programs (as recommended

Does Faith Create a Relationship?

February 4, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Episcopal, Episcopalian, Grace

Readers of this blog are well aware of the danger of Lordship Salvation or works salvation, which denies that you can be eternally saved by faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life. But are you also aware that it is also possible to emphasize “grace” to unbiblical extremes? That, in fact, some people emphasize

The Bible and the Fundamental of the Fundamentals

January 31, 2020 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - bible, Bibliology, inerrancy, Norman Geisler

Our upcoming National Conference will be on the Great Doctrines of the Bible. I will be speaking on the Bible (i.e., Bibliology). How important is the doctrine of the Bible to the rest of theology? More specifically, how important is the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy to the rest of systematic theology? Here’s a great quote