The Divisions of Systematic Theology
When we voted on a theme for the last national conference, the choices came down to “Ephesians: Verse-by-Verse” and “Systematic Theology.” Ephesians won by a nose. I’ve always been a systematic theology guy. I have well over fifty such theologies in my office and more at home. I like thinking about the big picture and
Is Anyone Unreachable?
We all have a ministry from God. In fact, you’re in full-time ministry right now. So…how are you doing? What are you doing? Who are you reaching? One of the things I try to emphasize at church is that everyone should be self-consciously serving God in their lives. Not everyone has a visible ministry on
The Eternal Dwelling Place for Believers Is Not Heaven—Humans Were Made to Live on Earth with Physical Bodies
The following is one section from Chapter 5 (“Heaven”) of my book The Ten Most Misunderstood Words in the Bible. When I was on Staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, we used to sing a song at our weekly on-campus meetings. It was a chorus called, “Heaven Is a Wonderful Place.” We’d sing about how
Four Alternative Models for Starting a Free Grace Church
Everyone recognizes the need for more Free Grace churches. But how do you start them? It’s something I’ve been wrestling with. Here are four church models: House Church: This would be the most familiar way to start a church from scratch. You start with a Bible study in a home and grow from there. Maybe
The Ability to Believe
Question Shawn, in recently countering Calvinism, you mentioned man has the “ability to believe or not believe”. I agree with this, however it conflicts with GES’ normal position that “believing is passive”. Bob often says “one either believes or he does not” and this not by decision of his will. If man does not “decide
Talk Faith (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)
My daughter Daphne will be starting 1st grade in the Fall. We’ve been homeschooling her for Kindergarten and sending her twice a week to a co-op for classes with other homeschoolers. I knew she was making good progress in math. She’s learning to draw well. And she’s supposed to be learning Spanish at the co-op
Romans 5-8: Houston Regional Conference, 2019
The Transformed Life (Romans 12:1-21)
Do you know someone who is wasting their life? Maybe this person is an alcoholic. Maybe he or she is hooked on opioids. Or maybe the problem is simply that the person does not work, does not help others, and is not engaged in life. If that someone is your child, a friend, a loved
Eight Benefits of the Resurrection
The resurrection is evidence that Christianity is true: “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Cor 15:17). The resurrection proves the believer will overcome death: “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to