Blog | Grace Evangelical Society

Perseverance in Marathons and in the Ultimate Race

April 5, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, 2 Timothy 2:12, Costly Rewards, Free Salvation

I started training in November. I had hoped to compete in the Cowtown Marathon in Ft. Worth, which I’ve finished three times. But then Sharon was diagnosed with a large ovarian cyst that turned out to be cancer. The chemo treatments were such that February 24 was not a good time for us. So, I

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The Divisions of Systematic Theology

April 4, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - divisions, 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 trying to understand how it all fits together. I believe coherence is

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Is Anyone Unreachable?

April 3, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Grace, ministry, vocation

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 Sunday mornings.

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The Eternal Dwelling Place for Believers Is Not Heaven—Humans Were Made to Live on Earth with Physical Bodies

April 2, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

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 wonderful

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Four Alternative Models for Starting a Free Grace Church

April 1, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Church, church planting

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 you never

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The Ability to Believe

March 29, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - Faith, Total depravity, total inability

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 to believe”, then how does one get

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Talk Faith (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)

March 28, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog - evangelism, Faith, kids, parenting

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 (but I see little evidence of it!).

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The Transformed Life (Romans 12:1-21)

March 27, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - Romans 12:1-2, Romans 12:1-21, Transformation

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

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Eight Benefits of the Resurrection

March 25, 2019 by Shawn Lazar in Blog

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 pass the saying that

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Great News on Sharon’s Cancer Marker Blood Test

March 25, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog

It’s been a bit of a roller coaster. The three-hour surgery turned into a nine-hour surgery. Her benign ovarian cyst was found to have cancer in it. The cyst broke during extraction. Sharon’s CA 125 test before surgery was under 30. Normal. After surgery it went over 200. We were told she’d need three chemo

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