by Bob Wilkin Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to

For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. (Galatians 1:13-14) In my last blog, I

I’ve seen lots of posts hating 2016, but our family had a good year. There were challenges, but lots of blessings too. Our baby was born. We were all basically healthy. Good jobs. Good family and friends. Enough money to repair the cars when we needed to. We could go on date night usually once

by Bob Wilkin In our postmodern culture it has become increasingly popular to speak of faith in Christ as having had a personal encounter with Him. Many pastors and theologians say that faith is personal, not propositional. What does a personal encounter with Jesus feel like? That is the issue in assurance for many so-called

by Shawn Lazar Readers of this blog know that our organization reviews dozens of books, so when I critique the Beacon Dictionary of Theology, it isn’t to pick on the Church of the Nazarene. I just happen to be reading that book this week. But if what is taught in the Dictionary reflects what is

by Ken Yates Or do I seek to please men?…But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. (Gal 1:10-11) From what I understand about the background of the book of Galatians, Paul was addressing the issue of false teachers and what they were

by Shawn Lazar The Beacon Dictionary of Theology is produced by the Church of the Nazarene, an Arminian, or Wesleyan Church. The Dictionary definitely teaches the necessity of doing good works in order to be saved (e.g., under the entry on Faith, which is defined as obedience, self-committal, and being controlled by the truth). But

by Brad Bell We should not be surprised by the darkness of worldliness and materialism which pervades the culture. For many, Christmas is simply a day off work, an opportunity for gluttony, and an excuse to accumulate more stuff. At best, it may be viewed as an opportunity to spend time with family. For many,