God Is Rich (Eph 2:4, 7)

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Tax refund season is coming up. Are you hoping for a nice return from the government? It makes you feel rich, doesn’t it? What will you spend it on?  Did you know that God is rich?  And more importantly, He likes to spend! By contrast, the Ephesians were poor. In fact, in a manner of speaking, they were in debt. They were dead in sin,
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An Open Letter on Sex Offenders

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Dear Shawn,  I read with interest your article on “No More Scarlet Letters.” My question is why authors like you refuse to address, and why churches are slow to forgive, restore, and embrace sex offenders? [He gives examples of churches excluding sex offenders.]   Dear Reader,  Thank you for your letter. I think grace can, and should, be shown to everyone, even
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Grace Is Approachable

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I was listening to a podcast by Paul Zahl entitled “A Disease I Do Not Have the Courage to Name.”  The title comes from a now out-of-print book entitled  My Son Is a Splendid Driver, set during the Great Depression. In it, the protagonist’s mother is given a deadly STD by her husband, a traveling salesman. She feels ashamed—too ashamed to go to church.  “Mother had stopped going to church.
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Grace Will Abound (Romans 6:1-2)

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In Romans 6, Paul makes an argument for why Christians should not continue living in sin. Here is his opening question:  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? (Romans 6:1-2).  The Greek word for
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Naming Grace

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“So why did you start coming to this church?” the man asked.  “When I moved to Denton, I started looking for a church, and I saw this one was ‘country-friendly,’” I explained. “I figured if I was going to be in North Texas, I should get that country experience. Of course, I asked the pastor some basic questions about what they believed and it
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Gracious Listening

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Are you a good listener?  Are you a loving listener or a selfish one?  When you’re having a conversation, does your flesh show through?  I was convicted by this passage from Paul Zahl:  A prime example of original sin is the way people listen, or rather do not listen, to each other. When you are on an airplane,
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Jesus Said It First (Rom 3:8)

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Years ago, there was a popular country song called “I Loved Her First.” It was about a young woman getting married. The song is from the perspective of the woman’s father. He reminds the groom that the father loved the girl first.  I also remember years ago that someone in a Bible study said everything we read about in the
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Grace in Ministry (Galatians 6:13-14)

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Paul’s letter to the Galatians contrasts law-religion and grace-religion. The contrast applies not only to how you are justified before God, but also to how you live the Christian life.  One of the differences between law-religion and grace-religion shows itself in the pressures to have a “successful” ministry.  What usually counts as a successful ministry?  Numbers.  Numbers of people.  Numbers
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