Tag Archives: freedom in Christ

On Picking and Choosing

Posted on by April

Image found at greythinking.com

I’m still working on my series about church authority. In the meantime, I’m inspired with many other topics that I want to tackle.

Today, I want to talk about the claim that Christians “pick and choose” which scriptures they want to follow. In my experience, it’s not so much picking and choosing verses out of context (which does happen to an alarming degree), but more about picking and choosing what kind of lens we use to interpret scripture. Make no mistake, everyone has a lens. No one approaches the Bible objectively, no matter how much one might claim to the contrary. 
Continue reading →

Why I Don’t Follow Matthew 18 for False Teachers

Posted on by April

My series on Biblical Counseling is coming to a close. But before I wrap up with the final post, I want to address what it means to deal with false teachers.

Many times, when a Christian blogger publishes a post that reveals an unbiblical doctrine or practice of a well-known pastor or teacher, a lot of hand-wringing tends to occur. Fellow Christians come out of the woodwork saying, “Oh, why must you be so critical! Doesn’t Pastor so-and-so love the Lord just as much as you do? You’re causing division among the saints! Can’t you just chew up the meat and spit out the bones?? If you have such a problem with his teachings, approach him privately first! That’s what Matthew 18 says to do!”

True. But Matthew 18 was not written for false teachers. Continue reading →

The Immodesty of Modesty Teachings

Posted on by April

I know I have a series I’m supposed to be finishing up, but…sometimes…you just happen across something that begs a response. One of these days, someone is going to accuse me of grinding axes. Well, they can, because I do have an ax to grind. It’s called NO MORE OPPRESSING THE SAINTS WITH UNBIBLICAL TEACHING! That’s an ax I will grind until it becomes a toothpick.

So by now, you’re probably wondering what has my dander up. It’s this article by Pastor Rick Hermann entitled “The Theology of Yoga Pants.” It was published last spring, but I think it still deserves a response. Primarily, because 30 more articles just like it will appear in the blogosphere this year (as they do every year) the moment the average national temperature reaches 72 degrees. Continue reading →

Pointing Out Sin

Posted on by April

“You know what I dislike about church these days?” a reader of mine recently asked. “Preachers just don’t talk about sin anymore. I mean, when was the last time you heard a sermon where a preacher said, ‘This is a sin. That’s a sin.’ I bet it’s been a while.”

Well, he’s right. It has been a while. On the one hand, I’m grateful. On the other, I’m concerned.  I’ll explain what I mean. Continue reading →

Into the Deep Waters

Posted on by April

Image from Woman of Color

I want to start by saying something that I would like every one to notice carefully. It is this. If this chapter means nothing to you, if it seems to be trying to answer questions you never asked, drop it at once. […] There are certain things in Christianity that can be understood from the outside, before you have become a Christian. But there are a great many things that cannot be understood until after you have gone a certain distance along the Christian road. […] They are directions for dealing with particular crossroads and obstacles on the journey and they do not make sense until a man has reached those places. […] There will come a day, perhaps years later, when you suddenly see what it meant.  –C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Today, I want to talk about a box and a boat and a journey toward the greatest romance of our lives. I want to talk about beaches and oceans and a place known as the deep waters. Continue reading →