In Paul's first letter to Timothy, he said the "love of money is a root of all kinds of evils,"; and it is "through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith"; (I Timothy 6:10). Interestingly, he calls the "love of money" a "craving", if this is the case, we need to be vigilant, lest we begin to go the way of greed. Read More

When you are stuck in sin, what are you compelled to do? Are you compelled to engage other believers and prayerfully work through sin's power in your life? Hopefully that is the case, but for many believers we urge ourselves to withdraw, retract, and disengage from those who would walk through our sin with us. Read More

As the Church, unfortunately, we don't do the best job hanging out with those who are not like us (Christians). This was one of the myriad of issues Paul was dealing with in the church at Corinth. Much like them, we can be afraid that our witness, or Christ-likeness, might be ruined if we associate too deeply or too often with unbelievers. But for some unknown reason, many of us have no problem hanging out with a fellow churchgoer when they are living as sinfully as those in the world. Read More

When we think about ourselves, many of us tend to think we are basically good. But when it comes down to it, there is a reason that hell is a real place where millions will suffer eternally separated from God, his goodness, and his presence.

In dealing with sin, God deals with the sinner because the problem isn't all of the sin "out there", but the sin "in here." He did this with Jesus on the cross. Though Jesus himself had never sinned, He did take our sin upon himself and bore God's wrath against sin, for "it was the will of the Lord to crush him." (Isaiah 53:10). Read More

IT'S EASY TO go on, speaking eloquent words about grace, especially when we don't have to go before God asking for it. We can whip ourselves into being disciplined, with the help of God and our own strength. What isn't easy is totally blowing it—putting on display our inability to be perfect. When you find yourself, dirty and messy and never whom you thought you'd be, that's when you understand grace. And when you understand grace, that's when you turn from the things that break you. Read More

God's laws, rules and Jesus' teachings can appear as a type of straight jacket to those who are not followers of Jesus. These rules may even seem to inhibit a person from being themselves, having fun or living life to its fullest. But keeping God's law (doing what the Bible and Jesus said) will allow us to walk in wide places. This can seem contradictory, but as one looks at what the Bible lays out for our lives, we see that it helps us to live a life that is free from the wages of sin. Read More