William Anderson's Public Library

Consequently we do not need to be gingerly in our investigations of truth. If a belief cannot withstand hard questioning, it may not be worth holding. If Christianity is true, it should be able to withstand the hardest questions we can bring to it. If Christianity is not true, we should reject it.

quote apologetics truth Christianity

You asked what happens to people who live far away from the gospel and have never heard about Jesus and die without faith in him.

Here is what I think the Bible teaches. 

destiny gospel God lost

I’ve been meditating on the goodness of God toward me in Christ Jesus, His infinite love and patience, and the well-spring of His grace that transcends my ability to merit an ounce—even if given 10,000 lives to try.

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So what should I do when I start attending a new church?

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Did God create the universe in six 24hr days, or was it a gradual process over eons? Were humans made from the dust of the ground, or did we evolve from earlier species of primates? Was there a literal Adam and Eve? What about the fossil record, dinosaurs, and genetic evidence?

faith science universe fall sin eschatology

God takes action in Christ against sin, death, and the devil. The doctrine of justification is not about the workings of impersonal law in the universe, or about manipulating its outcomes, but it is about God. The moral law is simply the reflection of the character of God, and when God acts to address the outcomes of the broken moral law, he addresses these himself, himself taking the burden of his own wrath, himself absorbing in the person of Christ the judgment his righteous character cannot but demand, himself providing what no sinner can give, himself absorbing the punishment no sinner can bear and live.

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A video presenting the life and vision of the Crowded House.

video gospel community church living

The new community of Jesus is an eschatological community which lives already in the new age he inaugurated. For justification is an eschatological event. It brings forward into the present the verdict which belongs to the last judgment. That is why the church is a community of hope, which looks with humble confidence into the future.

community hope church justification quote John Stott

The more I pondered it, the more I was astounded by the four main actions in Matthew 5:44. If you were at the service, I made you repeat those four actions (in five words) a few times around. Those words are simply love, bless, do good and pray. Then it dawned on me that you could practice the way of Jesus by living out those five words.

Jesus discipleship

There’s a lot of talk about the Church’s role in advancing the common good and restoring society, but it often remains theoretical. In Portland, this isn’t just an idea; it’s a case study. Kevin Palau sits down with Portland Mayor Sam Adams, Commissioner Diane McKeel, and Imago Dei Community Pastor Ken Weigal to discuss their partnership. Witness the impact of a church committed to the common good of its city.

church city gospel living

Surfing has helped Bryan connect with non-Christians. Hear him explain how your hobby can do the same.

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The gospel starts with a promise: a relationship in the Spirit. It is pictured as a meal and a washing: the Lord’s Table and baptism. It is rooted in a unique action supplying a unique need: the cross. It is inaugurated as a gift that is the sign of the arrival of the new era: Pentecost. It is affirmed in divine action and Scripture: God working uniquely and inseparably through Jesus. It is embraced in a turn that ends in faith: invoking the name of Jesus. It involves a different kind of power and is designed to be a way of life: Reconciliation and the power of God unto salvation.

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Tolstoy pursued perfection in his own strength and energy apart from the grace of God. He constantly lived under guilt and shame, and he died a miserable vagrant. He never enjoyed the Christian life because he missed the essence of Christianity.

Leo Tolstoy living gospel MTD youth children grace Christianity

In the interview, Douthat was asked: How can we begin to address a nation of heretics? “We,” in this question, means “we who believe ourselves to be orthodox Christians.” Here is Douthat’s telling answer:

church heretic evangelical Jesus importance

Inevitably, we will face opposition in talking to neighbors about Jesus, and in fact, if we’re consistent in doing it, we will face consistent opposition.

So, I wrote down 3 Dos and 3 Don’ts for when we’re faced with either passive or active opposition:

gospel opposition proclaiming apologetics

Robinson is echoing an ancient understanding of knowledge and education. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, learning was doing. Knowledge was hands-on, as in Ezra 7:10, where the same Hebrew for “seek” (or “study”) is also rendered in the same verse as “practice.” You practice, you learn. Knowledge is hands-on practice.

education discipleship learning

“If the way that God engages the world is through incarnation, the we must become an incarnational people.”

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Our faithful presence here on earth should provide a glimpse of what the life of heaven is like. We are to be a fragrance of the new world that is coming and a warning of the accompanying judgment. The church is the society where the kingdom of Jesus Christ is manifested and extended.

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A recent column in USA Today claims that Facebook can’t replace face-to-face conversation. The authors, Ed Keller and Brad Fay, of the KellerFay Group, claim to base their conclusions on six years of research, including more than 2 million conversations (?). They have found, for example:

Facebook conversation relationships online digital

Do you go to the Internet for church? Cathy Lynn Grossman of USA Today reported this week on the increasing use of digital technology by churches. This trend is not new, of course, but some of the developments she traces are fresh and innovative.

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