"Watch your life and doctrine closely"
Our sin has left us eternally separated from God. Mankind has been polluted, thus leaving us both unable and unwilling to please God and be restored to him. We can’t obey and we simply don’t want to. What hope do we have then? If our sin keeps us from believing and receiving the things of…
Since the fall of man, each person has been born with a sin nature. By the sin of Adam all men were made sinners (Romans 5:19). We were created to worship and serve God, yet that has been tainted and perverted. Instead of worshipping God we worship ourselves; instead of living for God’s glory, we…
According to the Southern Baptists Convention’s website, there are 15,005,638 members of SBC churches in our country. However, weekly attendance is only 5,320,488. If those numbers are correct, then only a third of our members attend church each week. What’s going on with these numbers? While there are many contributing factors, it certainly shows that…
We continue to look at marks of a healthy church that are seldom emphasized today. Using 9 Marks of a Healthy Church as our guide, we’ve examined expository preaching, biblical theology, the gospel, and a Biblical understanding of conversion. Today, we’ll look at the next mark: a biblical understanding of evangelism. Five Things Often Confused as…
A few weeks ago we began looking at the distinguishing marks of a healthy church. People typically determine the “success” of a church by numbers, programs, or budget. However, we must ask ourselves if the Bible focuses on such qualities. In 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever looks at nine marks that are…
We continue looking at the marks of a healthy church that are seldom emphasized today. Using 9 Marks of a Healthy Church as our guide, we’ve looked at expository preaching and biblical theology. Today, we’ll see that a healthy church must be made up of members who have a proper understanding of the gospel. What is…
A tear runs down the cheek of your friend as they tell you their teenager is rebelling and they’ve tried all they can but nothing is working. A family member has lost their job but the mortgage payments keep coming, and they tell you they are considering giving “in faith” to that TV evangelist who…
How can we determine if a church is healthy? What are the indicators we should look for? Some might say that numbers are the determining factor…but surely there healthy churches that are small. Others might judge a church as healthy by the number of programs it offers, how entertaining the services are, or by the…
Brokenness is all around us. It doesn’t matter your political views or your religious beliefs, everyone can see that something is wrong. Murder, hate, envy, jealousy, and oppression continue to be prevalent. Everyone seems to be chasing happiness and fulfillment yet even the most ‘successful’ can’t seem to find it. Hopelessness abounds and suicide rates…
We continue our study of Great Doctrines of the Bible by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (MLJ) by examining chapters 14 and 15, which deal with the creation of man in God’s image. Scripture shows that something special was taking place when God created mankind, which is emphasized with a “kind of pause” in the text. In Gen….