Whoever Thinks He Stands Must Be Careful Not To Fall

"In the book of Acts, God's sovereign and active power converted thousands through the doctrinal preaching of the Apostle Peter and immediately resulted in the congregational expression of local churches being born to bridge the covenantal gap between ancient Israel and the people of God inaugurated at Pentecost. Early church standards indicated an understanding that an individual who professed to be a Christian actually knew and believed certain theological tenants -- so much so that the person actually showed up for meetings of the church. Regular attendance was a result of spiritual knowledge combined with a genuine faith and the belief that a church was more than another social network.

The church of Jesus Christ was established to be a theater for God’s glory. Today, however, it is hard to see His glory in churches whose rolls list as “members” chronic no-shows who in reality are unregenerate pagans in urgent need of saving faith. How has the modern church moved so far from being the church of the book of Acts?"

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The Drama of Doctrine

"To form the mind of Christ has nothing to do with creating exact replicas who will simply repeat verbatim the red-lettered words of Jesus. The Christian life is considerably more dramatic, vital, and interesting than that! In forming the mind of Christ in his disciples, theology aims not at mere information-processing but at the cultivation of wisdom. Wisdom is practical knowledge. The wise disciple knows what to say and do in any given situation in order to correspond to the gospel and to glorify God.

The most important thing the church should be doing is cultivating and embodying Christian wisdom in its corporate life and in the everyday lives of individual believers. Evangelicals neglect doctrine to their own peril and to the peril of their Christian witness. My prayer is that Christians today will rediscover the vitality of theology to the point where they are willing not only to die for the truth of Jesus Christ but to live for it."

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Are You Serving With Gladness?

1 Shout triumphantly to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.
3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God.
He made us, and we are His —
His people, the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
5 For the LORD is good, and His love is eternal;
His faithfulness endures through all generations.

Source: HCSB - Ps. 100:1-5



7 When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, the LORD’s message came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them but will grant them a little deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. 8 However, they will become his servants so that they may recognize ⌊the difference between⌋ serving Me and serving the kingdoms of the land.”

Source: HCSB, 2 Chr. 12:7,8

47 Because you didn’t serve the LORD your God with joy and a cheerful heart, even though ⌊you had⌋ an abundance of everything, 48 you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you, in famine, thirst, nakedness, and a lack of everything. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

Source: HCSB, Deut. 28:47,48