We Participate In Jesus – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

“We have come to share in Christ” Heb. 3:14a (ESV) The Greek word for “share” in this verse means participate, or be a partner. We actually participate in Jesus. Think how incredible this is! We love Jesus for his unsurpassed life on earth. We love his wisdom and love and compassion. He is the one we worship. And in spite or our faults, we are privileged to share in Jesus. This is yet another biblical mystery that even though we can’t fully understand we continually grow in the reality of it. We participate in Christ’s righteousness, in his power, in his love and in his light. We see the same idea in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (ESV) Reflection: Put your name Continue Reading →

Using Relationship Principles For Powerful Evangelism – Part 1

Somehow I got into a debate online with someone who was complaining about God ordering the death of some people in the Old Testament. We went back and forth until finally I explained that the root reason for God’s judgment was that the people were destroying relationships. They had embraced a destructive culture even to the point of sacrificing infants to their idols. The other person didn’t respond to my comment. What could he say? Usually when we think of apologetics in evangelism we think of presenting evidence related to facts of the Christian faith. But sometimes apologetics relates to values or ideas that listeners already embrace. For example, when Paul evangelized gentiles he did not use the same ideas that he used with Jews. When he spoke to gentiles in Athens, Greece he talked about general ideas about God that many gentiles already had, such as the idea that Continue Reading →