Doctrinal Misalignment: A Relational Approach
*Editor’s Note: This article is a helpful illustration of how two people can confront doctrinal misalignment in a relational way. The specific scenario deals with the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. Please note that within RENEW.org there is a spectrum of views regarding the miraculous gifts, and there is not an official RENEW.org position. […]
A Cooperative Church
Have you ever seen a gospel lesson mirrored in everyday life? I had one of those moments hit on New Year’s. I grew up in a family that loved to play games when we gathered. At the end of the day, the game itself didn’t really matter. We could drum up competitive spirit for just […]
Led by the Spirit: 5 More Ways to Listen to the Holy Spirit
We are told throughout the New Testament that the alternative to walking in sinful ways and in the same old errors of the world is to be led by the Holy Spirit. But amid all the noise of everyday life, how do we listen to the Spirit’s guidance? In a previous article, I described five […]
The Ministry of Shutting Up
It was excruciating, frustrating, even cringe-worthy. I was in a place of business, as a customer, talking with an employee about their services. Except… I wasn’t really talking at all. She was looking at me, but it was a completely one-sided conversation. I couldn’t get a word in. In her defense, she seemed to have […]
How Do I Become a Better Listener?
You’ve heard the old joke: My wife told me I have two main faults. One is I’m not a good listener, and I don’t remember what the other one is. Then there was the guy who was convinced that his wife needed hearing aids. So he devised a plan to test her. From the kitchen, […]
What We Learn from Job’s Three Friends
The story of Job, from the Old Testament, is well known. He is the man who lost everything—family, wealth, health—and yet did not lose his faith in God. While in the midst of Job’s suffering, Job’s three friends came to pay him a visit. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar […]
Social Justice from the Left and the Right
Within the Church (broadly speaking), there are two groups of people. Not everyone in the Church fits into one of these groups. In fact, many people in the Church are a little weirded out by these two groups. This is largely because the people in these two groups tend to be agitators. They stir things […]
Hard to Hear through the Hurt
When our daughter Campbell was still crawling and speaking just a few words, she burnt her arm badly on the oven door. My wife had been preheating the oven, and I think our son must have opened the door. While crawling around, Campbell crawled up to the open preheated oven door, propped her arm up […]
