The Early Christians Were Odd, Too
“It can be disheartening, not to mention frightening, when our culture rejects aspects of Christianity as strange or offensive. When Christians feel isolated and alone, it’s helpful to remember this experience is nothing new for God’s people. Christians have been viewed as cultural misfits from the beginning, and the reasons for this assessment have changed little over the last two millennia. In the second century, four features of Christianity stood out to the Romans as peculiar, if not offensive: worship, doctrine, behavior, and writings. It’ll be quickly apparent that these four features still attract despisers today….”
Seven Sentimental Lies You Might Believe
“The following is a list of seven of the most egregiously assumed truth-claims in popular culture today, with a biblical check for each one….”
“If you’re a Christian, your death won’t be the end of your story. You will pass into the presence of God, and you will know complete peace and joy, but that still will not be the end. The story only truly ends when Christ’s Easter resurrection victory is fully experienced by all of creation, both spiritually and materially….”
Doing Spiritual Warfare Without All The Weirdness
“People tend to talk about spiritual warfare in one of two ways:
- Not at all because it feels weird to talk about demons and the Devil and unseen realms. Plus, we believe God is sovereign and that he restrains Satan and that making oil crosses above doorways isn’t necessary.
- Constantly because Satan is everywhere and if you’re not constantly vigilant something could go seriously wrong. After all, he’s prowling about like a lion, looking for people to devour.
It seems to me that neither of these extremes is quite right. After all, the Bible does talk about spiritual warfare. To ignore it entirely is to ignore part of scripture. But it also doesn’t talk about it that much, and to give it too much airplay isn’t biblical or healthy. So what’s the deal with spiritual warfare? How do we wage war effectively without being weird or hyper-spiritual? Let’s look at the Bible….”