This past week my church looked at Ephesians 5:21-33, a controversial passage where God gives us a window into His good and perfect plan for marriage. It's unfortunate that I have to use the word 'controversial' in there, but the reality is that this passage – wielding provocative concepts like headship and submission – is… Continue reading God’s Controversial Gift for Husbands and Wives
Category: Bible
Are you “filled with the Spirit”?
At my church we are continuing to move through our series in Ephesians, and this past Sunday I preached on Ephesians 5:8-21 (you can listen to it here). There's one particular phrase in this passage that's of particular interest for this post: be filled with the Spirit. Paul exhorts these new Christians to be filled with… Continue reading Are you “filled with the Spirit”?
Why Church Leaders Should Not Be Called ‘Ministers’
Many churches call their leader the 'minister'. But does this reinforce an unhelpful misconception about what ministry is and who does it? To answer that question, let's have a look at Ephesians 4, a pretty key New Testament passage that talks about what ministry actually is, who does, and the role that church leaders play:… Continue reading Why Church Leaders Should Not Be Called ‘Ministers’
Why Christians Don’t Tithe
What does the Bible really say about money and giving? You often hear the words 'tithe' or 'tithing' thrown around when Christians talk about their giving, but this kind of language often betrays a fundamental misunderstanding about what the Bible actually teaches about how we should treat our money. The logic usually goes something like this:… Continue reading Why Christians Don’t Tithe
What will we do in Heaven?
Heaven is a bit of a mysterious thing. We're told Christians will be spending the rest of eternity there – that's a lot of time. So, naturally, people want to know what it's going to be like. How are we going to spend our time for those unending billions of years?You often hear questions like… Continue reading What will we do in Heaven?
God’s Dwelling Place
There are a bunch of times in the New Testament where we are told that as Christians we are together the temple of God, the place where His Spirit lives (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:22; 1 Peter 2:5). I think that the weight of these statements are sometimes lost on us,… Continue reading God’s Dwelling Place
God’s Amazing Grace
Last Sunday I preached my first sermon since graduating Bible College, on Ephesians 2:1-10. It is an amazing passage about God's grace, and there are a lot of deep truths in those ten short verses, so it was hard to keep the sermon down to 20 minutes. For this post, I want to dig just a… Continue reading God’s Amazing Grace
The Prince of the Power of the Air
I'm preparing a sermon for this Sunday on Ephesians 2:1-10. It's a great passage, and mostly it's fairly straightforward, but there's one phrase that's is a bit confusing. Check it out: "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the… Continue reading The Prince of the Power of the Air