The Struggle of Following Jesus

What does it mean to be “close to the Lord”? That’s a phrase that I’ve heard all my life, though I’m not sure it was ever defined for me. It was never a phrase that a person would use to describe themselves; no one who was truly close to the Lord would ever tell someone, “I’m close to the Lord.” It was...

The Prayer That Moves Mountains

Jesus says that when we have faith in God and pray, we can move mountains (Matthew 21:21-22). Makes you wonder why more mountains aren’t moved. I think we tend to look at Jesus’ statement with an understanding that the moving of mountains is God’s work. We ask in faith for the mountain to be thrown into the...

Having Faith to Work the Plan

Many of us have been taught that Bible doesn’t allow any mixture of works in the appropriation of our salvation, but Paul, James and, especially, Jesus don’t necessarily support that contention. Part of the problem is that we treat gaining salvation as a single point in time—one second I wasn’t saved, the...

Working Out Your Own Salvation

One of the central tenets of Protestant theology is the idea that salvation is given by grace alone and achieved through faith alone; it is impossible to earn it through good works. This is as good a paraphrase as there is of Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not...

Next Entries »