To be pure in heart doesn’t mean we never sin. But it means that now we don’t want to. We hate it when we do, and are grateful for Jesus’ constant cleansing (1 JN 1:9).A few ways to cultivate purity of heart:Read your Bible regularly for it convicts, warns and encourages us.Ask God for inner purity. David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart.” Regul

Be intentional.Don’t prepare with the hopes that it will not happen. Instead, tell the group ahead of time about what the discussion will entail and that there might be varying viewpoints. In fact, an email out to the group prior to the gathering will help everyone be prepared.Set the ground rules.As the leader of the group, you must set the tone.

On this foundation God says, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head" (Romans 12:20).  If you don’t believe this, you’ll always be trying to even the score.To increase your compassion for people who harm you“Love your enemies and pray for those who per

Another call? A couple days later, I received another call.  I ran to the phone, hoping it was my sister.“Did you hear? Peggy’s gone!” my sister-in-law said. “No one knows where. Her husband says she just walked out.”And that began our nightmare. But we knew one thing. She never did walk out.You don’t walk out and leave your three precious children

The Israelites were going to cross the sea. It would be something they had never done before. Have you ever walked through a wall of water, on ground that used to be the bottom of the sea?Seriously, have you?The Israelites were going to have to trust that God would part the waters and dry up the land. Keep in mind, this command was given before the

1. God warns us of impending judgement. You may have heard people compare and contrast the “God of the Old Testament” with the one revealed in the Gospels. The former, they say, seems angry and bent on justice, whereas Jesus appears loving and full of grace. But the books of 1st and 2nd Kings contradict this. In fact, these two books, sandwiched be

Make them reactionary – Ultimately we want to work from a plan. We want to make decisions before the decision is needed. We want proactive decision-making. That’s obviously not always possible, but in my experience, I’m more likely to make a bad decision when I’m reacting to a situation, rather than having thought about the scenario and my response

The Nature of the Bible Book of ProverbsProverbs is the twentieth book in the Bible. Primarily authored by the great King Solomon, it is a compilation of sayings and songs inspired by God. 1 Kings 4:29 tells us that God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding as vast as the sands on the seashore. Further down in verse 32 we learn that Solomon spoke 3

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.Over and over scripture emphasizes the value of diligence. God rewards diligence and faithfulness and hard work. We probably won’t see the results immediately, but over time we will. It’s like building a house. When you lay the first bricks, it doesn

When God gave Isaiah a glimpse of his glory, he saw the seraphim:Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. IS 6:2These glorious heavenly beings who had never sinned had to cover their faces – they could not look upon the infinite glory of God.Yet look what

1. He promoted serving as being greater than being served. Jesus embodied God’s vision of having and sharing a servant heart. In Matthew 20:26-28, Jesus taught a radical way of viewing hierarchy. He said in verse 26, “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant.” In verse 28, he embodies this, himself, by saying, “For even the Son

Although visions and dreams have been known to take place after the Old Testament and after the New Testament, we do have to keep in mind that our primary basis for what God has to say to Christians is in the canon of Scripture.The Bible does mention believers having dreams in the last days, but those dreams should never usurp Scripture in terms of

3. A prescriptive proverb may contain both a moral absolute and a generalization. Proverbs 3:1-2 is an exhortation to honor one’s father with a promise of long life and peace. The command to honor one’s parents is a moral absolute; however, the promise about long life is only a generalization, for Jesus Christ was the embodiment of honor to His ear

What Does the Bible Say Mercy Is? “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV)God’s plan stems from His merciful love for His people. Knowing there was nothing we could do to earn our way into His presence, He made a way through t

1. Drop the buzzwords.Modern leaders in the church are just like ancient leaders in the church – we love our buzzwords. For the first century, it was the Gnostics talking about their secret knowledge. Today, we have made words like postmodern, Gen X, mission, and missional into junk-drawer terms. They mean everything and nothing at the same time. D

Jude Teaches Us to Distinguish Truth from Lies“For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”(Jude 1:4)In these lines, Jude warns them about ungodly men who have made their way among God’s peo

3. God is faithful in comforting you “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). We all have mourned something: the death of a loved one, loss of a job, friendship, relationship or identity. In times of loss or mourning, it is natural to become distant, discouraged or disenchanted with God. While your human emotions can

The normative nature of the text should have direct application for the context and personal implication for the subtext of our lives. Maturing gospel-centered Christians are discontent to correctly know the doctrinal aspect of the gospel; they are driven to a life dominated by the gospel. Those who love the gospel will not only find it a message t

Practical, Earthly Matters However, in today’s world, there are practical, earthly matters that intensify the sting of death for those left behind. There are stings still related to death. Burying a loved one can be a complex and confusing matter that feels like an intrusion in one’s time of grieving. The good news is that there are several ways to

3. Fill the files. Start putting information into your files. They’ll get fat as you diligently search and collect everything on your subject… articles, books, specialized magazines, and news clippings… attend seminars… teach on the subject(s)… spend time with those who are the best in these areas, picking their brains… seek and sharpen your expert