In this episode, I share four thoughts to help you think through whether you should celebrate Halloween as a Christian. We'll look at what the Bible says about not participating with evil, whether modern cultural Halloween celebrations fit into what the Bible says is evil, and how to make a wise choice about whether to participate in Halloween based on…
*Photo by Kendall Scott on Unsplash All eyes are on Asbury University after the Holy Spirit intervened in a normal chapel service on February 8, 2023 that never ended. A simple, student-led, faculty-guided movement of humble worship and prayer, confession and repentance of sin, testimonies and exhortations from Scripture has continued for over a week at the the time of…
Photo by Roger Harris on Unsplash Last night the 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards took place and caused quite the social media stir amongst Christians. Whatever your thoughts are on this topic you’re probably not fully going to get the answer you want from me, which is good. I want to challenge you a bit. Let me start out by putting…
Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash “I don’t want to be a Christian because there are too many hypocrites in the Church.” Have you heard that before or said it yourself? It’s one of the main ideas that discourages people from following Jesus–Christians seemingly not living according to what they say they believe. Biblically, the word hypocrite carries the idea…
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash At some point in your life or another, you may have been the recipient or even the dispenser of judgment over a Christian putting up a Christmas tree, teaching kids to believe in Santa, for giving gifts or screaming ‘NSYNC’s “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” at the top of your lungs. (Totally did that yesterday, by…
Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash We know Christians should stay away from any kind of evil. That's a no-brainer. But what about innocent costume parties and trick-or-treating? Is playing dress-up and eating candy really all that bad? What are Halloween's true origins and does that matter for how we engage the holiday today? I gave some biblical context for…
We’re living in weird times, right? Between a global pandemic, an intense U.S. election cycle in 2020, and the heightened mistrust many people have for culture and media, it seems like Christians have been either exposed to or caught up in conspiracy theories in an unprecedented way. There’s a theme in 1 and 2 Timothy about overcoming deception and…
Conservative leaning Christians or progressive leaning Christians, I'm talking to all of us and everyone in between. :-) Since we now have a projected winner of the 2020 Presidential Election, let me share some truths God's been calling me to hold onto that I believe He's calling all of His Church to hold onto as well. These truths will…
*For more context to this conversation around God's design for government and Christian participation in politics, I encourage you to read my blog series How Should Christians Engage Faith and Politics. What if in this politically intense and uncertain season God wants to form in His people a practice of praying for our government leaders and for our nation?…
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash *This blog has been updated from its original 2017 version, What The Bible Really Says About How Christians Should Vote. As we wrap up this series on faith and politics, let's talk about where to place our hope as Christians and how to maintain Christian character and witness, especially when we disagree with others…