Over the years I've heard several people say they stopped going to church because (as they put it), "God stopped answering my prayers." How does one respond to a statement like that? Given the near panic over the U.S. economy lately, I won't be surprised to learn of more people who stop going to church because they're not getting what they want from God. This concerns me. So, I went to the Word seeking an answer. Here is what the Lord pointed me to, and my thoughts that resulted from

Rejection is such a bitter pill to swallow. I often hear fellow Christians complain that some of their co-workers (and even some family members) give a hard time to anyone who says anything positive about Christ or who professes to be a Christian. They go on to say that it makes them not want to let anyone know that they're a Christian. Unspoken is the question, "What should I do?"

Part 1 

Let’s talk about Christian growth, and begin discussing the stages of progress and development in the Christian life. Before we begin, realize there is one spiritual reality that is true about every member of the family of God: your sins have been forgiven. The word forgiven means “to send away, to put away.”

Part 2 

Are you growing up spiritually? Last timeI wrote to you about spiritual babies, describing some of their characteristics — they need love and security, they are totally dependent upon others, and under normal conditions they are able to grow. I also spoke of the need for the church to care for our spiritual babies. Babies need to be able to breathe (prayer), and to eat properly (feeding on the Word) to grow and be healthy.

There is something about asking over and over that gets a response. Little children seem to instinctively know this. If they want something, they don’t ask once. No, they say, “Mom, give me a snack. Give me a snack! GIVE me a snack! Can I have a snack, mom? Can I? Huh? Mom, pulleeze give me a snack,” and they repeat this litany until mom breaks down and gives in. They cling. They pull. They tug. They whine. They know how to get what they want.

Part 1

At one time or another in very non-denominational or Pentecostal church I have attended over the past 30 years some well-meaning but misguided person has used Matthew 16:19 or Matthew 18:18 to launch into a teaching on "binding and loosing" from the context of dealing with demons, the devil, or some similar topic of spiritual warfare.

Part 2

In our last newsletter you may recall I wrote about “binding and loosing” (disallowing and allowing), and how it applies to church discipline, not to spiritual warfare. In this column I will discuss the issue of church discipline as related to what is lawful or unlawful within the church.