Simply Gospel

May my steps be worship. May my thoughts be praise.

  • When Did Christians Become Comfortable with the Loss of Truth?

    When Did Christians Become Comfortable with the Loss of Truth? A deference for human leadership has gotten in the way of the Christian commitment to God. Perhaps this is done unwittingly; modern American Christian tradition has perpetuated a particular set of stances as the crux of its ethic: abortion and LGBTQ equality. Some Christians use these issues as a test for faithfulness to the God of Scripture. I speculate that many of Trump’s Christian voters hold that their commitment to an anti-abortion stance is their biggest political motivator — and Trump promised to nominate a potential Supreme Court justice who… Continue reading

  • How the Church is Failing Its Single Members

    How the Church is Failing Its Single Members Celibacy is a beautiful vow, and the Church almost never talks about it. Why wouldn’t we praise someone for literally devoting themselves to God, both in this life and the next? Remember that Jesus calls us to leave behind our nets in favor of a life following Him (Matthew 4:20). Sometimes, relationships can hold believers back from a full life with Christ – meaning a relationship can be a “net” that we must cast aside. When you are single, your time is His, and you are more able to fully devote yourself… Continue reading

  • Fr. James Martin: What Does the Bible Say? Refugees, Migrants and Foreigners?

    One of the most interesting aspects of this video is when Fr. Martin speaks about examples where we see people in the Bible relying on the mercy of strangers, be it the parable of the good Samaritan or Joseph and Mary’s flight to Egypt. Continue reading

  • Dear White Evangelicals

    Dear White Evangelicals – I Need You To Do Better | Maurice Broaddus Before you get lost in reflex-like “terrorist organization” rhetoric, to say “Black Lives Matter” is a reminder. There is an unspoken “too” (as in “Black lives matter, too”) because it’s obvious that to many people they don’t. Black Lives Matter is not a difficult concept to grasp unless a person willfully doesn’t want to. Hiding behind #alllivesmatter is a distraction, an act of erasure, where people retreat to in order to cover their indifference with platitudes. The simple fact is that Jesus often emphasized specific groups of… Continue reading

  • Contradictions and Dispensations

    One of the more challenging aspects regarding God’s law is helping others understand the divisions between the laws found in our Bibles. While everything we have collected of God’s message is in a single bound volume, it’s not all one law. In order to understand which passages we should view as binding to ourselves as Christians, we need to understand those different sets of laws, who they apply to, and the time frame surrounding that system. The Basic Dispensations Where I am right now in my studies, it seems most logical to divide the Bible up into three distinct eras that… Continue reading

    ,

  • I have a computer again after a particularly long period living primarily off my iPhone. It’s a great device, and I rely on it for numerous tasks. Writing, however, is not one of them. Now that I’m back in the land of keyboards, I hope to get back into the swing of things here. Continue reading

  • The Day Between

    It’s a little late to be posting this, but as I sit here awake in the middle of the night, I find myself wondering about the apostles on this same night some 1,970 years ago. How many of them were having problems sleeping? Jesus had been crucified the day before. He wouldn’t raise agin until tomorrow. In between that was a long and lonely Saturday where it seemed all hope had been lost. A Fearful Day Between the gospel accounts, we see that some visited His grave, like Mary and Martha. Others, like the disciples in John 20:19, were in… Continue reading

  • Lucifer

    image by Thomas Bresson on Wikimedia Commons How you are fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mountain of congregation, in the uttermost parts of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit. Those who see you… Continue reading

    , ,

  • The Spiritual Battle

    Lessons at South Boone: The Spiritual Battle We are involved in battle every day. This battle, however, is not one over resources, freedoms, representation, or any of the other numerous reasons people may wage war in this life. It’s not a battle where artillery, drones, body armor, or any other physical means of offense or defense will be of any use. Instead this conflict is a spiritual one, and each and every one of us is a battlefield where the object of conquest is nothing less than our souls. This is a conflict that looks very different from what we… Continue reading

  • Misfits

    The Lessons at South Boone: Misfits This is a series I helped develop and deliver for the congregation I attend. It’s a three-part series about the diversity and brokenness we all bring to Christ’s church. This lesson series looks at how we can be more welcoming to each other and how Christ’s example should move us to be more gracious and loving toward those the world might shun. Continue reading