Church – Page 2 – Christian Life Coaching Franklin Tennessee

01Jan 2024 by Post

The Pulpit Apologist, Pt. 1

Apologetics, Bobby Conway, Christianity, Christianity Still Makes Sense, Church, Culture Apologetics, Gospel, pastors, Theology and Christian Apologetics

If apologetics has ever met its moment in our culture that moment is now. And it’s especially urgent for some good old-fashioned pulpit apologetics. We need preachers to rise to the occasion and equip their flocks with the apologetic know-how to reach this confused and collapsing culture. As the great wordsmith Carl Trueman put it: “Every age has had its darkness and its dangers. The task of the Christian is not to whine about the moment in which he or she lives but to understand its problems and respond appropriately to them.” [1] It’s no secret that ours is a country replete with problems, so much so it’s even harder to imagine a real United States again. And like those ancient Corinthians many in the church have joined the cultural…

21Jan 2022 by Post

Doubting Your Faith? Look No Further Than This New Free Resource

Apologetics, Arguments for Christianity, Christianity, Christians, Christians with doubts, Church, Jonathan McLatchie, TalkAboutDoubts.com, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics

Are you a Christian who is struggling with doubts about your faith? A non-Christian seeker who has sincere questions about the Christian faith? Or have you recently lost your faith and want to explore whether your reasons for loss-of-faith were really rational? Have you ever wished that you could jump on a Zoom call and talk 1-on-1 with a leading Christian scholar who could help you navigate the minefield of arguments for and against Christianity, and help you think about your questions and doubts honestly and critically? This is now no longer something you need to wish for. This month, I launched a new ministry, TalkAboutDoubts.com. I have assembled a team of Christian scholars (some of whom are among the leaders in the world in their fields) who are willing…

02Sep 2020 by Post

How Should The Church Engage Those With Same-Sex Attraction Or Gender Dysphoria?

Apologetics, Christianity, Christians, Church, Culture CrossExamined, Gender Dysphoria, JesusIsNotFakeNews, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Ryan Leasure, Same-Sex Attraction, Theology and Christian Apologetics

By Ryan Leasure How should the church engage those who experience same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria? In response, I want to highlight seven basic principles that the church must embrace. Affirm The Divine Image Genesis 1 is clear that everyone, without qualification, is made in God’s’s image. That is to say; whether someone is attracted to the opposite sex or the same sex, they are equally image-bearers of God. The same goes for individuals who experience gender dysphoria. One’s’s feelings or attractions in no way mitigates against this universal status. As Christians, we should enthusiastically embrace this truth. Nobody — not the government, the church, or anyone else — can bestow a higher status on each person than God already has. Moreover, not only did God create all people in his…

29Aug 2020 by Post

How to Build a More Discerning, Less Naïve, and Better Culturally Engaged Church

Biblically-sound articles, Christianity, ChristianMomThoughts, Christians, Church, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Natasha Crain, Politics and Religion, Social media, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, Worldview

By Natasha Crain In my last article, Christian Naivety is Harming the Church’s Engagement with Today’s Culture; I identified four ways that I’ve seen many Christians respond with naivety to calls for discernment in today’s world. At the end, I asked, “How do we fix this?” and said my answer would be the subject of my next article. This is that article. Since this is a follow-up, please be sure to read my last post before this one for context. Let me start by saying that the title of this article is a rather sweeping proposition. Obviously, this is a single article, the issues are complex, and I’m not claiming that what I write here is a complete answer to all the problems we have. But I want to offer what I…

01Jul 2020 by Post

Have You Thought About Marriage Lately?

Bible, Bob Perry, Bride, Bridegroom, Church, Covenant, Culture, Eternal Life, Familiy, Husbands, Jesus, marriage, The Grand Story, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, True Horizon, Wedding, Wives

By Bob Perry Have you spent much time thinking about marriage lately? You should. It doesn’t matter if a wedding is something in your future or in your past. It doesn’t even matter if you have no intention of ever getting married. The fact is that the institution of marriage is important to us all. Our culture has devalued it in many ways, but marriage is the foundation of a healthy society. For that reason, we all ought to contemplate the true meaning and value of marriage. An Honor And A Privilege My wife and I have been happily married for 33 years. When you’ve done anything for that long, it’s easy to think you have it all figured out. But in July, my son and his fiancé asked me to perform…

29Jun 2020 by Post

Without Training, The Church Will Create More Jon Steingards

Apologetics, Atheism, Bible, Christianity, Church, Doubts, Erik Manning, Evidence, Is Jesus Alive, Jon Steingards, objections, skepticism, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics

By Erik Manning Recently Jon Steingard made headlines after he announced over Instagram that he had lost his faith. Steingard was the lead vocalist of the Christian music group Hawk Nelson, which became popular in the early 2000s. Since they had so many fans, this obviously sent shockwaves over social media. In the post, Steingard gives several reasons why he no longer believes. He does ask some challenging questions when he writes, “If God is all-loving and all-powerful, why is there evil in the world? Can he not do anything about it? Does he choose not to? Is the evil in the world a result of his desire to give us free will? OK then, what about famine and disease and floods and all the suffering that isn’t caused by humans and our free will?” Philosophers call this…

15Jun 2020 by Post

The Importance Of A Balanced Faith

Apologetics, Balanced Faith, Bob Perry, Christianity, Church, Desiring God, faith, theology, Theology and Christian Apologetics, True Horizon

By Bob Perry It is very easy to get engrossed in all the arguments for God. People like me love to demonstrate the scientific and philosophical evidence for God. And there are good reasons for us to expose the ethical vacuum we create when we remove God from the culture. These are the kinds of things on which I focus a lot of time, energy, reading, and teaching. It’s good to know things about God. But people like me must also realize that knowing about God can become a distracting detour from the primary purpose of our lives — the pursuit of God. We have heads and hearts. And a balanced faith requires that we engage both. One Wing, Won’t Fly When I was in the Marine Corps, one of my best friends was…

06May 2020 by Post

Secularism, COVID-19, & the “Non-Essential” Church

Christianity, Church, COVID-19, Culture, FreeThinking Ministries, Laws, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Politicis, Rich Hoyer, Secularism, society, Theology and Christian Apologetics

Many have asked the question, “Why are churches considered ‘non-essential’ during the Coronavirus shutdown and places like restaurants considered ‘essential’? Why are churches closed while grocery stores and restaurants remain open (at least for carry-out orders)?” The insinuation is NOT that food isn’t necessary, but the focus of the inquiry is on why churches are not considered ‘essential.’ After all, if social distancing is practiced in the church building and if surfaces are sanitized, how is being around people in a church building any different than being around a few hundred people in the Walmart or Meijer or the grocery store (especially since most church gatherings in the US number 100 people or less)? Part of the answer lies in worldview analysis. Everyone, whether a person realizes it or not,…

04May 2020 by Post

The Separation Doctrine Between Church And State

Christianity, Church, Culture, Jason Jimenez, Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics, Politics, society, Stand Strong Ministries, Theology and Christian Apologetics

By Jason Jiménez In 1830, upon arriving to North America from France, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “The religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there, the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this new state of things. In France, I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America, I found they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country.”[1] The Constitution of North Carolina (1776) proclaims: “…all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences.”[2] It is astonishing to think that despite all the evidence indicating our nation was…

18Dec 2019 by Post

7 Legit Reasons Why So Many Kids are Bored by Church

Apologetics, Apologetics for Parents, Children, Christianity, Church, Kids in the Church, Natasha Crain, Parents, Sunday School, theology

By Natasha Crain Last Sunday, our church did its annual multilingual service, with three congregations—Mandarin-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and English-speaking—all coming together for worship. We had readings in multiple languages, and a sermon was given in Spanish with an English translator. There was no Sunday school this week, so kids joined their parents in adult church. When we informed our kids Sunday morning of what would be happening, there was a collective and passionate, “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” (Honestly, I should have typed more o’s to reflect the true level of protest.) “PLEASE, let us stay home! We can do home church! Please, not THAT service! It’s SO BORING!” Apparently, they remembered it well from the prior year. We dragged them into the car in spite of the whining and endured their pleas all the way there. I’d…

Category: Church