The Love of God Shortly after my conversion, just after my sophomore year at Clemson University, I began attending Fellowship of Christian Athlete (FCA) meetings. I will never forget the expressions on the faces of the students when I first began attending. They were surprised and confused. Because of my wild lifestyle, I was told by more than one student that they though...

Walking With God, III In John's first epistle we are exhorted to walk in the light of God's presence and truth, not in the darkness of this fallen world. He states, "If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of...

Walking with God, Part II The Prophet Micah reminds us of what God "requires" of His redeemed children. "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Notice the last phrase, "and to walk humbly with your God." Last week, with the help of the seventeenth-century Puritan ...

Walking with God, Part I The Bible teaches us that godly men like Enoch and Noah "walked with God" (Gen. 5:24; 6:9). Moreover, we are told, "blessed are the people who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face" (Ps. 89:15). As Christian believers we often talk about, and pray for, a more faithful, committed, and disciplined walk with God. But do we really even understand, ...

Purposeful Parenting, Part III PATIENCE It has already been established that we, as Christian parents, are called by God to humbly take charge of our homes, and to shepherd the hearts of our children. We are not meant to go with the cultural flow when it comes to child rearing. If we do not raise and disciple our children with purpose, the world (e.g. media, peers, cultur...

Purposeful Parenting, Part II Shepherd the Heart Last week I attempted to show that, according to Scripture, Christian parents are meant to take charge of their children and home life. Our children do not "rule the roost." They are under our God-given authority, and we should always seek to exercise that authority with Spirit-filled humility, love, self-control, patience...

Purposeful Parenting, Part I Take Charge Let's face it, Christian parenting isn't easy. Prior to having children of my own, I would periodically cast a disapproving eye upon those parents who couldn't "control" their kids. "My children will NEVER act like that," I smugly reflected. But of course, life experience humbles us; and like many of you, I'm regularly seeking God'...

Visible Love In Mark 12:28-34 our Lord Jesus answered the scribe's question concerning the greatest commandment. Quoting from Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 and Leviticus 19:18, Christ said, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is thi...

The Incomparable Christ The Latin phrase Solus Christus defines salvation as that which cannot be found outside of faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through faith in him (John 14:6). Over the past two thousand years people have reacted to Chr...

A SAVIOR IS BORN Isaiah 7:10-14 and Luke 1:26-38 are two passages that highlight the birth of our Lord Jesus. Written 700 years before the coming of Christ, Isaiah prophesied that God would give His people a sign, "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel (God with us)." That sign, of course, was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Ch...