Passion 4 Him

There's the Republican Jesus—who is against tax increases and activist judges, for family values and owning firearms. There's Democrat Jesus—who is against Wall Street and Wal-Mart, for reducing our carbon footprint and printing money. There's Therapist Jesus—who helps us cope with life's problems, heals our past, tells us how valuable we are and not to be so hard on ourselves. There's Open-minded Jesus—who loves everyone all the time no m atter what (except for people who are not as open-minded as you). There's Touchdown Jesus—who helps athletes fun faster and jump higher than non-Christians and determines the outcomes of Super Bowls. There's Hippie Jesus—who teaches everyone to give peace a chance, imagines a world without religion, and helps us remember that "all you need is love." There's Yuppie Jesus—who encourages us to reach our full potential, reach for the stars, and buy a boat. There's Spirituality Jesus—who hates...

All Christian parents want to train their children to be “good kids.” But that honorable goal is starkly shallow compared to the eternal purposes God has in mind for your parenting. The purpose of training is to prepare the soil of our child's heart so they will seek God for themselves and be convicted of their own sinfulness and their need to repent. Compelling a child to “pray a sinner's prayer” will not save them. It will only make false converts if the heart is not prepared for God's presence. The Bible mentions the heart 826 times. “Heart” refers to the core of a person's being. From the heart proceed our good and bad thoughts, emotions and behavior. What we teach our children can determine whether that soil is prepared to produce good or evil. Nothing is more important than seeding deep within the heart and mind of a child core Christian convictions like Jesus is God; The reasons we know Jesus Christ rose from the dead, why we should be convinced th...

By Dr. Woodrow Kroll            You would think that all Christians have a biblical view of the world around them.   After all, we go to church, we're a part of a small group, we've read The Purpose-Driven Life .   Are you ready for a reality check?   The research says just the opposite.   Most Christians do not have a biblical worldview.           Author and researcher George Barna made waves by citing statistics that show just 9 percent of all adults in America who claim to be "born again" have a biblical worldview.   You didn't read that incorrectly-it was 9 percent.    Protestants as a whole could only manage 7 percent with a biblical worldview (The Barna Research Group, January 12, 2004). But that can't be possible, can it?   How could only 9 percent of born again adults view the world with a biblical focus?    Let me make a few ...

A few scriptures to refute this idea of making the church more "relevant" to reach the culture. Plus, the church is not going to be relevant to a culture who does not seek after God nor loves Him. The church body goes out into the culture and shares the message of the Gospel so that they can be converted and join the body of Christ. " Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4) " Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4  and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5  But you be watchful in all things, endure a...

(excerpt from " Religious Trojan Horse " by Brannon Howse) "The New Religious Right uses the biblical theme of salt and light to argue that we are called to focus time, energy, and money on Christian activism. Yet the overarching message of Matthew 5:13–16 is not about Christian activism but about proclaiming the Gospel. In Matthew 5 Jesus says: “You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Christians should be involved in good works such as defending the lives of the unborn, caring for widows and orphans, and running crisis pregnancy centers. The reason, though, is that people will see the transforming power of the Gospel in our lives. Good works when used as a platform for the Gospel offers unbelievers the chance to see the light of Christ within our lives and to give glory to our heavenly Father. Christian activism apart from the Gospel has no eternal value and is, in fact, a si...

The following are excerpts from John MacArthur's book " Ashamed of the Gospel ." I feel like so much of what is written about in this book really gets to the issues of today within evangelicalism. Read for yourself and ask yourself if you see these trends in your own church. "This ideas that you are going to win people to the Christian faith by showing them that after all you are remarkably like them, is theologically and psychologically a profound blunder." (preface) "The Great Commission is not a marketing manifesto. Evangelism does not require salesman, but prophets. It is the Word of God, not any earthly enticement, that plants the seed for the new birth (1 Peter 1:23). We gain nothing but God's displeasure if we seek to remove the offense of the cross (cf Gal. 5:11)." (preface) "Size does not signify God's blessing. And popularity is no barometer of success. In fact, it can be a reason for condemnation.......Real success is doin...

 "For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!" - 2 Corinthians 11:4 (Excerpts from Religious Trojan Horse by Brannon Howse) Following Peter Drucker’s model, the people who go to church can now be viewed as customers. in a 1998  Forbes  magazine interview, Drucker bridges business and church strategies when he says, “non- customers are as important as customers, if not more important: be- cause they are potential customers.... Yet it is with the noncustomers that changes always start.” 305 This suggests that nonchurch attendees are potential customers, so noncustomers are more important than the church’s customers. There are also more noncustomers than customers, and if you can find out why noncustomers aren’t yet customers, you can turn them into customers by doing the right things to attrac...