Gambling and My Neighbor

By Michael Riley | September 21, 2023 | Comments Off on Gambling and My Neighbor

Certainly, not every branch of Christianity takes a dim view of gambling, but some have. I belong to a segment of Christendom that has historically opposed gambling. Here, I simply want to offer a brief case, from a Christian perspective, against gambling. My hope is that professing believers will give this argument a fair hearing.…

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Love Me, Love My Food

By Forrest McPhail | September 20, 2023 | Comments Off on Love Me, Love My Food

As a cross-cultural missionary, I have travelled to a lot of churches. I am usually there to present our burden to take part in what God is doing in a place far less-reached with the Gospel, as well as reporting on past and present ministry there. Churches often ask us to stand in the foyer…

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A Few Thoughts on Reading

By Micah Colbert | September 19, 2023 |

In his classic work, “How to Read a Book,” Mortimer Adler writes, “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.” In order for good books “to get through to you,” consider some of the following……

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What Would Jesus Do? Well, Not Exactly.

By Kevin Schaal | September 17, 2023 | Comments Off on What Would Jesus Do? Well, Not Exactly.

“Jesus ate with sinners!” The drug-addicted mother threw the statement in the face of her substance-recovering daughter as a taunt and manipulative tool.  The daughter had recently come to Christ and was seeking to find freedom from a drug-shrouded childhood.  She was raised in the drug culture by a mother who was equally given to…

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Interview 13: Unique Opportunities of Community Chaplaincy (podcast)

By Proclaim and Defend | September 16, 2023 | Comments Off on Interview 13: Unique Opportunities of Community Chaplaincy (podcast)

Larry Robbins recently retired after a 23-year career as a Community Chaplain, serving with his local police force. Through that time he also served on the pastoral staff of his church. In the March/April 2023 edition of FrontLine, Larry wrote an article reflecting on his experience and ministry opportunities as a police chaplain. I was…

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Keys for Ministry Stability and Progress (Part 1)

By Kevin Collins | September 15, 2023 | Comments Off on Keys for Ministry Stability and Progress (Part 1)

We seem to live in an age of turmoil and even crisis within large ministry organizations or institutions—whatever major denomination that you observe. And yet we want stability in our own ministries. We want to optimistically move forward successfully fulfilling the mission God has given to us. How can we do so? Ministry stability and…

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Purposes of Predictive Prophecy (Part 2)

By Layton Talbert | September 14, 2023 | Comments Off on Purposes of Predictive Prophecy (Part 2)

God intends prophecy to have a definite impact on people. Commentators and hermeneutics texts warn us not to misconstrue the intent of prophetic passages. Much of what they say is helpful; what’s curious is what is left unsaid or even denigrated. Many interpreters downplay some purposes that seem not only self-evident but Scripturally emphasized. The…

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Speaking Truth to Our Generation

By Don Johnson | September 13, 2023 | Comments Off on Speaking Truth to Our Generation

Kevin Schaal’s article on Monday (Fighting for Free Speech is Fighting for the Gospel)touched on something I’ve been thinking about recently. Our times are full of stories from various locales citing pressure tactics on Christians to conform to the new state religion of “freedom-of-sexual-expression-no-matter-how-bizarre.” I’m not sure what label we should put on this, but…

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Be of Good Cheer!

By Randy Livingston | September 12, 2023 | Comments Off on Be of Good Cheer!

We live in challenging times, do we not? Perhaps, many might think “challenging” is a bit of an understatement. Truth seems to be such a rare commodity. We do not trust our government, the media, even one another. There is little in the way of civil debate over social or political issues. Rather, harsh condemnation…

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Fighting for Free Speech is Fighting for the Gospel

By Kevin Schaal | September 10, 2023 | Comments Off on Fighting for Free Speech is Fighting for the Gospel

  The intersectionality of religion and politics is a huge bone of contention in the present social dialogue.  People from the right and left are both attacking the idea of Christian Nationalism—in whatever way it may be defined.  However, the idea of free speech is foundational to Western culture, and it is extremely important to…

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