With “church” and “spirituality” taking so many different forms and emphases through denominations and movements, celebrities and influencers, a simplifying question helps distinguish true Christianity from the many false prophets who have gone out into the world. “Would the apostles recognize this?”                 If an apostle walked into this particular gathering of believers, would he call this “worship?” Would he ask, “Where did you come up with this ritual or tradition

I suppose if Paul had been a real man, he would never have written Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.” Real men do not faint. They always have it together. Real men do not lose heart. They have all the answers. Real men speak, and it is done, for wives and children exist to obey their every command.                 But in God’s world, the strongest men and women become weary, even exhausted. Sowing and rea

Occasions for discouragement are many. We live in a fallen world, and we are fallen. Every person experiences degrees of pain and loss, trouble and sorrow, sickness and weakness, betrayal and sudden, shocking setbacks. These do not happen to all in the same measure, but that they happen counsels us to have realistic expectations about our lives in this world.  We must take seriously God’s explanation for life and its troubles. Unbelieving men and practitioners usually assume