I’ve been around a lot of death. As a pastor, church members die pretty regularly. As a healthcare chaplain, my patients died weekly. Funerals can be a little tricky at times, balancing kind sentiments with truthfulness. I’m always fascinated by whether people seem ready or scared, and whether they want to die unexpectedly in their … More Christian Funeral Clichés
Fact – He’s real. He’s more than just a personification of evil. He is described in Scripture as a being that can be actually interacted with. He has personality and is labeled with pronouns. Fact – He is a fallen angel. He is not some other sort of being. I tend to put angels as … More Satan – Fact vs. Fiction
Just for the sake of argument we’ll call a mega-church as being greater than 1,000 people on a Sunday and we’ll call a mini-church as one smaller than 100. I don’t think one is better than another. I think they both have strengths and weaknesses. I think the goal of both is to be as … More Mega-Church vs Mini-Church
9) Noah lived a long time. He was a young lad when Adam’s Son Seth was still alive and lived all the way until Abraham (he’s kind of a big deal). No wonder it seems these ancient civilizations all have Flood narratives. They could literally go talk to their great8-grandad. 8) It took Noah 100 … More 9 Things You Might Not Know about Noah and the Flood
I’ve found an interesting trend. I don’t know if it’s new or if my friend group has just expanded, but it does seem to be more pervasive in the Christian community. I feel like Christians are more interested in getting “a word from God” than reading the Word of God. They seem more interested in … More A word from God vs. The Word of God
I think Fellowship has a branding problem. Growing up, a Church Fellowship meant one thing. The Church was going to buy a whole bunch of fried chicken and everyone with the last name A-M would bring a side dish and everyone N-Z would bring a dessert. I’m all about eating 5 different types of Macaroni … More ReBranding Fellowship
I love the Constitution. I think it is a pretty incredible document. I think the first 10 Amendments (i.e. the Bill of Rights) are pretty awesome too. It recognizes that the rights of the individual are greater than the rights of the government and have been naturally granted by God and not bestowed by any … More The Second Commandment: Thou Shalt Bear Arms
To the best of my knowledge every New Testament list of sins mentions sexual sins in some way. The three most common words are porneia, akatharsia, and moicheia. They’re usually translated as fornication, sexual impurity, and adultery. God created sexuality. It’s an important part of His creation. He created us in two sexes. He started … More Why Are Sexual Sins Brought Up So Much in the Bible?
We all know the verse that says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” There are quite a few verses that reference the fear of God and even a couple in the New Testament. Often times I hear people just erase the word or change the word “fear” to “reverence.” Obviously we … More Fear of God Is Just the Beginning of Knowledge
I hate war. There’s so much politics. There’s so much suffering. There’s so much death. I never want people to have to experience the horrors of war. As a Christian, I individually want to “turn the other cheek” and “love my enemy.” However, these are instructions for individual Christians, and not written to governing officials. … More 5 Reasons We Should Go to War
Joe Allotta 