Gospel.com Blog

When some people evangelize, they do so with tracts. Tracts, for those that don’t know, are short Gospel presentations in a little booklet. They usually have some sort of eye-catching cover or are centered around a particular theme. Every single one that I’ve seen includes a “Sinner’s Prayer” that the reader can read aloud in order to become a Christian.

We’ve probably all heard stories of well-meaning Christians leaving tracts as tips at restaurants, or giving children tracts instead of candy during Halloween. And if you’ve spent any time in a major city, you’ve probably seen a tract or two “left” in a bathroom. I’d have to imagine that most of these tract distribution methods are ineffective (I’m willing to be proven wrong). However, a tract in the hands of someone who can explain what it means seems like it has potential to me.

What about you, do you think that Tracts are an effective evangelism tools?

Share your thoughts!

There’s a lot to like about pets. The majority of them are cute, affectionate and cuddly, and all of them are just plain interesting to watch. Walk around a zoo sometime and see how excited children get over the most mundane activities of animals.

But even if we might like them a whole lot, should we love them? Should we love our pets like we love our neighbors?

Share your thoughts!

Have you ever witnessed, or experienced firsthand, “church discipline” administered by your church community? If the point of church discipline is to correct, not just to punish, what elements must be present in the act of discipline to ensure that it’s not just punitive?

Here’s how Lifetime Guarantee Ministries approaches this question:

Although they may both feel the same, there’s a huge difference between punishment and discipline. A punisher is angry at the punishee and takes out his hostility on him. The result is either fear-motivated conformity to the punisher’s will or rebellion. A discipliner, on the other hand, is not angry. He metes out the discipline despite the fact that it hurts him to do so. The one who is disciplined is motivated to change because of his love for the one who disciplines. Although both the punishee and the disciplinee may receive “three licks with the paddle,” the result will be vastly different.

Nowhere after the cross does the Greek text support the idea of God’s punishing new creations in Christ. The word is chasten, or discipline.

Read more at the Lifetime Guarantee website.

This is something I’ve thought and talked about quite a bit lately in the context of parenting. Our two-year-old daughter is entering a (temporary…. right?!?) phase in which her behavior is sometimes less than angelic. Some form of discipline becomes necessary at points, but how does one administer discipline in such a way that it encourages correction of behavior, rather than simple punishment for behavior? It gets especially tricky when the act of discipline—say, mandatory “quiet time”—looks the same whether it’s administered in love or anger.

All parents have wrestled with this question at some point. But this is also an important issue in the church, where believers are called to correct brothers and sisters who have strayed. Sometimes this correction takes the form of discipline (removal from a leadership position or even temporary removal from community worship) that might be seen as a punishment.

What acts of church discipline have you witnessed or experienced? What was present in the discipline that communicated love rather than anger?

What do you think?

If I were to go to your Facebook page, what would I see listed under “Religious Views”?

Defining your “Religious Views” can be a deceptively complicated experience. Many people aren’t comfortable with labeling themselves so succinctly, because taking on a label often means taking on all the connotations of that label. You might understand what it means to be “Baptist” or “Catholic,” but do all of your acquaintances and friends? Will they in turn label you as a nutcase if you say you’re “Presbyterian?” Should you care if they look at you askance for being “Anglican?”

A recent conversation on the definition of the term ‘evangelical’ comes to mind (see this Jesus Creed post if you’re interested in exploring that). Nowadays, the word “Evangelical” carries some very unchristian baggage along with it in some people’s minds.

A Washingtonpost.com article, Soul-Searching on Facebook, provides some insight into the thought process that goes into the “Religious Views” question:

Creating a Facebook profile for the first time, Eric Heim hadn’t expected something so serious. Hunched over his laptop, he had whipped through the social network Web site’s questionnaire about his interests, favorite movies and relationship status, typing witty replies wherever possible. But when he reached the little blank box asking for his core beliefs, it stopped him short.

“It’s Facebook. The whole point is to keep it light and playful, you know?” said Heim, 27, a college student from Dumfries. “But a question like that kind of makes you think.”
[...]
Of its 250 million users worldwide, Facebook says more than 150 million people choose to write something in the religious views box.

Later in the article Piotr Bobkowski, a doctoral student at UNC, talks about his research:

He has found that a significant portion of privately religious young adults — almost a third in the case of Protestants — avoid identifying themselves by their traditional sects.

Many teens, Bobkowski said, prefer to portray themselves as spiritual but not religious: “That’s why you see all these little one-line creeds popping up.”

What about you? What does your Facebook profile say your religious views are? Do you think there’s good reason for religious people to tiptoe around labels?

When you hear somebody describe themselves as an “ex-Christian” or “former Christian,” what’s your reaction?

In my journey through different churches in the course of my life, I’ve heard a number of different Christian perspectives on this. Some Christians believe that it’s entirely possible to stop being a Christian and renounce your saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I’ve heard others suggest that it’s not possible to be an “ex-Christian,” and so anyone claiming to be one is either mistaken or was never truly a believer.

What do you think?

Share your thoughts!

If you follow apologetics at all, you’re likely familiar with Christopher Hitchens, the fiery atheist who has participated in a long string of debates with Christian thinkers and apologists. (I had a chance to attend one such debate last year; it was a fascinating experience.) On the heels of a new movie about his debates, Hitchens has written an interesting piece at Slate about what he learned from debating religious people around the world.

There are some characteristically sharp barbs about different branches of Christianity in the article, so bear that in mind before you read it. But I do recommend reading it, because it’s always useful to hear an honest account from the “other side” of the great debate over the truth of Christianity. What stands out to me is the reason Hitchens cites for respecting his debate opponent, Pastor Wilson:

Wilson isn’t one of those evasive Christians who mumble apologetically about how some of the Bible stories are really just “metaphors.” He is willing to maintain very staunchly that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and that his sacrifice redeems our state of sin, which in turn is the outcome of our rebellion against God. He doesn’t waffle when asked why God allows so much evil and suffering—of course he “allows” it since it is the inescapable state of rebellious sinners. I much prefer this sincerity to the vague and Python-esque witterings of the interfaith and ecumenical groups who barely respect their own traditions and who look upon faith as just another word for community organizing.

Hitchens finds it more intellectually satisfying to debate a Christian who firmly and unapologetically believes in the core doctrines of the faith—as opposed to waffling on controversial questions or trying to tone down difficult topics.

Now, I don’t want to be unfair to the ecumenical groups that Hitchens criticizes here. But in thinking through my own responses when my faith is challenged in some way, I can’t deny that one of my strongest initial impulses is to try to tone down or moderate Christian beliefs that I actually hold strongly. I’m not sure if that’s a form of cowardice or a misguided attempt at conversational peacekeeping, but it’s helpful to be reminded that a response which communicates embarrassment about my own beliefs is not only shameful to me, but it’s intellectually and spiritually unhelpful to the person I’m talking to.

Is this something you struggle with? Have you learned how to earnestly contend for your faith without either being obnoxious about it, or apologetic about it? How do you respond when challenged to defend a belief that might draw scorn or skepticism?

Unless you’re living on Mars, every day you’re faced with ideas and philosophies—both subtle and obvious—that are contrary to the Christian worldview.

So, how do you maintain a Godly perspective throughout the day?

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries answers the question as it relates to college students in the video below:

Watch other RZIM videos at their video teaching page.

What do you think?

Whether it’s a harvest festival, or a fall carnival, or a Haunted House-esque Judgement House, or something else entirely, many churches are making alternative Halloween activities available to their communities.

What about you? Does your church provide a Halloween alternative?

Share your thoughts!

Anger is everywhere these days—people are angry about politics, about theological differences, about world events, about problems in their personal lives. Even the Bible contains many accounts of anger: God’s anger at sin, Moses’ anger at the Israelites’ disobedience; Jonah’s anger at God’s unfathomably mercy.

How do we make sense of the powerful emotion of anger in our lives? How do you tell the difference between anger that is godly, and anger that is sinful and destructive?

Here’s how RBC Ministries answers the question:

When monitoring our anger, it is important to understand that much of our anger is fueled by a hatred of injustice, whether real or perceived. Anger over injustice reflects the core longing for justice we all share. We are incensed when life seems unfair. We can know, however, if the anger we feel is sinful or godly by considering the provocation, goal, motivation, and timing of our anger.

Selfish anger is provoked when we believe we’ve been treated unjustly or unfairly. We want something, we don’t get it, we feel deprived, and now someone is going to pay for having treated us this way (James 4:1-4). [...]

Conversely, godly anger is provoked in us when we witness persistent violations of God’s standards of justice (Psalm 119:53). There is an appropriate time to be outraged over those who hold God in contempt and mar the beauty of His creation.

Read the rest of RBC’s answer at How can I discern the difference between sinful anger and godly anger?

Do you struggle with anger? How do you keep your anger confined to appropriate contexts?

What do you think?

It’s easy to worship God when the mood and setting are pitch perfect, but what about when things aren’t quite right?

Shawn, over at the Youth Specialties blog discusses something key to worship: we don’t always want to. He’s discussing it in terms of youth ministry, however, I think his observation holds true for adults as well.

Here’s an excerpt:

Time after time I’ve seen students enter in to no-holds-barred worship when the “atmosphere is right”: when the place is filled with teenagers lost in passionate worship… when the music is loud and the band is tight… when the lights are set… and when the smoke machine is on. The camp atmosphere… where it’s hard NOT to enter in. You know what I mean.

But I want to challenge our students to remember that God is worthy of ALL of our praise even when the group is small, when the music isn’t on, when they are not in the church building, and even when they don’t FEEL like it.

Read the rest of It’s Not About Us.

We all like those times when the musicians are on and the lyrics what we’ve needed to hear all week. But, as the YS post points out, sometimes the mood is just all wrong. There’s a new drummer who can’t quite keep a beat or it’s a rainy day or you and your significant other were fighting 15 minutes ago in the car; you name it, you’re not feeling it. It’s in those times that worshiping God is more of a decision than an outpouring of our heart.

This is an unformed thought, but I wonder if our ability to worship during imperfect circumstances is a reflection of our spiritual maturity. When we first come to Christ, many of us are so spiritually full we could worship God anywhere at any time, but slowly that ever present feeling fades. It’s then that we face the true worship test: finding God in the midst of a less than stellar situation.

What do you do when faced with a less than ideal worship experience? How do you worship when you’re not feeling like it?