How to Come Back from Carnality (James 4)
How does a backslidden believer come back into fellowship with God? James 4 gives sound instruction. In vv 1-5, James shines the light on some areas of sin in the lives of these believers. They were engaged in: Quarrels and conflicts (vv 1, 2) Fleshly pleasures (v 1) Lust (v 2) Murder (v 2) Envy […]
How We Decide Where to Hold a Regional Conference
People have often asked, “How do you decide where to hold a regional conference?” Let me shed some light on our reasoning process. There are four basic criteria. First, invitations. Was there an invitation to hold a regional at a given city or area? Those make a big difference in our planning, especially if the […]
Eternal Existence vs Eternal Life
In my discussions with annihilationists, one of the conceptual roadblocks I’ve encountered is an inability to distinguish between eternal existence and having eternal life. Some annihilationists reason this way: “To have eternal life means to exist forever. Only believers have eternal life, therefore only believers will exist forever. Since unbelievers lack eternal life, they will […]
Becoming a Fundamentalist: An Interview with Randy White
By Shawn Lazar Christian fundamentalism started a century ago. Bible teachers and pastors organized to resist the onset of liberalism in the denominations. They defended the fundamental doctrines of Biblical Christianity, such as the inerrancy of Scripture, the virgin birth, and the literal resurrection of Christ. Over time, a split began to occur between evangelicals […]
Who You Are Tells You Whom to Love — Ephesians 5:22–6:9
By Shawn Lazar What is important in living the Christian Life? What does it mean to follow Jesus—to live the kind of life He wants you to live? At the very beginning of my Christian life, I was reading very mystical authors like Watchman Nee and Andrew Murray. What they described was so above and […]
The Arrogance of Control (James 4:13)
The Epistle of James was addressed to carnal Christians. James urged them to come back into fellowship with God. “Submit…to God,” he wrote (4:7). “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (4:8). Clearly, these believers were far from God. That distance was reflected in their actions, in their speech, and in […]
The Toboggan-Rider, the To-Canada-Flyer, and the Snow-Vacationer
For the last year, I’ve been promising to take my kids to Canada. They want to see the snow. They saw some snow once—two years ago. A light sprinkling that quickly melted. But they want to see the real thing—the kind I grew up with. Two, three, four feet of it. Snow drifts so high […]
The Carnal Baptist Fellowship?
I am a Baptist. The first church I ever attended after my mom became born-again, was Baptist. It might have been too liberal, though, and mom left to attend a more conservative Open Brethren assembly (planted by this one). That’s where I was exposed to Dispensational theology. The main teaching elder at the time had […]
Book Sales
Sometimes people have unrealistic expectations about book sales. Thanks to innovations in publishing technology, the number of self-published books has exploded. But sales have stagnated. The average non-fiction book sells 250 copies a year, and 2000 copies in a lifetime. That’s it. 2000 copies. Someone like Tony Evans or Andy Stanley will sell many more […]
At Peace in the Furnace
What is the cause of your anger, anxiety, worry, and frustration? If you’re like me, you often externalize the blame. You point to something external to your feelings—such as other people, or adverse circumstances—as the cause of your emotional trouble and bad behavior. Just get rid of the adversity and the mental stability will follow, […]