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Nowhere in the New Testament can you find the phrase "church member," or "church membership." There is no command from Jesus to "repent, believe, and then go take a membership class at the closest church." So what's all the fuss? Why is becoming an official member of a church important? Why does membership matter?...

I met a lady years ago and began inviting her church. She was not opposed to Christianity, she just had been out of church for years. One random Sunday she showed up and loved the service. She even filled out a connect card and asked for follow up. A close member of her family needed counseling. Our church reached out and met her need. She began to attend more regularly. S...

When Jesus saves us, what changes? We know our sins have been forgiven and we’ll go to heaven when we die. But it doesn’t take 27 books and 260 chapters (The New Testament) to tell us that. What else changes when we believe the gospel? In his letter to the church in Rome, Paul argues that our justification breaks in with three new realities. He explains them in chapte...

After their parents died, three brothers living in New Jersey were cleaning up the estate. They saw a painting hanging up in the dining room that had always creeped them out as kids....

Today we’re covering the final external evidence that validates the claims of the Bible. For lack of a better name, we’ll call this point of evidence, Our Reality. ...

Last week we began considering external evidence that supports the truth claims of the Bible. Before we jump into part two, here’s some perspective on how to receive people who come to the Scriptures with doubt—honest doubt, not mocking or scoffing. ...

Many claim the Bible is corrupt, full of contradictions, and historically unreliable. Plenty of people have claimed to speak for God. Other religions have their own sacred religious texts that clearly differ with the Bible on major points of doctrine and practice. Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus have their own Scriptures. They can’t all be right, can they? What distinguis...

When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to turn him back, saying, “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” Calvert replied, “We died before we came here.” ...

On May 10, 1940, an old man and his two daughters gathered around a radio late at night in Holland. They tensely waiting to hear their prime minister address the country. Germany was at war with England and France. Will Holland join the war or remain neutral? One of the daughters, recalling that night years later, writes:...

’m not afraid of heights. At least, I didn’t think I was. Once I trekked 630 feet to the top of the tallest monument in the United Sates, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Okay, full disclosure, I took a Tram Car. At the observation area on top, a row of widows displayed a panoramic layout of the city—thirty miles in either direction. The view was stunning and I couldn�...