7 Reasons Why the Biblical Jesus Would Be Rejected If He Was Physically Here Today
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Ten Signs of Leadership Burnout
My wife and I have been in full-time ministry for over 30 years.
In our day, we have seen many leaders lose their zeal for God and leave the ministry. Often this occurs because they did not take adequate time to seek the Lord on a daily basis for self-renewal. Other reasons include not having a balanced life that incorporates things that advance physical and emotional health (instead of just focusing on work and ministry).
A Biblical Understanding of Pain, Tragedy, and Suffering
(Note: This article was originally written in January 2010.)
With the recent devastation in Haiti many people have been asking why such a horrible tragedy could take place. (As of the writing of this article, the death toll caused by the horrific earthquake is heading toward 200,000.) The earthquake’s death and destruction has been indiscriminate, crushing everything from the presidential palace to churches, killing both believers and non-believers. Because of this, many have relegated simplistic answers to the trash heap. Some Christians are even questioning their faith. The following is an attempt to give a biblical explanation that equips us with a broader scope for explaining why such events happen to those in our spheres of influence.
September -December 2016
Because of my robust schedule, I actually forgot to write a report for the last several months! As a result, this brief snapshot will include the last three months. Of course, these reports never include my local ministry in NYC, hours of mentoring and writing …… just mainly my extra local conferences and events.
The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Main Views of Eschatology (The Last Days)
With the current issue of Christianity Today featuring a prominent Evangelical pastor, David Jang, who many within his inner circle purportedly claim to be the second coming of Christ (you can read the article here), I have been inspired to write a brief treatise regarding the strengths and weaknesses of each of the main millennial eschatological systems students of scripture have espoused over the past 2,000 years. (Note: I make a distinction in this paper between classical premillennialism and hyper-dispensational premillennialism.)
Understanding the Values and Ideals of Our Secular Cities
(Note: This article was originally published in January 2012)
As a Christ-follower who has lived in New York City all his life, I have witnessed the increased secularization of our great city, especially within the past year. For example, not only was same-sex marriage made legal in our state, but there were also laws passed that put undue regulations on pregnancy crisis centers, laws making it necessary for churches to renew and prove their tax-exempt status annually (or face the consequence of having their tax-exempt status revoked), a policy enacted by the mayor that banned nativity scenes and Christmas trees from the Staten Island Ferry terminal, a decision by the mayor to ban clergy from participating in the ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001, and most recently, the mayor and city officials have given our churches notice that they can no longer rent publically funded community facilities and public schools for Sunday worship. (Note: This past week, the New York City Housing Authority reversed course because of the pressure put on them by our churches.)
Contrasting a Kingdom Mindset with a Church Mindset
Jesus, John the Baptist, and the apostles went about proclaiming the kingdom–not the church (read Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7; Acts 28:30-31). Although the church is in the kingdom, it is not the entire kingdom.
“Kingdom” denotes the rule of God over the whole cosmos, not just a single entity on the earth, like the church. In spite of this, most preaching today has as its goal to get people to make a weekly two-hour commitment to come to a building on Sundays and to give tithes to support that building! This is because a spirit of religion has captivated the church and blinded the minds of church leaders, so that we now have a very limiting church mindset instead of a kingdom perspective. The negative results of this cannot be overstated.
Are You an Enabler or a Discipler?
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Seven Hazardous Habits of Executive Level Leaders
Though many may be associates of either senior pastors or business owners, it is virtually impossible to understand the pressures, sacrifices, and weight of responsibility that rests upon the shoulders of effective senior leaders. The following points illustrate some of the hazards of executive level leadership.
21 Seismic Shifts of the Evangelical Church
The Evangelical church has been in flux the past several decades—going from one extreme to the next—and in many respects losing its center. Thus it is really hard to define what an Evangelical is today except for the very ambiguous definition of a person who believes the Bible is the word of God (there are even varying degrees of this within Evangelicalism) and in salvation through the vicarious death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.