Church & Theology | TLG Christian News

3 Dynamics of Growth in Grace

18/01/2017 0 Comment

Do you need grace today?

Do you desire to grow in grace this year?

I suppose these are questions with self-evident answers. We know we need God’s grace, and we know Scripture commands us to grow in grace.

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.—2 Peter 3:18

This is what we desire for our lives as well as for the lives of those to whom we minister.

But how? How do we grow in grace? And what does growth in grac..

A White Man’s Meditations on Martin Luther King Day

16/01/2017 0 Comment

Most of my childhood, I lived in highly diverse neighborhoods. My neighborhoods and schools were a mishmash of white, black, Asian, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, and more. I recently looked up the stats of my junior high, for example, and the current student population is 33% white, 30% Hispanic, 25% African American, 10% Asian, and a few others. This type of relatively even split is how I remember it.
I don’t remember my parents ever making blatantly racist comments. Race was neve..

Growth Points 74: Three Attributes of a Great Year

12/01/2017 0 Comment

When I think about a great ministry or a great minister, I think of John the Baptist. Jesus Himself called John and his ministry great: “For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist…” (Luke 7:28).

John wasn’t as concerned with being relevant to his culture as he was with being in touch with God. It was his heart for God and the way he uncompromisingly shared God’s message that set him apart.

In this growth points video, I share thr..

Where Grace Abounds

09/01/2017 0 Comment

Each year at Lancaster Baptist Church, we introduce a new theme for the year to our church family on Vision Sunday. Primarily we do this through the Sunday messages in which the theme is shared from a biblical text and then, in Sunday evening’s message, developed into ministry goals for the coming year.

But one of the most memorable ways we introduce the theme is through teaching our church family a new chorus (typically written by our music team) based on the theme.

Our theme for 2017 is “By ..

5 Free Resources for Your New Year

07/01/2017 0 Comment

If you’re looking for encouraging, yet intensely-practical and thoroughly-biblical, resources to help you move forward for God in this New Year, here are five completely free resources that I believe could be a help to you:

Daily in the Word devotions—Every day, receive a short devotion delivered directly to your inbox. Each day’s email includes a Scripture verse, devotional thought, and a solid takeaway you can immediately apply. (They also include an Old Testament and New Testament reading in..

3 Life Stewardship Principles for the New Year

05/01/2017 0 Comment

I love the New Year for the fresh start it gives us on setting goals and making life adjustments.

But in all our preparing and planning, it’s good to remember that our lives belong to God, and we are simply stewards—managers—of what He has entrusted to us.

How do New Year’s goals look different when you remember this?

This past Sunday morning at Lancaster Baptist Church, we looked at James 4:13–17 and learned from this passage about Successfully Stewarding the New Year. I’d like to share the ..

How to Align Your External World with Your Internal Commitments

31/12/2016 0 Comment

At the start of a new year, we make goals, resolutions, or commitments. And we sincerely want to transform them into reality over the coming months.

Very often, however, there is a disconnect between the internal commitments we’ve made and our everyday living. This can be the case for every kind of goal—from spiritual goals to physical goals. We may have positive thoughts, but we keep ending up with negative results. Why?

Reaching a goal requires more than good intentions. We have to make chan..

7 Ways to Find More Time to Read

29/12/2016 0 Comment

Over the years, I’ve made it a practice to read regularly and on a variety of subjects. Reading not only gives information, but it gives inspiration too. A well-written book can challenge you to think, inspire you to use your life for God, and (particularly with books on history or biographies) give you gratitude for how God has used others.

Sometimes people ask how I am able to find time to read. It’s not that some people have more time than others, but that some people put a higher priority o..

7 Practices to Build into Your Annual Calendar

26/12/2016 0 Comment

If planning counts as productivity, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is my most productive! This is my week for setting goals and planning out the “big rocks” in my calendar for the coming year.

I have found that if I am to wisely steward the multiple roles God has entrusted to me—including husband, dad, grandfather, pastor, college president, friend, and more—it helps if I set aside blocks of time for what is central to meeting these roles.

In other words, I can’t just hope it will a..

When God’s Gifts Aren’t Wrapped How You Hoped

23/12/2016 0 Comment

Life has a way of handing us unexpected and unwanted packages.

A pink slip from your employer.

A bad report from the doctor.

An eviction notice from the bank.

A harsh email from a strained relationship.

Too often, the package delivered with your name on it isn’t a present you want.

The first Christmas was wrapped in an unusual set of circumstances: Joseph and Mary having to make a difficult journey in the last trimester of her pregnancy…and then to have to give birth in a stable.

But the ..