Biblical Frienships, Spiritual Growth and Christian Maturity

I have been doing some thinking about the role of friendship in discipleship, spiritual growth and Christian maturity. Epicurus once wrote, "Of all the means...to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends." Is the goal of biblical friendship happiness? Or is Christian friendship for holiness? Proverbs 27:17 states, "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." I believe that longstanding friendships when done according to Scripture should manifest into measureable benchmarks in the spiritual life of all parties. Friends should influence each other toward godliness. As a result, the parties involved will challenge each other to reach new heights in their spiritual life. Holiness must precede happiness especially in marriages and friendships!

Ministry Today

Much of what modern preachers practice and portray as ministry today is not in accordance with the biblical mandate. We need to follow the pattern we see in our Lord and His disciples by saturating our evangelistic efforts with the principles of Scripture! God forbid, that we should remove or compromise the doctrines of sin, hell, heaven, repentance, atonement, Immaculate Conception, Deity of Christ, the new birth, holiness, the righteousness of God in Christ, water baptism, baptism or indwelling of the Holy Spirit and salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ!

Tenth Anniversary of September 11th Attack

Today we commemorated the 10th year anniversary of 9/11. The tragic story of 9/11 caused many to either live by fear or it caused some to stir up faith in God for His divine intervention, guidance and protection. Prov. 18:10 says, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” Whether you are enduring spiritual or natural warfare, death of love ones, depression, a divorce or financial lack; I urge you to turn to Lord and embrace Christ by faith. Embrace resilience and eradicate fear!

The Way of the Heart

Henri J. M. Nouwen in his classic The Way of the Heart, highlights the troubles of our modern souls. Nouwen writes, “Our society is not a community radiant with the love of Christ, but a dangerous network of domination and manipulation in which we can easily get entangled and lose our souls. The basic question is whether we ministers of Jesus Christ have not already been so deeply molded by the seductive powers of our dark world that we have become blind to our own and other people’s fatal state and have lost the power and motivation to swim for our lives.”

Happy Fathers' Day!

Happy Father’s Day! One of the greatest gifts a father can give to his children is an exemplary life worth following. The Apostle Paul writes, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1, NIV). And may we be able to say like Paul, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you” Phil. 3:17. Fathers, may our spiritual foot prints lead our children to Christ, for they have great spiritual dividends!

Bridging Christ with Culture

Christ is the bridge between God and man! Christians are the bridge between

Change and Transformation in Culture

At the center of the struggle for dominance in our culture is the battle of worldviews. People in contemporary culture are enslaved and entangled by lies that the world has fed them and lies that they have chosen to believe. So many souls are being misled by deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. Christ must be the focus of our lives; and only through the teaching, preaching and application of Scripture and the demonstrative power of the Holy Spirit can minds be renewed and lives be transformed.

Do you desire to change your world? If that is your heart's desire, may I encourage you to start with your own spiritual and personal growth; Christ alone can bring about change and transformation in culture. Religion is not the answer but Christ is the answer for the world today! Only the truth of God's Word can challenge worldviews that are contrary to God's divine purpose, plan and will for mankind!