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Conversations from the Barber's Chair

Barbers Chair

I must confess it has been some time since I went to the barbershop. About four years ago, I began shaving my head completely because my forehead kept growing and my bald spot was about to meet my forehead. But about 10 years ago when I was still visiting stylists, I sat down in the chair of a barber who was cutting my then-remaining hair for the first time, and the sub...

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Discipling Our Teenage Children

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The teenage years are ones that, if honest, most parents will admit they dread. Why? We all know about the vulnerabilities of teen life and remember our own struggles during those formative years. Many people have told me that they would not go back and relive their teen years for “all the money in the world,” a sentiment with which I heartily concur (and we’re only...

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We All Need a “Sam” in Our Lives

Purple and Black Illustrative Happy Friendship Day Facebook Post (Instagram Post)

I must confess that although I love the Lord of the Rings series, I have not completed the books! It remains on my unending list of things to do and read. This well-loved classic from J.R.R. Tolkien is not only a great story, but for believers, a delight in seeing Christian themes embedded throughout the series. For example: the bearing of sin in Frodo carrying the ring. O...

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Evangelism Trends are Usually Rooted in Bad Theology

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Christians in most American churches are encouraged to evangelize – which means sharing the gospel with unbelievers and calling them to faith and repentance in Jesus Christ. This highly appropriate activity is rooted in the words of the New Testament and obedience to our Lord who commands us to make disciples. Yet while we see many circles and pockets of Christendom “...

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Love Your Pastor's Wife!

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I want to share just a few things a church and its members should consider in relating to a pastor’s wife, because honestly few people know what it is like to be in a pastor’s home. Unless you hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, how could you know? So here goes....

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Why Do People Lose Interest in Church?

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The other day my son asked me why people who used to go to church stop going, presenting a “teachable moment” on the importance of church in the Christian life. My son was observing a behavior that was already a tendency in the first-century church, as seen when the writer of Hebrews instructed his readers to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the ...

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Leaving Legalism Behind: A Call for Caution

Leaving Legalism Behind A Call for Caution

Last week we sought to define legalism, with an emphasis on the particular form of legalism that I have experienced in my former life as an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist: elevating one’s personal preferences to the level of doctrine, or insisting on them to bind the conscience of another believer. ...

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Defining- and Avoiding- Legalism

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“Legalism” is a term thrown out a lot in Evangelical circles – and an especially dreaded one because it implies you are a stick-in-the-mud, out-of-touch, intolerant, and way too hard on people. However, legalism involves a much bigger, deeper, and more devastating error. ...

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Lessons from the Story of Jefferson: The Genius Founding Father with a Duplicitous Life - Part 2

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Last week we reviewed two lessons for Christians from the life of Founder, patriot, president and prodigy Thomas Jefferson, as drawn from the biography Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Let’s move right into lesson 3!...

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Lessons from the Story of Jefferson: The Genius Founding Father with a Duplicitous Life; Part 1

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My most recently completed presidential biography is Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by John Meacham. My conclusion: the only things he and I have in common is being proud Virginians and sinners. (And I wasn’t born in Virginia, so I guess even that one does not fully count.) ...

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