Savedthroughfaith.com

Here are my short thoughts on Mr. Rob Bell and what is going on with his upcoming book, Love Wins.1) The guy knows that if he is going to sell his book he had best get it controversial and so he and his publishers are out there pushing his strange (and unbiblical) views about hell and God and love with his videos and excerpts designed to make evangelicals mad.  And it is working.  Justin Taylor and John Piper both have bought into his m...

Wayne from “The Lifestream Blog” has written an excellent article called “Finding Fellowship.” In this post, Wayne is answering an email from a reader who is struggling with some “church” issues. The reader asked several questions, but most of them originated in Hebrews 10:25. Here is part of Wayne’s response: Believers who love each other will get together. That’s what friends and family do. My kids...

I don’t think anyone especially enjoys criticism. At least not initially. Pastors are no different. After all, we get our fair share, we don’t want criticism from our wives too. Or do we? The pastor’s wife is his closest friend. She knows his weaknesses and his strengths. Therefore, she is uniquely qualified to be the pastor’s greatest proponent as well as his best critic. Let me get real practical and transparent. Awhile...

There are two excellent posts at “GraceWorks.CA” on the topic of preaching: “Why do we preach?” and “The Church in dialogue with God.” The first post examines the emphasis placed on 2 Timothy 4:2 in defense of the modern practice of monologue speeches given by leaders (pastors, elders, bishops) to the church. The second post examines some of the scriptural evidence for dialogue. In the first article, the author...

Proverbs tells us, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” This verse reminds me of the capacity within for self-deception. I’m quite regularly shocked at how I can convince myself something that is horribly destructive might actually work out to my benefit. This is immediately what I thought of when I saw the video below on my friend, Maurilio’s, blog. Sexual sin is often portrayed in...

About six months ago I was about to pull the plug on this blog. It was not what I wanted it to be and I didn’t have the energy (drive) to get it there. At that time I was reminded by my best friend (my wife) of the benefits of disciplined writing and some of the impact over the last 4-plus years of writing. I decided to get back on the horse. One of the ways in which I changed things was switching the name from “Irish Calvinist”...

A few days ago in my post “Q&A Session,” I offered to give thought to and answer questions that my readers asked. Several people asked some very good questions. Eric, from “A Pilgrim’s Progress,” asked about unity. Unity is very important to me, and given Jesus’ prayer in John 17, it is very important to him as well. Here is Eric’s question: What have you found to be tangible ways that Christians with...

Just want to remind you that your pet probably won't be raptured when Jesus comes back for the Church so make sure you get "post rapture pet care."  That's right, for around $75 you can have the calm assurance when you get into heaven that your pet back on earth will be taken care of while you are gone for a few years. So make sure you get your post-rapture plan today.  You can find your plan here. Subscribe in a reader...

If you’ve read Your Secret Name you know that self-injury is part of my story. But you also know that recovery is part of my story as well.  March 1st is National Self-Injury day.  I’d like to show you why people cut themselves. I’d like to give you a rare look into self-injury: 7 Common Myths about Self-Injury Self-harm is usually a failed suicide attempt. This myth persists despite a wealth of studies showing that, although people who...

Welcome everyone to Deeper Waters where we are diving into the ocean of truth. Lately, we’ve been going through the Watchtower booklet of “Should You Believe In The Trinity?” Finally, the Watchtower has got to the topic of what the Bible itself says about the doctrine. We shall continue that tonight. Of course, the Watchtower brings out John 17:3 (Sometimes I wonder if they know there are other verses in the Bible.) which is not...