“Greet each other with a Holy kiss” is a phrase used at least 4 times in the New Testament. (1 Cor 16:20, 1 Cor 13:12, 1 Thes 5:25, 1 Pet 5:14) Each time it is used, it is issued as an imperative, urging the readers to greet their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ with a Holy Kiss. But what is this “Holy kiss” and why don’t we practice it any more? ...

My wife and I recently watched " Saved!", a dark comedy about evangelical Christianity produced by REM lead singer Michael Stipe (You know, the guys who brought you the great song " Loosing my religion"). I have had this movie in my Netflix queue for quite some time, shuffling it around because I thought it would turn out to be like " Dogma". Boy was I mistaken. This movie’s portrayal of popular evangelical culture is stunningly accurate. Just watching this movie brought me back to when I was first Saved! and the jargon, ideas, and general incoherent babbling I got caught up in. ...

I recently came across an excellent sermon series on Christian discipleship, relationship with the culture, and the central calling of the great commission given recently at SEBTS. This series is by Ken Myers, director of Mars Hill Audio. Here are the links to Ken’s sermons, the corresponding interview (Contains excellent insights into the forms of communication, particularly in the area of music and television, and how they affect the content of the message and how some forms are better or exclusively suited to convey various types of information.), and various other resources by Ken Myers such as a sermon done at 9 Marks Ministries all having to do with faith in culture and Christian discipleship. ...

To clear up any confusion on this post I felt the following disclaimer is necessary: The major opponent or thrust of my argument is not homeschooling per se since it is wholly possible to attend public or private schools while maintaining an isolationist mentality. Isolationism is the major issue here, not the format of education. The Mat 10:16 quote comes in because Jesus makes the point that he is not advocating that we disassociate ourselves from people in the world, which I believe is not only a problem but contributes to a stunted intellectual life by avoiding exposure to divergent ideas and arguments. ...

One of the biggest elephants in the evangelical, missiological, soul-winning room is the lingering question of just how much good short-term mission trips (My scope here is limited to trips that are also known commonly as “summer missions” which typically last between 1 to 3 weeks.) are and whether or not they merely amount to sanctified vacations taken at the expense of others. Now, to be fair, I’m not claiming that either the missionaries or those who fund them are intentionally nefarious. On the contrary; I believe that for the most part, those who go on short term mission trips and those who support them financially have honest evangelistic intentions. I am simply wondering whether we’ve fostered this “super spiritual” mindset around something we call “the mission field” and, as a result, neglect to ask the burdensome and unpopular questions of stewardship and effectiveness. ...

The Questions Who am I? What constitutes me? Am I merely the sum total of my physical atoms? What about the soul? Is there any evidence for it’s existence? These are questions that have been raised in an article written by an atheist friend of mine following a discussion on secular morality and justice. In this article the author raises the question of the soul, defined as a “spark of life”, specifically the it consists of and how it relates to the concept of justice. ...

The Southern Baptist Convention, of which I am a member, has undertaken a challenge recently laid down by Southeastern Theological Seminary president Dr. Danny Akin in his sermon “12 Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence”. This challenge, in a nutshell, is to get back to our Biblical roots and primary mission of telling the world about Jesus. While the axioms that make up the core of this movement are quite sound, I believe we are missing one key to actually bringing about a resurgence or making ourselves as Southern Baptists agents of change in our culture. Specifically, how we do evangelism. ...

The problem Josh McDowell has stated that in our day, Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge…” has replaced John 3:16 “For God so loved the world…” as the most widely recognized and quoted verse. I believe this to be the case and I think the primary reason for it, at least in our culture, is the postmodern attitude our culture has taken when it comes to truth in general and moral truth in particular (A condition known as moral relativism.). As alarming as this is, though, what I find more alarming is how this shift in focus has affected most professing believers and how this shift has made us largely ineffective in changing the culture around us. ...

I recently embarked on a quest to learn the Greek language. Or, as ESV translator Dr. William Mounce ( Personal website, Greek tutorial site) puts it in his lesson series " Greek tools for Bible Study", I want to learn Greek in order to understand Scripture better. In other words, I set out to learn a " [little Greek](http://www.ibiblio.org/koine/#little Greek)". Outside of a desire to know what the authors of the New Testament originally wrote, I didn’t think there would be much use for knowing a language that is no longer in use (The Greek used today is not the same as the Koine Greek used in the time of Christ.) but as I have studied, I have found that there are quite a number of English words that come from Greek. Learning Greek will help you understand (or at least remember) many theological terms like hamartia (gk: αμαρτια) which, when combined with the Greek word λογια, or “discourse”, turns into hamartiology or the study of sin. There’s also ecclesiology, soteriology, eschatology, etc. All of these theological terms have a root in a Greek word. Learning the Greek word will help you remember which area each area of study covers. ...

Today is July the 3rd. Tomorrow, most Americans will celebrate the birth of our nation. The day after that, most Churches will echo those celebrations with services bursting with national pride including patriotic music, tales of freedom bought at a high price, and special recognition of the brave men and women who keep us safe at night. Sadly, most people reading this will not see anything wrong with the series of events I’ve outlined above. ...