Marks of Good Preaching - Avoiding Illustration Delusion

What happens when sermon illustrations are used improperly?

Church Culture, Christian Growth, TheologyTom BalzamoApril 15, 2024Thomas Balzamo, preaching, sermons, bad preaching, pastors, illustrationsComment

Marks of Good Preaching - Don't Avoid the Growing Pains

Is simple preaching a good thing? And what are some of the results of simple preaching?

Making the Valley of Weeping into a Well

When the touch of God hurts, we can revel in His mercies, and understand how sorrow and anguish give way to a more personal understanding of God's loving-kindess.

Christian Living, Christian Growth, Practical MattersTom BalzamoAugust 21, 2023Thomas Balzamo, grief, sorrow, weeping, sadness, death, loss, peace, strength in ChristComment

An Uncanny Prediction Tool: The Nine Ds of a Christian’s Self-destruction

There is a pattern to a Christian’s spiritual decline, and it’s startlingly predictable.

Shining a Flashlight on Sin

What is the light revealing in your life?

Christian GrowthJustin ArnottJune 11, 2022spiritual growth, Justin Arnott, holiness, Christlike, practical mattersComment

Have We Lost Our (Open) Minds?

Are we becoming a Christianized self-confirming echo chamber?

No Risk It, No Biscuit

“We are Super Bowl champions – no risk it, no biscuit - and the biscuit tastes really good right now!” This is a secular story with only temporal effects – nothing lasting! But what about the eternal?

Christian GrowthJim OgleJanuary 10, 2022Faith, Jim Ogle

Victimhood

The answer to victimhood is not validation or vindication, but . . .

Christian GrowthFloyd YoderDecember 18, 2021Perspective, Victim, Bitterness, Floyd Yoder

"I'm Resigning My Church Membership"

Joining a church, which is the Biblical expectation for the believer in this dispensation, ought to be done in confidence believing that God has set you in that particular body. Leaving then ought to be conducted in like manner. That is, by God Himself taking you out of the body and He will not do that for an unscriptural reason!

Hard Sayings in Scripture

Clearly, without understanding, we are apt to take “hard verses” and misapply them, much to our detriment. If we then take this misapplication and share it with others, our lack of understanding (really foolishness) may spread.

Christian Growth, Practical MattersJustin ArnottOctober 8, 2021Bible Study, Justin Arnott Comment

An Overlooked Aspect of Godliness

I was surprised when a girl – an unchurched girl – spoke up. It wasn’t her speaking that surprised me, but the quality that she suggested as an aspect of godliness. Before I tell you what she suggested, let’s quickly review what might be a usual list of character qualities that would define most people’s perception of godliness: being wise, just, loving, merciful, compassionate, pure, and holy. But this girl said . . .

Christian GrowthDaniel FoxJune 17, 2021Godliness, spiritual growth, Daniel Fox, bravery Comments

Spirit or Letter?

…in fulfilling what Scripture says about obeying those that have the rule over us (e.g. Romans 13, 1 Peter 2) a careful eye on both the spirit and the letter will help us maintain a faithful testimony…

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