I remember one Sunday morning in my teen years on which a woman at church made a passing comment that I was “very pious.” The comment came during an angsty phase of my life, in which I was just beginning to learn theology and take my Christian walk more seriously. I was unsure how to … Continue reading Radical or Reasonable?
Is ‘Obedience-Based Discipleship’ Biblical?
Note: This article was originally published on ABWE’s blog. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded … Continue reading Is ‘Obedience-Based Discipleship’ Biblical?
The Fruit of Faithful Presence: Reflecting on Pastor Wang Yi
In recent weeks, over 100 members of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, have been imprisoned. Among them is Pastor Wang Yi, one of China’s foremost Protestant pastors and Christian leaders. Foreseeing this possibility, Pastor Yi drafted a letter, “My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience,” leaving it in the keeping of his church to be … Continue reading The Fruit of Faithful Presence: Reflecting on Pastor Wang Yi
This Is Your Sign From God
Do you want a "sign from God"? We all do, at times. We hope for some mysterious guiding voice from Heaven, some weird convergences of coincidences, or some other phenomenon to give us a divine nudge in the right direction. Is that wrong? Only if we let it keep us from obeying what God has clearly … Continue reading This Is Your Sign From God
Further Clothed, Not Unclothed
When the believer suffers affliction, the Holy Spirit places within him a certain yearning. For relief, indeed. But properly understood and experienced, the sort of craving relief from affliction imparted by God is of wholly different nature from man's regular self-preservation instinct. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, … Continue reading Further Clothed, Not Unclothed
Why God Commands Obedience
No one enjoys being told what to do. To those outside the Christian faith, the idea that God would lay claim to every part of my life—from what I do with my sex organs to where I spend my extra money—is oppressive and even repulsive. In the year 2015, obeying authority is uncool. But there was … Continue reading Why God Commands Obedience
Alex Kocman 