Truth Triumphs

  I'm not sure when I first heard the expression "social distancing." It was definitely at the beginning of this prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, but I honestly cannot recall hearing it on any occasion before last March or April. What I do know is that how the expression is used is not what the words themselves mean. According to the Scriptures, which, as a Christian, are my ultimate authority for determining what to believe and how to live, God created humanity in his image (Genesis 1:26; 5:2). Although there are differing views on what exactly it means to be made in God's image, the words themselves (God's image and likeness) lead us to the conclusion that God created humans, unlike any other created thing, to be like him and to represent him. One strong theory for how human beings are like God is that we have an innate capacity for relationships. We are social creatures. Our very nature demands close interactions with other human beings. This need for relationship

On May 22, 2019, my life changed forever. My wife and I welcomed our firstborn son Aiden into this world. In my opinion, having a child more fundamentally changes one's life than getting married. This is something that is learned after the fact, although plenty of authors warned of the immense change that would result from becoming parents. This change has not been wholly bad, as change is seldom obviously good or obviously bad. The bad is not wicked or evil, but simply inconvenient: erratic sleeping schedules (mostly for the mother), changing dirty diapers, more expenses. But, far and away, the good outweighs the bad. Sure, becoming a father has been challenging, but it is worth every difficulty. Through the process of beginning to parent a son, I have learned many valuable lessons. In a sense, Aiden has taught me so much, and I hope to reciprocate his involuntary benevolence some day in the future. One thing that Aiden has taught me is that fatherhood, like many of life's gre

Recently, my grandpa and I teamed up to write a book about our shared Pentecostal beliefs. The book is entitled Baptized with the Holy Ghost: A Pentecostal Perspective  and is a brief explanation of what Pentecostals believe about the baptism of the Holy Ghost. In this blog post, I will briefly summarize the key points of the book. In the coming weeks, I will devote more time and attention to developing the themes of this summary.  Simply put, Pentecostals believe in a post-conversion work of the Spirit that is for the purpose of being an effective witness for Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8) and is evidenced by speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance (Acts 2:4). This work is for all believers and is received by faith, just like salvation is received. That Pentecostals have advocated this doesn't seem to be controversial. As we note in our book, "To be a Pentecostal is to believe in an experience of spiritual empowerment subsequent to conversion that is evidenced by spe

Joshua Harris is a wonderful author who has several provocative books, including I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl . He also penned a book entitled Stop Dating the Church . In this book, he argues that it is time for Christians to join and be fully committed to a strong local church. Do you know any church-daters? Perhaps you need to know the symptoms before you make a diagnosis. According to Harris, church-daters are me-centered . In other words, they choose churches which cater to their particular wants. Also, those who date the church tend to be independent . They really don't want to be heavily involved with the activities and ministries of the local assembly. Finally, people who date the church are highly critical about everything, easily finding fault with the leadership of the church. So, I ask again: Do you know any church-daters? Better yet, are you guilty of dating the church? Do you hop from church to church? Are you fully engaged in a local assembly? I

Just a little bit of sin can wreak havoc on an entire life and, consequently, upon many people. For example, the idea of the Hubble Space Telescope was devised, costing some $2.5 billion to bring to fruition. However, whenever this expensive telescope was launched into outer space, NASA learned that a particular lens was off by less than 1/1000th of an inch. However, until the astronauts repaired this minor mistake, the telescope wasn't any better than a regular, inexpensive telescope. Isn't sin similar to that? A small, seemingly minor deviation from godliness could render you ineffective in the kingdom of God. But, why exactly is sin such a popular phenomenon in the present-day church? I think the Broken Windows Theory sheds some light on the current situation. This theory states that as people walk by windows that remain broken, they will assume that no one is control and that breaking windows is a tolerable action in that community. A similar thing may be cause for th

In a recent blog post, I referred to a book entitled Contagious: Why Things Catch On, written by Jonah Berger, who is a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Today, I would like to offer a brief summary of the book and give his six reasons for why ideas, products, and behaviors catch on. But, before I introduce those six qualities, let me give a brief story that highlights the importance of reading and how one book can alter your life. Berger unashamedly admits that the inspiration for his career came from Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. If you haven't read The Tipping Point , you need to find a copy. It's pure gold. The point of this short paragraph is to ask you, "What's the one book which will inspire you to make an impact on the world?" Never stop reading. The next book could be transformative. Without further ado, Berger centers his book on describing the STEPPS to contagious content. Social currency.  People have