A very sensitive and often pondered question is, “Do babies who die go to heaven?” Along the same lines, an additional question could be, “Do special needs individuals who do not possess the mental capacity to understand the gospel or profess faith in Christ go to heaven?” Beyond those, someone may ask, “Could this include a young child who was too young to grasp a genuine understanding of salvation?”

21st century America has seen a church planting revival. Church plants are popping up everywhere. I recently googled “Church Plant” in a well-known mid-level U.S. city, and twenty churches popped up within a 5-mile radius. There was a congregation named “Fresh Church” one block from “Radiant Church” who was just around the corner from “Destiny Church.”

Bible study is hard work. Reading and understanding a 2000-year-old document is hard enough as it is. But motivating our minds to study the Bible is half the battle. It may just be the hardest part of Bible study. Despite this, if you overcome all the distractions and lack of motivation, would you open it to the Old Testament? To the Prophets? To Isaiah?

Over the past 17 years — in the prosperity gospel, the seeker-driven church movement, and reformed-ish world — I’ve seen my fair share of manipulative tactics by greedy preachers and by wealthy parishioners. It seems that one cannot simply relegate money-manipulation to one theological camp, or only to leaders. Rather, it is common anywhere sin resides and wages war within every human heart.

As followers of Christ, we receive spiritual check-ups at many different stages of our Christian walk. We receive a spiritual check-up when we read the Bible, as it does its work of “piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow . . . judg[ing] the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12).

The wise men of every age ask the same questions: “Why are we here?” “What should we be doing?” “What is the meaning of life?” For answers, some look to Confucius, Aristotle, or Nietzsche. Or, more likely these days, we look to books, blogs, or YouTube channels.

For those of us who know Christ, two simple words hold the key to life everlasting: The Gospel. This phrase is like sweet honey to those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. To believe the Gospel means that we have peace with God, that we have a heavenly Father, and that we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom.

Our world is deeply fallen. In the midst of our pain and fallenness, voices are crying out for social reform, for economic redistribution, and for major institutional changes to the educational system and law enforcement. After thousands of years of human history, our world is still blinded to the reality that the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart.

Today is the day! For the Gospel has officially made the transition from my personal blog to a multi-faceted resource ministry that exists to provide sound doctrine for everyday people.

It’s been impossible for me to miss the controversy that’s been brewing in Southern California between Governor Gavin Newsom and Sun Valley’s Grace Community Church as led by their pastor-teacher, John MacArthur.

How should a Christian respond when an “enemy” falls? Like any human being, a Christian is not immune to the temptations of gloating, celebrating, or even berating with an “I told you so” or two. Certainly we all will experience a heavenly moment when the wicked who have wronged us face a righteous judge (we will face Him too), but it is also possible that those who’ve wounded us will face consequences here on earth.

For decades the American church has sold a shallow “growth strategy” revolving around the notion that teenagers and college students need copious amounts of shenanigans to stay in the church and buy into Christianity. Youth Pastors famously emerged as 20-40-year old men spending their work week working on a promo skit to garner a response, and “sermons” that refer to the Bible but don’t teach much.

Through online communication channels like email and social media, I receive a large amount of questions and loathe the fact that I can’t keep up with them. While God doesn’t “need” anyone, and He is absolutely faithful in saving souls and guiding them to solid spiritual food, I often think back to how He used the kindness of Christians to point me to helpful resources when I needed them the most.

The church needs bold, biblical, unashamed preaching. Though most every church will claim they “preach” and that they preach the Bible, that isn’t necessarily the case. If there is one thing that a church must excel in prioritizing it is not a building campaign, story-telling, TED talks, pragmatic growth strategies, or more programs. It is preaching.

This article needs minimal introduction. Social media is ablaze right now and has been for some time. Rage is on the rise, wars are fought using words as ammunition, and aggressive debate takes its toll on even the most upbeat human souls.

When it comes to analyzing dreams and visions, very few people are short on opinion. Some seek dreams, visions, and other mystical experiences constantly yet don’t even know their Bible. Others dismiss every supernatural claim and prefer rationalism at all costs; unwilling to even accept any possibility that supernatural experiences could either be demonic or that God could providentially use a very normal dream to move someone into realistic action once they wake up.

If there is one word to describe how we must navigate re-gathering amid COVID-19, it’s this: grace.

The term “tithing” isn’t as controversial as the definition is. Quite often, in faithful churches around the world, you will hear the word “tithe” attached to “offerings” as a traditionally general way to describe giving. A pastor might say, “This morning you can give your tithes and offerings in the buckets as they go by or online.”

Have you ever wanted to become a prayer warrior? Do you want to get beyond the basic (not unimportant) mentality that prayer is asking God to “touch everyone, heal everyone, help everyone, and bless everyone?” What if you began to pray about God’s will even more than your will?

Prosperity-gospel preachers are notorious for taking Scripture out of context and misapplying it. The passages they twist are primarily used as proof-texts to back up their claim that God’s will for every Christian is that they be rich, rich, rich! They promise that with enough faith (and a big enough offering), you can hit the divine jackpot.