Category Archives: Answers to questions

Let’s say you are considering becoming a Christian

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You almost persuade me to become a Christian.  –Acts 26:28

Let’s say that’s you.

You’ve been seriously considering inviting Jesus Christ to become Lord of your life. It’s a big step and you’re taking your own good time dealing with it.

You know some things about Jesus and you find yourself drawn to Him.

You wonder what to do now, where to start.

Here are some suggestions…

One. Go to the primary source, not a secondary one.    A primary source is one that is close to the subject, that is the basis for what we know and believe. A secondary source is one written about the primary source.

Two.  In other words, read the Bible and not just books about the Bible. Start by reading the Four Gospels–Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  These are the opening “books” of the New Testament, and give us all we know about His earthly life and ministry.  I suggest you read them again and again.  — You will find a lot of similarities.  Mark’s was the first one written, according to some of the earliest believers, at the dictation of the Apostle Peter.  But each gospel is different in interesting ways.  Read them several times.

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Five questions every preacher should stop and ask

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It’s good to stop and look around sometimes and ask ourselves some questions.  We can think of a hundred such questions to ask ourselves: Where are you going? How did you get here?  Are you doing what the Lord intended when He sent you here?  Can you do it better?  How can you do it better?  Are you preaching grace, the cross of Jesus, forgiveness and love or something harsh and unyielding?  How would someone who had never heard of Jesus react to your message?

On and on. There is no end to the questions.  But I am not suggesting that we burden ourselves with a constant barrage of self-doubt. Only that once in a while, we should stop and take inventory.

Here are five questions that occur to me for every minister to ask ourselves…

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Interview yourself. Discover how interesting (or dull) you are!

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“Let every man examine himself….” (I Corinthians 11:28).  The women too. 

Toward the end of each issue, Vanity Fair magazine interviews some celebrity.  The questions they pose are good ones.  Consider answering them for yourself.

Here are the questions in the September 2017 issue–

–What is your idea of perfect happiness?

–What is your favorite journey?

–What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

–On what occasion do you lie?

–What do you dislike most about your appearance?

–Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

–What do you consider your greatest achievement?

–What is your greatest regret?

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Questions about churchwork. Joe tries to answer.

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(Everyone is entitled to my opinion.  lol.  People keep throwing questions my way, for some reason. I suspect because it’s easy to do, and since in most cases we know each other only via the internet, it’s safe.  They know I’ll not be identifying them in a sermon or embarrassing them.  So, keep the questions coming, folks.)

Why do some people want to run a church?  I mean, what’s the point?  I can take you to two or three guys whose life ambition seems to be to boss the pastor around? 

I grant you they are oddities.  I’ve known a few in my time also, and have never understood why they do what they do, other than one thing:  They try to boss everyone everywhere.  It’s their personality.  It’s not just at church.

That doesn’t make it right.  It just explains it.

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