Posts by Don Johnson
Kanye West and Choir Will Appear at Joel Osteen’s Sunday Service
Kanye West is scheduled to attend Joel Osteen’s church service on Sunday. Source: Kanye West and Choir Will Appear at Joel Osteen’s Sunday Service
Read MoreFrom Christians Who Formerly Identified as LGBTQ: A “Thank You” to Our Allies – Public Discourse
I have written several times about homosexuality and my experiences identifying as a lesbian when I was a young woman. I know firsthand that dealing with same-sex attraction used to carry a huge stigma. If people knew, it was a mark of disgrace. Most of us dealing with it felt ashamed and suffered the pain…
Read MoreWhat Is Worldliness?
A new look at 1 Jn 2.15-17 What is worldliness? The term is among many that seemingly defy precise definition. Many Christians know the “love not the world…” passage in 1 John very well. Many sermons address this passage; it’s a “go-to” passage for Bible-believers. Are we any further along in understanding worldliness today? Could…
Read MoreWhat Is Evangelicalism?
Writers employ much ink and many pixels, attempting to answer this question. Defining such things as evangelicalism (and fundamentalism) is difficult. We are attempting to define movements. Movements, by definition are moving, ergo, we are describing a moving target. Recent reading provides yet another attempt at defining the moving target that is evangelicalism. Observers may…
Read MoreWhere Are the Anti-Liberty Guns Pointed?
Last week, candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, Beto O’Rourke, drew headlines for announcing that churches should lose their tax-exempt status for opposing same-sex marriage. “There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for any institution or organization in America that denies the full human rights and full civil rights of every…
Read MoreSigns, Wonders, and the Testimony of God
In the Bible, the term “signs and wonders” occurs approximately twenty-nine times. The Old Testament references almost exclusively refer to the birth of Israel under the leadership of Moses, through whom God worked the signs and delivered Israel from Egypt. The only exceptions to this rule are three references in Daniel, where pagan kings Nebuchadnezzar…
Read MoreWar and Grace – a review
War and Grace: Short Biographies of the World Wars (Click for Amazon link) 2005: EP Books by Don Stephens War and Grace is a light devotional book with brief biographies of thirteen individuals who either served as Christians through the World Wars or came to Christ directly or indirectly following the profound influence of the…
Read MoreCultivating Secure Personal Intimate Relationships with God
What kind of relationship to you have with God? Would you describe it as “personal and involved”? Would you describe it as “intellectual but distant”? How about “casual acquaintance”? There could be many other descriptors. Everyone has some kind of relationship with God; but not everyone has a good relationship with God. In a recent…
Read MoreWe Have an Advocate
Fellowship is a big word in the Christian vocabulary. The underlying Greek word in the New Testament only occurs 19 times, but the concept looms large in our thinking about the spiritual relationship Christians have with one another and with God. Even though we use the word a lot, it seems we do not fully…
Read MoreLessons from a Baptist Timeline
We are in a study of Baptist history in our church. Our study lasted just over a year, but we are down to the last lesson or two. The folks in our church tell me they enjoyed it, I certainly enjoyed teaching it. (But then, I would!!) Near the end of our study, I came…
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