“Being Human” by Ranald Macaulay & Jerram Barrs (Guest Post)

  Humanness, being made in the image of God, is like a key which unlocks all the doors in the house of the Christian life. In this article we wish to step back from this organizing principle to view the design of the house as a whole. In other words, we intend to examine the framework within which the Christian life is to be understood. Why is it important to consider this framework? Can we not just get on with considering biblical passages about the Christian life? Why bother with frameworks (biblical or otherwise) and alternative philosophies? These are good questions and…

Reading the Bible Properly

There are two ways to read the Bible. The one way to read the Bible is that it’s basically about you: what you have to do in order to be right with God, in which case you’ll never have a sure and certain hope, because you’ll always know you’re not quite living up. You’ll never be sure about that future. Or you can read it as all about Jesus. Every single thing is not about what you must do in order to make yourself right with God, but what he has done to make you absolutely right with God. And…

Evaluating Mercy Ministries

As Christians, we are called to help and serve others, especially those with the greatest need.  As we do so, not all efforts achieve the results that we would hope.  To fulfill our calling, it’s essential to evaluate (and re-evaluate) how our mercy ministries function, and then change our approach accordingly. To assist in this process, consider this article by Christianity Today that rates the impact of various mercy ministries:  Cost-Effective Compassion: The 10 Most Popular Strategies for Helping the Poor By evaluating the effectiveness of a ministry, we can ensure that we doing what is most helpful, not merely…