The purpose of this article is to equip you to minister to hurting people. I want to empower you to encourage those who are suffering. Our job is to minister “to” individuals, not “at” them. Sickness, death, job loss, divorce, emotional breakdown, immobilizing guilt, relational conflict and a host of other factors bring unspeakable pain to the hearts of people. Hurting people don’t need quick-fix, one liners—they need companionship.
FATALISM, INTELLECTUALISM, EMOTIONALISM, TRADITIONALISM, RATIONALISM, RITUALISM, SECULARISM, SENSUALISM, REALISM
"Heretic" means divider or one who causes schism. We think of modern heresy-hunters as those who sniff out doctrinal error and expose it. But Biblically speaking, heretics are those who bring needless division. They use a magnifying glass to discover blemishes, or points of disagreement, in and with others.
The main attraction in spiritual worship is not the platform, but God Himself. In fact, the real audience is not sitting in the auditorium, but in Heaven. Worship is a corporate endeavor that focuses on the Person of God and His praise, not performances.
Are those who blast the contemporary culture-chasers just as culture-bound as those they criticize?....Lovers of Christ are not culture-bound in either direction. The path ahead necessitates we calibrate our methods to Biblical absolutes.
Prior to the Fall, Adam and Eve were unconscious of their nakedness. They had an intense awareness that they were "clothed" with the approval of God, and nothing else mattered. Sin "stripped" their sense of acceptance leaving them only with shame, guilt, and fear. So what did they do?