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This past Sunday (July 6) I introduced our summer sermon series, which is on the life of David. My first point, before we looked into the details of David’s life, was to reflect on David’s part in the “Big Story,” as I called it. The Big Story is the unfolding of God’s plan of redemption, told from Genesis through Revelation. For me it is a source of great joy and encouragement to be reminded that our Bible is a supernaturally

This is the fourth of four blogs in which I have tried to outline my approach to “discipleship through the gospel.” (Check the archive under “Opening the Word” for the first three.) It is my conviction that Paul’s letter to the Romans offers a good outline of how he discipled the new believers in the various churches he would visit or write to. In the case of the church at Rome, he had to do “distance discipleship” because he had

Is there any relationship between discipleship and sound theology? In the understanding of many Christians, the answer would be “not much,” or even a feeling that theology gets in the way of a serious commitment to follow Jesus. There are certainly plenty of examples of theological study or discussion being a drag on true discipleship, but I would argue that sound theology must be foundational to discipleship, particularly when we study how Paul discipled the churches he wrote to. In

How do we grow in our faith, and just as importantly, how do we help others grow in the faith? That is a question I have wrestled with for years as a pastor and then as the head of World Harvest Mission (now Serge) and its renewal ministry called Sonship. Sonship was birthed here at New Life as one element of the Leadership Training Program that was so foundational to the early years of our church. “Are you living as