For several years I have been hearing and reading lots of Christians, many of them leaders in churches, talk about the persecution that Christians are under in the United States and how it is going to get worse. In the last few days I have read and heard numerous doom and gloom scenarios about the …
Category: Christians and Culture
When May a Christian Defy the Government?
In light of recent events at our nation's Capitol Building and the close association of Christian banners and symbols with that event, I began to think about the whole question of when Christians may or even should defy the governing authorities over them. The fact that yesterday was the day celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King …
Have We Lost Our Way?
ON JANUARY 13, 2021 BY DAN LACICH There is a line from The Hobbit where Bilbo Baggins is perplexed, and alone, and unsure of where to go, or what to do. In that moment he says, “I have lost my dwarves, my wizard, and my way”. The dwarves were his traveling companions on a mission to restore the …
Of Refugees, Politics, and Jesus
If there is something sad that characterises how we approach difficult or controversial issues in the age of internet memes. It is that the extremes move to center stage and gain all the attention. The pithy, mic-drop sound bite becomes the be all and end all in the debate. Emotion packed retorts push out any …
Why Rob Bell is Right
Recently Rob Bell was quoted as saying some rather provocative things about the church, homosexuality, gay marriage, and the irrelevancy of the Bible. As has been the case for the last few years, whenever Bell speaks there is a minor firestorm that erupts. One of the unfortunate aspects of the firestorm is at some important …
A Christian Response to Attacks on the Faith
The terroristic attacks on the French Magazine Charlie Hedbo have once again thrust a simmering conflict into the headlines. The magazine is well-known for its satirical cartoons that are equal opportunity offenders. The Pope, Christianity, Islam, the prophet Mohammed are all fair game for the magazines satire. It is clear that the attack this week …
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A World On Fire
Freedom always comes with a price tag. The sad and tragic fact is the price is often shed blood. My own country's struggle for freedom 240 years ago was a struggle soaked in blood. This morning as I read the news from around the world I see that same struggle happening in country after country. …
Three Cultural Values that are Suffocating Your Faith: Part 2, Comfort.
Safety, comfort, and security. They sound like wonderful, worthy goals that no one would take issue with. After all, who would willingly seek out and embrace their opposite numbers, danger, suffering, and turmoil? Yet in a previous post I began to make the case that these three nearly universally accepted values of the western world …
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Three Cultural Values That are Suffocating Your Faith and You Don’t Even Know It.
Faith in Jesus is a living, breathing thing. Like all living things when healthy it grows and even reproduces. As long as it receives the proper nourishment and right environment it can flourish. But if we cut back on the nourishment or the environment becomes toxic, sickness and even death can result. The scriptures speak …
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Talking to 80 Muslim Students about Jesus
It was the type of opportunity about which one can only dream and pray to come to pass. A group of exchange students from more than two dozen countries visited Northland Church in order to have a 90 minute presentation and Q&A about Christianity and Jesus. They came as part of a program, supported by …
Being a Person of Hospitality
This sermon was preached on November 3-5th at Northland, A Church Distributed, in Longwood Florida. The link includes the whole worship service which I hope you will find uplifting. The sermon starts at the 39 minute mark. Being a Person of Hospitality We have lost something in our culture. It is the practice of valuing …
Honoring Obama Even When You Disagree With Him: The Sequel
This piece was first posted four years ago today. I find that it is just as relevant now as it was then and can only hope that people who claim to follow Christ will exhibit Christ-like character no matter what their political position may be. It is deeply concerning to me that I see many …
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Christianity’s Fate Is Not Contingent on America
Before you go off on me as being somehow un-American, I was born into a typical Pittsburgh blue-collar family. My Dad's first job was in a coal mine before he worked his way to owning a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership and fulfilling his version of the American dream. My favorite actor always has been and always will …
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The Pain Possibilities of Africa
I am coming to the end of a week in Burundi in Eastern Africa. I don't know how many times I have been to Africa in the last 6 years. It is probably approaching twenty. I do know that I have been to eleven different countries from Egypt to South Africa. Without fail I am …
Obama, the Bible, and Same Sex Marriage
It is impossible to turn on the news today or go to the internet without being confronted by the news of President Obama's statement that he supports the right of same-sex couples to get married. While I can certainly appreciate his compassionate heart for people who feel they are unfairly being denied the possibility of …
