You know, the kind of preaching that says, “We’re all sinners. You’re a sinner. In fact, you probably sinned this week. So take out your notepad and write down these three simple steps to stop sinning.”

Whatever happened to the grace of God? I thought my sins were already forgiven? What’s with all this stuff about changing?

Some churches talk so much about how to fix yourself that I worry about the impressions visitors might get.

What about youth groups? Are we teaching our students about the endless love of Christ as well as the call to live a life seperated unto Him?

F. Scott Fitzgerald said that, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” This is one of those times when we must be so careful to hold two apparently opposing ideas in our mind, or we risk leading our students off the cliff of self-perfecting perfectionism.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? …As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (James 2:14,26)