“The most powerful weapon for silencing the mouth of the world is not brilliant theological apologetics, but the practice of a holy life that resembles Jesus Christ.” “Now it happened, as Jesus went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they were watching Him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, ‘Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?’ And they could not answer Him regarding these things” (Luke 14:1–6). (1) As I meditated on today’s passage, Luke 14:1–6, the phrase that first caught my attention was: “they were watching Him clos...
The church added by the Lord [Acts 2:42-47] Pastor Rick Warren (Saddleback Church) said: ‘The most important issue of the 21st century church is not church growth, but church health. The problem is not whether the number of the church membership is large or small, but its health.’ And he proposed five ways to measure church growth: The church needs … (1) To grow warmer through fellowship, (2) To deepen through discipleship, (3) To become stronger through worship, (4) To be widen through ministry, and (5) To grow bigger through evangelism. He said that rather than the number of church members, the percentage of church members who are mobilized for ministry and mission is a more accurate measure of the health of the church. Is our church truly healthy? Is it becoming stronger through worship, deepening through education, expanding through ministry, growing warmer through fellowship, and experiencing significa...