I recently saw a church sign that said, “Sinners welcome!” I like that! Is it true in your church? Too often, the church becomes a social club – not necessarily for the upper crust but anyone who is not a member will recognize that they are not exactly welcome.

At our church (Agape’ Fellowship) we determined that our major goal for 2008 was to live up to our name – to live God’s Agape’ love. The practical definition of Agape’ love is captured in the phrase, “I love you too much to allow you to die and go to hell.”

However, many times people who wish to be used of God ask the same question that the repentant people asked John the Baptist, “What should we do?” (Lu 3:10,12,14). In that case, the issue is not whether I love the sinner and want to see him (or her) be saved, the question is HOW do I go about it. In Colossians 4:5 Paul advised the church that if they showed Agape’ love to others, there WOULD be opportunities to share the gospel, “Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Christian church has seen its share of scandal over the past 100 years. I will not list the priests from the Catholic Church who have been accused of sexual abuse of children. In the protestant churches we have a full slate of candidates for the “most scandalous” award:

• Aimee Semple McPherson, 1920s-40s
• Lonnie Frisbee, 1970s – 1980s
• Oral Roberts, 1977 and 1986
• Jim & Tammy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, 1986 and 1991 Read the rest of this entry »