*This post is by Stacy Thorpe, Ministerial Coordinator for Care & Counseling, South Campus (Bethlehem Baptist Church). Empathy is being talked about a lot in our culture right now. It is simply defined as the ability to understand and share in the feelings of others. This sounds like a good thing, yet as Christians, how…
*By Dave Zuleger, lead pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church (south campus). A Day of Divide We’re living in an age of divide. An age where the cultural and political winds seek to convince us that our differences are not ordained to highlight the brilliance of a wonderful Creator, but instead ought to be weaponized to…
Over this past weekend, I had the opportunity to praise God for his impact on my life, and on the lives of so many others, through Bethlehem College & Seminary (BCS). When Dr. Tomlinson, the president of BCS asked me to speak at the Decennial Convocation for BCS, I was happy to say yes because…
By Dave Zuleger The idea of love is talked about often, dreamed about even more, and the subject of all sorts of songs, shows, and movies. But, what does love really mean? What does it really look like on the ground in the hardest, darkest moments of life? It’s easy to picture what love is…
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash “We are stewards of the treasure of each other’s good names.” -Jon Bloom “The absent one must be safe among us.” -Amy Carmichael. In her book Adorned: Living Out the Beauty of the Gospel Together, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth (you may know her as Nancy Leigh DeMoss) unpacks Paul’s instructions to women in Titus…
Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash Do you grow tired of the militaristic posture characterizing many individuals engaged in a discussion? I sure do! Whether it’s a fly-by political discussion with someone at Fry’s, an in-depth conversation with an acquaintance over religion, or a perusal of Facebook where people pontificate on any and all issues, I find myself…
Carson’s statement begs the question, “how do you give a rebuke in loving humility?” David Mathis in his book Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines gives seven steps we can work towards giving a rebuke that is biblical/Jesus-honoring. Check your own heart first. Seek to sympathize. Pray for restoration. Be quick. In my opinion,…
Jonathan Leeman writes that church discipline aims to… Expose sin. Sin, like cancer, loves to hide. Discipline exposes the cancer so that it might be cut out quickly (1 Corinthians 5:2). Warn. A church does not enact God’s judgment through discipline. Rather, it stages a small play that pictures the great judgment to come (1…
Jonathan Leeman writes that church discipline aims to… Expose sin. Sin, like cancer, loves to hide. Discipline exposes the cancer so that it might be cut out quickly (1 Corinthians 5:2). Warn. A church does not enact God’s judgment through discipline. Rather, it stages a small play that pictures the great judgment to come (1…
Practical ways to put this into practice: It means you will be careful and tactful in the way you talk to others It means you will change habits if it annoys people It means that you will not be overbearing or harsh towards people over whom you have authority It means that you will not…
Theology Along the Way 