The Implications of Covenant Relationship

L.D. “Mick” Turner
Of late I have been exploring the issue of “Covenant” in general the provisions of the New Covenant in particular. I think the theme of covenant is one which we Christians do not invest much thought in. As I explore the issue at more depth, I am increasingly aware of just how tragic [...]

An Unwelcome Topic: Sin

Mick Turner
If you want to discover a way to end any perfectly good conversation, halt any quality sharing between you and friends, even Christian friends, here’s the best way to do it:
 
Start talking about sin.
 
You see, sin is not a subject that is politically correct these days, even among believers. You can talk about moral [...]

Justification and Sanctification: Keeping it Simple (Well, Kind of…)

Mick Turner
Only a modicum of spiritual discernment is needed to affirm the fact that many Christians are living far beneath the standards of excellence called for by Christ in his teachings and exemplified by the manner in which he lived. This unfortunate reality points to yet another tragic fact: many Christians are not appropriating their [...]

Wise Words for Today

We’ve all known them – those times when the wind seems to go out of the sails of our spiritual lives. Our time in the Word of God is unexciting and unfruitful. Prayer is a struggle. Worship never quite satisfies. Our devotions are either skimpy are even skipped. Our witness is virtually nonexistent. Too many [...]

Wise Words for Today

The moment we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were justified and our guilt was gone once for all. That is absolute. But if we want to know anything of relaity in the Christian life, anything of true spirituality, we must “take up our cross daily.” The principle of saying no to self lies [...]

Psuedo-Repentance: The Plague of Superficiality

Mick Turner
Over the past few days the Spirit has graciously led me to see that it all begins with “repentance.” The theme starts early in scripture, is emphasized in Psalms and the Prophets, and the New Testament is loaded with that word – repentance.
 John the Baptist screamed it and Jesus’ first mission words recorded included [...]

Wise Words for Today

 
When we discover that our hearts are broken and contrite, we come to the Lord with an earnest desire to repent of our sinfulness. It’s out of this repentant heart that we find redemption in Christ. We are redeemed because of his sacrificial love on our behalf expressed in his death on the cross and [...]

On Servanthood and Being an Epistle

Mick Turner
When we look at the life of Jesus, it is quite obvious that he did not see a dramatic division between the sacred and the secular. For Jesus, as it was for Jewish culture in general, the sacred was to be like a canopy that covered all of one’s activities, no matter how mundane. [...]

Christian Unity: Now More Than Ever

Mick Turner
Throughout his writings, the Apostle Paul went to great lengths in order the stress the importance of unity in the church. In fact, this whole concept of unity is central to the Christian faith and can be seen as one of many facets of our tradition that flows from the unity of Christ and [...]

Live Your Divine Calling

Mick Turner
 I am always amazed when I hear people talking about a belief in the random nature of the universe; how everything sort evolved by accident or through some sort of cosmic game of pin the tail on the comet. From my perspective, this is an exercise in absurdity. Every aspect of the universe, not [...]