Lateral Ministries: Following Jesus Beside You

Christians love to give because we’re grateful God “richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Tim 6:17 ESV). God is THE giver of all things (Acts 17:25). Liberal generosity pleases God (2 Cor 9:7). Let’s review a few basic principles of the biblical theology of giving. In other words, we’ll answer three simple questions. (1) Why does God want us to give? (2) What is giving that pleases God? (3) How do we do it?  Consider these two Bible passages: “But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (Matthew 6:3-4 NLT). “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. Give, and you will receiv...

The church is a fellowship on the move, a truth movement dedicated to unity, and a unity movement dedicated to the Truth. As the cherished hymn says, “What a fellowship!” However, if we are true, we must indeed be a movement: moving in truth towards greater unity.  But what does it mean to be a truth AND unity movement? It’s easier to be one or the other, but both?  Briefly, it means truth, as revealed through Christ by the Holy Spirit in Scripture (John 17:17), is held to be essential (John 18:37; Rom 1:18, 2:8; 2 Cor 13:8; Gal 2:14; Eph 4:15, 21, 25; Col 1:5; 2 Thes 2:10, 12; 1 Tim 2:4, 3:15, 4:3, 6:5; 2 Tim 2:18, 3:7-8, 4:4; Titus 1:1; Jas 5:19; 1 Pet 1:22; 1 John 1:6, 8, 2:4, 21; 2 John 4) foundation of Christianity. Though exhaustive agreement on every point of Scripture isn’t realistic in this age, comprehensive agreement on the essential foundations of the Faith is a no-compromise issue (Rom 14; 1 Cor 1:10; 2 John 9–11). Those who will not be bound by essential Christia...

Judge Righteously! Be careful how you judge! All division between humans follows making judgments. It's impossible not to make judgments (every decision is one), and it would be immoral not to make the kinds of discerning judgments between right and wrong Scripture (and every concept of good vs evil) requires. There's no way to be a good person unless you're choosing not to do evil, and there's no way to do that unless you can judge between the two and know the difference. Jesus did say, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matt 7:1 ESV), but He also followed that hyperbolic commandment with several qualifying instructions in verses 2–6, which I summarize:  (1) You'll be judged by God by the same standard you use to judge others (v. 2). (2) Don't judge hypocritically (v. 3–5), but as long as you're not being hypocritical, "judging" your brother with the sincere intent to help him is good.  (3) Then, v. 6 says, "Do not give dogs what ...

“In matters of faith, unity. In matters of opinion, liberty. In all things, charity.” The saying is attributed to John Wesley, though many have used it widely, including many among the churches of Christ. In Wesley’s time, “charity” was synonymous with “love,” while today, charity has a more limited meaning. Nowadays, we would say,  “In matters of faith, unity. In matters of opinion, liberty. In all things, love.” I’ve heard it from pulpits and in classrooms all my life as representative of the spirit of unity the churches of Christ were intended by our forefathers and our Lord to exemplify. Sadly, we haven’t lived up to the ideal very well. Often, we struggle between the two equally essential aims of maintaining doctrinal purity and being diligent to preserve Christian unity. Neither aim is optional. The Lord requires both. He never said this would be easy.  While the quote isn’t directly from the wording of Scripture, it is a Scriptural ideal. 2 John 9–11 teaches that there ...

Deuteronomy 33:27 says, “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, ‘Destroy’” (ESV). The International Children’s Bible words it this way: “The everlasting God is your place of safety. His arms will hold you up forever. He will force your enemy out ahead of you. He will say, ‘Destroy the enemy!’” These are comforting words to spiritual warriors. King Jesus has defeated the enemy and exposed him to open shame. He has triumphed over death, freeing us from it. Nothing and no one can defeat our King! Not even the church’s failures can keep Jesus from accomplishing all the aims of His reign. He will return and judge the whole world. We’re free to fight fearlessly. We will be victorious in the end. But we can delay the victory. The church has a mission to fulfill, and no Bible passage states it so completely and succinctly as Matthew 28:19–20:  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing...

2 Corinthians 10:1–6 is a super important New Testament passage in which the apostle Paul teaches about spiritual warfare, especially its ultimate aim. I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (ESV) The Holy Spirit teaches us four truths in this great text: 1. Spiritual warfare is "not according to the flesh," which means it...

Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman is credited as originating the phrase, “War is hell.” Considering what he unleashed on even civilian southerners in the American Civil War, slave and free alike, I suppose he would know. From what I can tell, war certainly is a hellish affair. Glory in battle is possible even in the worst of circumstances. I believe disrespecting sacrificial war heroes is deplorably dishonorable. But war is mostly inglorious, ugly, mean, immoral, and unfair. The people hurt the worst by it are almost always the innocents, including children. Warmongers ought to be reminded of the words of Christ, “All who live by the sword will die by the sword.” In the Year of Our Lord 2024, there are concerning wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and widespread concern that more wars, possibly even World War III, or even nuclear war, could break out at any time. Let’s pray it does not (1 Tim. 2:1–2). The globe has been wrapped up in the so-called Culture War for dec...