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Blog
Was the Book of Daniel a Forgery?
Introduction Recently, Jonathan Sheffield and I were given an opportunity to debate the timeline of the book of Daniel against those who would conclude that the book is a forgery. This debate took place against Dr. Josh Bowen and Jim Majors. Not long after, Dr. Richard Carrier joined us on a debate review to discuss […]
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Core Value Series: Gospel Centrality – In Life
Here at CityLight, we believe that Gospel Centrality is vital to the Christ-follower and the church. We believe all that we do flows from the gospel. It is the power of God to save us, shape us, compel us, and completely transform us. The gospel changes who we are, how we think, and how we […]
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5 Ways to Evaluate Your Teaching
As a pastor, I prepare and deliver public speeches on a weekly basis, and I love it! There is little that brings me more joy than to teach and preach God’s word and to see people radically changed by its truth. I was 12 years old when I preached my first sermon at a little […]
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Why Should I Trust the God of the Bible? (Part 2)
Previously, I gave a general overview of the correlation of truth and reality, how we can understand our known world, and that I am convinced that the Christian worldview best represents the correlation of existence with intellect and reality. You can find the first article here. The unity of existence with the intellect and reality is […]
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Core Value Series: Unified Diversity
“…Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” –Revelation 5:9-10* […]
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How Augustine Mentored The Next Generation
I am no Augustinian scholar, but as a pastor and church planter, I have greatly enjoyed looking into his mentoring philosophy. Much of the content in this article is gleaned from Edward L. Smither’s book, Augustine as Mentor. If you find this article helpful, you can check his book out here. There are no words […]
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Did Philip Miss the Post-Resurrection Appearance of Jesus?
Introduction The Letter of Peter to Philip is one of the most brilliant works in Gnostic literature. In this Letter, we will see a post-resurrection discussion between Jesus and His disciples, explaining the necessity of enlightenment and escaping the physical world. This account can be located in two Coptic manuscripts, Codex VIII of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts […]
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Why Should I Trust the God of the Bible? (Part 1)
“There are two ways of looking at the world: through faith and superstition or through the rigors of logic, observation, and evidence—in other words through reason.” – Richard Dawkins.[i] An apparent battle between faith and reason is prominent in our culture, but this dichotomy is foreign to Scripture and historical Christianity. Compare Dawkins with this […]
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Core Values Series: Gospel Centrality – In Community
At CityLight we are determined to create a culture of Gospel-centrality within our Communities. This was a major focus of the first church. We believe that it is in the community that we are able to show the true outcome of a Gospel-centered life; a passion to reach people for the hope found only in […]
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Our Vision for Gospel-Centered Church Planting
A Place of Discontentment Vision often comes from a deep dissatisfaction with what is, combined with a clear idea of what could be. For the first several years of our ministry, Bethany and I traveled all over the country ministering in hundreds of different churches. Preaching several times a week, meeting new people, making new […]
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Why Should I Trust the God of the Bible? Pt. 3
“And if Christ has not been raised. . . your faith is in vain.” For the past couple of weeks, I have been giving reasons for why I should trust God as revealed in the Christian Scriptures. These reasons have been pillars in my spiritual journey and have helped me evaluate the differences in other […]
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The Villain or the Victim?: An Overview of the Gospel of Judas
Introduction What if I were to tell you that there’s an account of Judas Iscariot that portrays him as one who betrayed Jesus out of obedience to him? Is it possible that there’s an account of Judas being the victim of an unfortunate circumstance and that his obedience to betray would lead to his rulership […]