Knock Knock. It’s Your Prayer Life. I’m Dying of Boredom (and You're Killin’ Me).

Why don’t Christians pray more? For Christians, it’s so often that when we pray, we say the same old things about the same old things: “Lord, bless my family,” “Lord, help me in my job,” “Lord, bless this food to our bodies” (whatever that even means!). With all due respect to our families, jobs, and the food, praying about the same things using the same phrases over and over and over tends to douse our intercessory fires. What is the result of such rote praying? Christians who don’t pray very much. Again, the problem is not praying for the same old things. The problem is saying the same old things when praying about the same old things.

Enter the Bible. And Don Whitney. …

SanctificationKevin McClureOctober 24, 2018Prayer Comment

Stones in the Stream

In the last year the ITS board has grown in several ways. One such addition is retired businessman, Rob Wingerter. Rob has brought a lot of structural clarity to ITS as well as visions for growth. Rob is also an accomplished author. He is particularly interested in the value of retreat (he runs the Mahseh Center in Kewanna, IN), and church history. This month we highlight his recent book, Stones in the Stream: An Overview of the Flow of Christian History as Examined Through the Lives of Twenty-Two Men and Women That Altered Its Course. You can view an interview with Rob here regarding how and why he wrote the book. …

Church History, SanctificationRob WingerterAugust 20, 2018Comment

Bootstraps in the Engine: Why the Car of Christian Obedience Just Won’t Go

Context is king.

And when the king is dethroned, the best of intentions can give the most damning of messages. If the only point of a sermon is “Be more good,” “Be more disciplined,” or “Be more like (some Bible hero),” then the preacher has not only preached an un-Christian message, but an anti-Christian message. ...

Sanctification, PastoringKevin McClureApril 20, 2018Chapell Comments

Congregational Premarital Counseling

Premarital counseling can be an entertaining exercise for an older couple offering guidance to a younger couple. Across from them sit two individuals eager to be wed. Apart from occasional disagreements about planning the ceremony, the soon-to-be-newlyweds are prone to think all is well and their excitement is reflected on their faces. While the mentors don’t mean to discourage the couple, they do mean to equip the couple with counsel that will carry them beyond the honeymoon to the anniversaries to come. ...

Marriage, Pastoring, SanctificationEric BancroftNovember 15, 2016CounselingComment

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