Should Christians Practice Spiritual Disciplines?

Episode 93 Show Notes

Should Christians Practice Spiritual Disciplines?

From the Show

Should Christians Practice Spiritual Disciplines?

God is not impressed by people going through the motions of fasting and weeping while they ignore the poor, the alien, the widow, and the orphan. And that's why James said at the time when Jerusalem was under Roman siege and people were dying, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27). So, we definitely need to read Scripture. We definitely need to pray. We need to learn more about God and His great works in history. But the epicenter of our Christian life is God's service to us on the Lord's day, and then our service to others throughout the week and our various callings. — Michael Horton

Questions in this Episode

1. I didn’t grow up Christian and through the help of some friends, I have come to believe that salvation is all of grace and not based on our works because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. But I have this question: If the gospel is about what Jesus has done, and has nothing to do with us, then why should we bother doing good works?

2. Will there be a future mass salvation of the Jewish people?

3. Where do you see Satan most visibly active today?

4. In John 16:25, Jesus said, “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.” After saying this his disciples respond surprised because Jesus had finally spoken clearly to them. How should this influence the way we interpret Jesus in other places?

5. Is it a sin to doubt that God exists?

6. How can I get over the fear of death? This especially troubles me when I think about people who have given their life bearing witness to Jesus.