A few years ago an excited woman in her 20’s ran up to me one Sunday at church – she was a newer attendee who had been kicking the tires on our church for a few weeks when my last name must have clicked. It’s not like we talked about it every Sunday at our church – our members don’t really focus on that. We have a lot of important ministry to do and I’m just another one of the pastors. But sometimes, it comes out in conversations and you never know what you’re going to get.

Modern-day Christian culture is obsessed with experience. The Bible has become a footnote. Truth, we say, is important, but it must come second to our experience. Modern mystics claim, “We owe the world an encounter!” They’re referring to their ability to help people experience a special anointing of God. One of the newest faith healers on the circuit states, “The cross, to me, isn’t a revelation of my sin, it’s a revelation of my value!” He’d prefer we don’t talk about sin.