Dr. Ray Pritchard

A recent USA Today article told of new research regarding who goes to heaven.


The survey confirms what we’ve known for a long time–that American churchgoers are really nice people who aren’t into the details of theology, especially the part about who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. Clearly we’ve got a lot of “cafeteria Christians” who pick and choose what doctrines they will believe. Naturally they tend not to choose the doctrines with hard edges. 

I wonder what we should do about this given that it’s hard to get rid of those pesky statements like "No one come to Father except through me" (John 14:6). A straightforward reading of the Bible leads to some very inconvenient doctrines.

One God
One Son
One sacrifice
One hope
One gospel
One way

It’s not easy to draw a straight line from the Bible to the sort of “soft universalism” that pervades many churches. That said, I don’t deny that the tide is running in the other direction.

So what should we do? Here are a few suggestions . . . 

   1.  Emphasize the importance of doctrinal preaching.
   2. Embrace the reality that we live in a diverse world.
   3. Encourage hard questions.
   4. Explain what we believe and why we believe it.
   5. Give people a chance to talk back.
   6. Teach through the creeds and confessions.
   7. Offer courses in church history and world religions.
   8. Use the Internet as a way to engage others.
   9. Tell people that world missions now begins next door.
  10. Teach doctrine down to the details.
  11. Start with the children.
  12. Don’t shave off the “hard edges” of the Christian faith.
  13. Smile a lot, don’t frown, and stop shouting.
  14. Provide a reading list for those who want to go deeper.
  15. Teach doctrine through your music.
  16. Get rid of sentimental, squishy songs–or at least pare it down.
  17. Practice Scripture memory as a congregation.
  18. Cheerfully engage others who disagree.
  19. Challenge people to get involved in the community.
  20. Don’t be afraid of what’s happening around you.

This list could obviously be expanded in many ways but the main point is clear. If the survey is right (and I think it is), then we’ve got a long-term project ahead of us. No longer can pastors assume that all our people share our convictions, even on important issues. We’ve got a lot of nice folks in our churches who are also “cafeteria Christians.” We must find ways to teach the truth so that our people will know enough and be strong enough and confident enough to engage the world from a biblical foundation. The world is what it is. But the first-century world was pretty messed-up too.

Along that line, we should remember that the angel said to the shepherds, “Fear not.” That’s a good word three days before Christmas.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.

The first day of a new year is a good time to stop, reflect, refocus and consider where we are going. The question for today is not, “Where are you going?” but rather, “Where will you be when you get there?” This morning all of us are taking the first steps on a 365-day journey. Where will you be when you arrive at December 31? What will you do with the gift of a new beginning that God has given you? In order to help us think about this in a practical way, Don Whitney has put together 31 questions. There are 10 basic questions and then 21 more–one for each day of the month.

If you are married, I urge you to discuss these questions with your spouse. If you are in a small group, take your first session this year to go over these questions. Thinking through these questions together will help make 2009 truly life-changing for you.

    1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

    2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

    3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

    4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

    5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

    6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

    7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

    8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

    9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

    10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

In addition to these ten questions, here are twenty-one more to help you “Consider your ways.” Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.

    11. What’s the most important decision you need to make this year?

    12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what’s one way you could simplify in that area?

    13. What’s the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?

    14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

    15. Who do you most want to encourage this year?

    16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?

    17. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?

    18. What’s one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?

    19. What’s one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?

    20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?

    21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

    22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?

    23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?

    24. What’s the most important trip you want to take this year?

    25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?

    26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?

    27. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?

    28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?

    29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?

    30. What’s the most important new item you want to buy this year?

    31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year? 

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.

I wasn’t planning on blogging about this until I read Joe McKeever’s fine article called When to Retire and What to Do Then in which he quotes George MacDonald who said,

"The first thing in all progress is to leave something behind."

And all God’s people said, “Hmmmmm." 

What are you going leave behind in order to make progress this year?

Remember that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.

 Yesterday I posted a new sermon called, simply, Yet. It’s about the importance of not giving up on other people or on our prayers or on the Lord because “God is not finished yet.” The little word “yet” makes all the difference between hope and despair. There is a world of difference between these two statements:

"He is not saved."
"He is not saved yet."

The first is a statement of fact; the second is a statement of faith. Words matter. If we truly believe God can intervene to change history, then we ought to use the word “yet” even when describing things that seem hopeless today.

“He is not saved yet."
“The situation is not any better (yet!)."
"I don’t have a job yet."
"My son has not come back to the Lord yet."

Hang on to that little word “yet.” It’s a great word as we come to the beginning of a new year.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.