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By Brian Rice, Access Adult Coordinator at MBC Tysons
A week or so before Lon preached on the book of Colossians, a very nice Jehovah’s Witness couple came to my door. The woman shared the script she had memorized to try and show me that our beliefs were the same—we are sinners in need of Jesus as a savior. After a few minutes of polite conversation and affirming what she had said so far (none of which was yet heresy), I asked what the difference is between her beliefs and what I as an evangelical Christian would affirm. She continued down her script, and with polite curiosity I asked the same question a few more times. There obviously must be…
By Joe Henriques, MBC Tysons Campus Pastor
I used to go to church on Ash Wednesday—the first day of the Lenten season that lasts until Easter—to get ashes pressed on to my forehead. The ashes were supposed to remain in the shape of a cross, but they always gradually turned into a smudge mark. Then for the next 40 days (except for Sunday), I gave up something that I liked.
This year, I gave up Lent for Lent. I decided to celebrate instead of fast. I’m making merry instead of mourning!
Not because I think Lent is a bad thing. Along with millions of people in the big world of Christendom, I agree that it’s a good thing. At a baseline level,…
By Lexie Dache, Operations Manager for MBC Tysons Outreach
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)
When disaster strikes, no one knows what to say. If the words escape past the lump in your throat, they still seem to lose their meaning. In times of trouble, words become cheap, but simple actions are gold.
In January, the Outreach staff encountered a woman in a crisis. Her young daughter passed away from a brain tumor, and she found herself heartbroken with limited resources and no family around.
There were other people in the church who heard this news,…
By Brian Walters, MBC Loudoun Director of Discipleship
One of the strongest contributing factors to disunity in the church throughout the centuries has been inconsistency in how people interpret the Word of God. Not only does this contribute to disunity in the church, but it also hinders our witness to the lost world because people don’t know what or whom to believe.
The first reason there is disagreement about interpretation is because a variety of methods are used to analyze Scripture, resulting in different interpretations of the Bible. Throughout history, theologians have established principles of interpretation, or hermeneutics, which help with proper exegesis. Exegesis means examination of…
by Nate Keeler
Psalm 1:1-3
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree firmly planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”
I once heard Tim Keller tell the story about what trees have done to the sidewalks of New York City. The trees that were first planted were weak and the thought of what they were capable of in the distant…
By Heidi Hobson, MBC Tysons Attendee
Go and make disciples of all nations…. Matthew 28:19a
As a Hispanic, these words sound like music to my ears! I have always imagined Heaven as an amazingly diverse place, with people of all shapes and sizes and colors. Languages, known and unknown, being spoken with joy and voices singing beautiful praises.
My own household is a mini melting pot. Each of us has been born in a different state or country, moved around quite a bit and experienced many different languages, cultures and subcultures. With each new experience, we learn that although we might think we are different, we are the same in so many ways. However, this is not the way most of us…
By Joy Lippard, MBC Tysons Worship Leader
Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. Psalm 33:3
Music is powerful in our culture. Often times, without realizing it, people form opinions of what they believe and how they live based on what they learn from the lyrics in popular songs! The same is true of songs in the church. People learn their theology from music. For a Christian songwriter, that means a responsibility to write truthful and doctrinally sound lyrics. Whether I’m writing a congregational worship song or a song about life or love, I use the Bible as my guide for writing solid and truthful lyrics.
Writing songs that are…