Thomas Umstattd Jr.

My Idolatry of Evangelism

Its the first of the month. Another post from the archive. My Idolatry of Evangelism I have a confession to make. I have made an Idol out of Evangelism. Sin is a two-sided coin with unrighteousness on one side and self righteousness on the other. Idolatry is unrighteous and idolizing evangelism is self righteous. I have taken something good and substituted it for the best. I now see in my life...

The Idolatry of Safety – Part 1

When did we start expecting our missionaries to come back alive and unharmed? If you look back through church history you see this is a new expectation. Back in the day, the Christians who went out to preach the Gospel had already died (to themselves). They saw their lives as nothing. The Moravians packed their luggage in coffins as they went out to the nations of the earth. Sometimes they even sold...

Eternal Debate

Since we are on the topic of confidence, here is another post from the archive. The world says, “be self-confident.” Jesus says, “put your confidence in me.” The world says, “you can do anything you put your mind to.” Jesus says, “you can do nothing apart from me and all things through me.” The world says, “look out for number one.” The Word says, “think of others as more important...

The Golden Calf (parable)

Spring planting would begin soon and it was time to make the yearly sacrifice. Pagiel’s father had died so it was now his job to make the pilgrimage to the Temple. At age 19 he had never been to Jerusalem, but he had heard the stories. He took a donkey loaded with grain offerings and led a lamb by a rope fastened around its neck. After several days, Pagiel joined several other pilgrims who were...