Rooted in Jesus Grace

I am beginning to understand something now that only became clear after I stepped away from a charismatic church and started studying church history and theology more carefully. For a long time, I struggled to explain why certain things felt spiritually unsettling in a church I once attended. On the surface, everything appeared vibrant, passionate, and deeply serious about faith. Yet beneath that energy, I sensed a growing tension between my evangelical foundations and some of the practices being promoted. Only later did I recognize the source of that discomfort: many of those practices closely mirrored historic Catholic spirituality, though they were presented in the language and framework of charismatic Christianity. This isn’t written out of bitterness. It’s written as a warning. Christians need to understand the theological roots of what they practice. When Structure Replaces Conviction One of the clearest examples was a church-wide prayer and fasting month. It was presented ...

Few verses are quoted more often in church conversations about prayer than Jesus’ words: “My house shall be a house of prayer.” (Luke 19:46) The phrase “house of prayer” has inspired movements, conferences, worship models, and entire church identities. Many sincere believers long for deeper prayer, and that desire is good. But when this verse is lifted out of its setting, it can unintentionally produce a theology that sounds spiritual while lacking the depth—and warning—Jesus actually intended. To understand what Jesus meant, we have to look at what was really happening when He said it. The Scene: Not a Prayer Conference, but a Confrontation Luke 19:46 occurs during Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. This is not a peaceful teaching moment. It is an act of judgment. Jesus enters the temple courts and begins driving out those conducting business there. The issue is not merely commerce itself; temple activity had become corrupted. Worship had turned into religious performance intertwined wit...