An Introduction
Why This, Why Now?
For over a decade, I’ve been writing, teaching, and shepherding souls through what I’ve called Walking Points, an online ministry focused on helping Christians navigate life with purpose, joy, and faithfulness. That work continues, but the time has come to sharpen the focus, to name more clearly what has always been at the heart of everything I do, pastorally and online.
This is Practical Christianity.
It’s not a departure from Walking Points but a crystallization of it, bringing into clearer view the convictions that have shaped my ministry from the beginning: that Christianity is comprehensive, not compartmentalized; that Christ is Lord over all of life, not just the “spiritual” parts; and that true discipleship means hearing God’s Word and putting it into practice in every sphere of existence.
The title is intentional. Practical Christianity speaks to what people want most, something that works, something that helps them navigate their lives in ways that bear good fruit. But here’s the crucial foundation: Christianity is practical because Christianity is true. It works because it reflects reality as God created it. When we live according to Scripture, we’re living according to how we’re made. This isn’t pragmatism masquerading as faith; it’s the God-revealed truth that transforms everything it touches.
Jesus himself taught us this. In Matthew 7:24-27, he said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Wisdom isn’t merely understanding truth, it’s embodying it. It’s not less than knowing, but it’s more than that. It’s putting God’s Word into practice in how we think, speak, behave, and desire. As Jesus declared in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” Sanctification doesn’t come from knowledge alone but from truth lived, from the Word of God working its way into every corner of our hearts and lives.
This project exists to help you do exactly that.
Two Guides for the Journey
As I’ve sought to understand what it means to live comprehensively under Christ’s lordship, two men from history have profoundly shaped my vision: John Wesley (1703-1791) and Richard Baxter (1615-1691). Their lives, their ministries, and their writings have become my constant companions on this journey, and I believe they can be yours as well.
John Wesley: The Air I Breathed
John Wesley is easier to explain. I’m a lifelong Methodist. Wesley got into my bloodstream, so to speak, from the time I was baptized as an infant. It was the air I breathed, even when I was unaware of it. I may not have always known the specifics of his theology, but it was the atmosphere that raised me.
My calling into ordained ministry was in the Methodist Church. My seminary training was at a Methodist seminary. I have served as a Methodist pastor for over 33 years. Wesley’s vision of “scriptural holiness,” his conviction that God called upon Methodists to “reform the nation and spread scriptural holiness over the land,” has been the theological current running beneath everything I’ve done.
Wesley taught me that Christianity must be social, never merely private. “The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness,” he wrote. Faith that doesn’t work itself out in love toward God and neighbor, in acts of mercy, justice, and cultural engagement, isn’t biblical faith at all. Wesley showed me that personal transformation and cultural renewal are inseparable, that changed hearts produce changed lives, and changed lives become agents of broader transformation.
Richard Baxter: The Discovery That Changed Everything
Richard Baxter came to me differently. I discovered him around 1995 or 1996. To this day, I’m still not quite sure how I was first introduced to him, but I think it was through J.I. Packer’s A Quest for Godliness. Reading about Baxter there and then encountering his book The Reformed Pastor gave me a hunger to learn more and more about this 17th-century English Puritan pastor.
I was drawn to his pastoral ministry, his house-to-house visitation in Kidderminster where he personally catechized every family in his parish. I was captivated by his form of discipleship: systematic, intentional, relational. But most of all, I was gripped by his understanding of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Baxter taught that Christ has “absolute dominion” over all creation and that the Christian life means comprehensive submission to his reign in every sphere.
His magnum opus, A Christian Directory, systematically applies biblical truth to private duties, family life, church responsibilities, and civic engagement. Reading it, I realized I’d found someone who articulated what my heart had been reaching toward, that there is no sacred-secular divide, that Christ is Lord over Monday morning as much as Sunday worship, and that faithful discipleship touches every dimension of human existence.
Why These Two Men?
You can’t like everyone equally or be influenced by everybody equally. These two men have had a long pull upon my life, over 30 years in one case, and lifelong in the other. Through my own reading of Scripture, reason, and experience, as well as other influences that have seeped in over the years, these two men rose to the top.
Their passion for Christ and the Gospel. Their commitment to discipleship. Their understanding of Christianity as an all-encompassing and practical worldview that touches not just the personal heart of an individual but has worldwide implications, and everything in between. The authority of Scripture and the appreciation of church history. Their respect and love for the Christian mind and cultivating that as part of sanctification while caring genuinely about a deep and heartfelt relationship with Christ. Understanding the necessity of conversion and not mere membership. Pastoral responsibilities and shepherding.
All this and more didn’t just appeal to me intellectually but attracted me heart, mind, and soul. Their love for God and their love for neighbor encourages, inspires, and challenges my own. Their personal piety and their practical religion beautifully express where I desire to be, even as I fall short of that standard, both in my personal faith and my pastoral ministry.
Were their lives and ministries perfect? No. Was their theology flawless? No. But then again, neither is mine, nor anyone’s I’ve been able to find through the pages of church history. Thus, we must always go back to Scripture to read what it says. We go back to the saints throughout church history to see where they’ve agreed and where they’ve departed.
However, both men were biblical and orthodox in their beliefs, even as they had their unique viewpoints on various theological issues. I won’t spend much time addressing those areas because that’s not really the point of this project. Instead, I agree with vastly more than I disagree with. And where I agree, I strongly agree.
And here’s what matters most: these men weren’t just hearers of the word, but doers also. They put into practice what they believed like few others. They believed Christianity was true, and because they believed that, they put it into practice. They understood that it was more than abstraction but practical for every sphere of a person’s life, because Jesus Christ is Lord over every sphere of life, and we’re called to extend God’s Kingdom into every sphere of life.
This is practical Christianity.
The Vision
Both Wesley and Baxter rejected compartmentalized faith. They insisted that authentic Christianity pervades every dimension of human existence. Let me show you what I mean:
Wesley’s Language: “Scriptural holiness” spread “over the land.” Holiness of heart and life. Social holiness, faith that never remains private but necessarily expresses itself in community, service, and cultural engagement.
Baxter’s Language: “Christ’s absolute dominion” over all creation. His Christian Directory covers four spheres: private duties (personal faith), family duties (household discipleship), church duties (gathered worship and community), and civic duties (cultural and political engagement).
My Language: Extending God’s Kingdom into every sphere of life. Christ is Lord of all. Kingdom discipleship that touches the spiritual, relational, vocational, cultural, and civic dimensions of existence.
Three voices, one vision: Christianity is comprehensive, not compartmentalized. There’s no sacred-secular divide. Faithful discipleship means living under Christ’s lordship in all things: at home and at work, in church and in the public square, in private devotion and public witness.
This is what I mean by Practical Christianity. Not Christianity that’s merely useful or pragmatic, but Christianity that’s lived, truth embodied, wisdom enacted, the Word of God put into practice in real life.
What to Expect
In the posts, teachings, and resources that follow, I’ll seek to draw deeply from Scripture (our ultimate authority), learn from the wisdom of Baxter and Wesley (faithful guides who’ve walked this path before us), and apply their insights to the challenges we face today in 2025 and beyond.
I’ll organize the content around ten major spheres of life:
- Personal Faith & Spiritual Formation: Conversion, sanctification, spiritual disciplines, assurance
- Marriage & Family: Covenant love, family worship, parenting, domestic discipleship
- Men’s Discipleship: Godly character, accountability, work as worship, finishing strong
- Pastoral Ministry & Church Leadership: Soul care, preaching, discipleship structures, guarding the pastor’s heart
- The Kingdom of God & Cultural Engagement: Christ’s reign, faithful presence, justice and mercy
- Work & Vocation: Calling, meaning, ethics, rest and Sabbath
- Church Life & Community: Membership, small groups, unity, worship, discipline
- Evangelism & Mission: Gospel proclamation, personal witness, making disciples
- Suffering, Providence & Hope: Trials, God’s sovereignty, death, finishing well
- Legacy & Finishing Strong: Passing on the faith, guarding the deposit, building for generations
This isn’t academic theology (though I’ll labor to be theologically sound). This isn’t shallow self-help (though it will be immensely practical). This is integrated wisdom, truth that transforms because it’s lived.
An Invitation
If you’ve been with me through Walking Points, thank you. This isn’t leaving that work behind but focusing it more clearly. The themes that have always mattered to me – Kingdom faithfulness, comprehensive discipleship, finishing strong – remain at the heart of everything I do.
If you’re joining me for the first time, welcome. You’re stepping into a conversation about what it means to follow Jesus with your whole life, not just the “religious” parts, but all of it. Work and family. Church and culture. Private devotion and public witness. Head, heart, and hands.
Here’s what I promise you:
- Scripture will be primary. Everything begins and ends with God’s Word.
- Historical wisdom will enrich us. Baxter and Wesley aren’t authorities in themselves, but they’re faithful guides who help us understand and apply Scripture.
- Practical application will be clear. You won’t just learn truth, you’ll be equipped to live it.
- Christ will be exalted. This is about his Kingdom, his lordship, his glory in every sphere of life.
I’m in the final quarter of my pastoral ministry (Optimistic, I know). I’m thinking more and more about legacy, what I want to pass on, what matters most, how to finish strong. This project is part of that. I want to distill what I’ve learned, root it in Scripture and the wisdom of faithful men who’ve gone before, and present it with clarity and grace to those who both desire and need it.
Lay people need this. Pastors need this. Churches need this. Unbelievers need this. Culture needs this.
They need to know:
- Christianity is true
- It works because it’s true
- It touches all of life
- Wisdom means hearing and doing
- Christ is Lord over all
That’s the message. That’s the vision. That’s Practical Christianity.
Let’s Build
Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24).
Let’s build on the Rock.
Not with novelty or trends, but with ancient truth applied to contemporary life. Not with compartmentalized religion, but with comprehensive Christianity that touches every sphere. Not with knowledge alone, but with wisdom: truth embodied, practiced, lived.
Richard Baxter once wrote, “I preached, as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.” That’s my posture now too. Not morbid. Not anxious. But urgent and real. I don’t have forever. None of us do.
But we have now. And now is when we build something that outlasts us, lives that bear fruit, disciples who make disciples, Kingdom faithfulness that extends into every sphere.
Are you ready?
Soli Deo Gloria.
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