Ray Burns

I love Christ, my wife and four kids, the Oxford comma, and board games. Although saved at 18, it took 10 years for me to stop chasing idols and find true satisfaction in Christ. God's given me a passion for teaching and writing, and with that a deep burden to be my creator's instrument in giving His people a profound, unshakable relationship with their savior.

Announcing “Search By Topic” and other website changes!

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Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesChange is good. Change that makes something incredibly more valuable is fantastic. Onward in the Faith is undergoing some important changes that, I hope, will make this ministry more valuable to Christians wanting to grow in faith and spiritual maturity. Last week I spent roughly 30 hours implementing some big changes that are now live […]

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1 Corinthians 14: Church & Our Consumer Mentality (live video teaching)

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Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minute(This article also includes a podcast discussion. Click the play button below, or subscribe and listen on your Apple or Google podcast app.) This week I had the opportunity to teach at a program called Gospel Centered Recovery at Saylorville Church. It exists to help those struggling with addictions by showing them the transforming power

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Pausing my series on “Progressive Christianity”

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Approximate Reading Time: 4 minutesFailure is an important part of growth. I recently set out to write a series that tackled the serious errors I saw within Progressive Christianity. I decided to try something new, doing a different tone and style of explanation. From the beginning I didn’t love it, but I had already written several articles and didn’t

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A Note On How I Define Progressive Christianity

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Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteProgressive Christianity isn’t a cut-and-dry thing. It has varying degrees, with some Christians or churches only embracing very specific parts of it, while others identify with every aspect of it. As I discuss Progressive Christianity, I’m speaking to the extreme ends of it, and I do that with a specific purpose. There is a certain

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Do You Lack a “Fruit of the Spirit”? (podcast episode)

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Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteListen and subscribe on Apple or Android podcast apps! What is the Fruit of the Spirit? What do we do if we’re lacking? Can we really say things like “God hasn’t gifted me with gentleness, so people need to deal with me being offensive”? This episode digs into how the Holy Spirit makes us more

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Progressive Christianity Part 1: A Religion That’s Doomed to Fail

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Approximate Reading Time: 3 minutesThis series is being put on hold. Click here to read why. As our world continues to reject the traditions that seemed to fail previous generations, Christianity was inevitably going to get swept up as well. With each passing year, we’ve seen the core tenets of Christianity compromised, or outright abandoned, in favor of something

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How Parents Accidentally Raise Moral Sinners

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Approximate Reading Time: 9 minutesThere is immense value in raising children in a Christian home. They are regularly exposed to prayer, Bible reading, asking for forgiveness, and discussions centered around Christ. Likewise, they enjoy developing a biblical worldview so that, when Christ saves them, they don’t have to battle through removing a secular worldview and replacing it with a

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