INTRODUCTION:Saul is given favor by God, even though the circumstances are unfavorable indeed. Saul is given favor by Samuel, even though Samuel knows that trouble lies ahead. This chapter contains a number of references that will help us understand the rest of the story rightly. THE TEXT:“Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured …
Hastening the Day
We noted at the beginning of the service that by receiving the bread rightly, you are loving your people. You are making a solemn pledge to love each other. You are renewing a most gracious oath, an oath that binds you together with everyone here, not to mention God’s people all over the world. You …
Not Throwing Bread from the Balcony
You are a congregation of God’s people. You have been gathered from many places, and many backgrounds. Apart from the work of God’s Holy Spirit, most of you wouldn’t have much to do with one another. And yet now, in that Spirit, you have been gathered together like this. Here you are. What are you …
Failure and Success
What are the odds that someone can be very successful, and yet mangage to walk humbly with his God? Well, the odds are pretty thin, say most, but what we neglect to notice is that the odds are not exactly great for those who are unsuccessful either. Among believers, we have a deep suspicion that …
Mothering As Missions
Now I am pleased to be able to say that my daughter Rachel has a guest blog post over at Desiring God. You can get there by clicking on this.
Redemptive/Historical Embarrassment
When we look at what is happening to the culture around us, and we recognize that so much of the destruction is avoidable, and we consider also the fact that the people implementing these suicidal policies are not idiots — and indeed exhibit an intelligence of the highest order in other areas, the conclusion appears …
Preaching Reality
“Preaching is indispensible to Christianity. Without preaching a necessary part of its authenticity has been lost. For Christianity is, in its very essence, a religion of the Word of God” (Stott, Between Two Worlds, p. 15)
Still An Experiment. Do Not Be Alarmed.
An Objective Christ
“It is of course true that real religion is concerned with the state of the heart, and not with whether a man has jumped through all the right ceremonial hoops. When a man believes the covenant promise he points away from himself . . . To look away from the heart to an objective Christ …
A Professional, In Other Words
“The current tendency is to secularize the ministry, both its message and its office, as if the work of the minister were just the same as that of a teacher, a physician, a scientist, or an artist, only with a slightly different accent. This has done the church no good” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. …