Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Venom from the princes comes, Without a cause they press. Before Your Word I stand in awe, I see, my heart is filled with joy, As though I found great battle spoil. I loathe all lies, and those who speak With and …
The Silent Refutation of Every Lie
Those who stir up strife in towns, churches, cities, or nations are trying to create a situation when everyone will get to a point of desperation, and then try to resolve the problem with some kind of dramatic action. That dramatic action is sudden, forceful, fascinating, and its effects are very potent . . . …
Feeding Them Two Ways
God has never, in the history of the world, called a people out from the world in order to starve them. It sometimes looked that way, but this was because it was God’s intention to not only fed their bodies, but also to feed their faith. This is why the manna fell from the sky. …
A Filter for Gunk.com
My friend Randy Booth recently preached a sermon on blogging and the cursing of Shimei. The sermon notes were really good, and I recommend you take a look at them here. Randy is planning a series of messages at his home church on this general theme, and so after waiting an appropriate period of time …
This Day of Celebration
Father and our most gracious God, we thank You now in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, and amen. We are so thankful for all the blessings You have poured out upon us and so we rejoice before You now. We thank You for this day of celebration, and we ask You to equip …
The Pirate of Loneliness
I really enjoyed the ultimate pro-WalMart article, which can be found here. Strident opponents of WalMart will not be edified by reading this because it is a primer in sound economics, and their arguments against WalMart are more in the hoodoo theological line. But this, if anyone wants to read through an incisive evaluation of …
King David On The Fourth of July
The Fourth of July is next week, and a number of us are going to set off fireworks — and, if the past is to be trusted, we will set off some really good ones. But what are we celebrating? One of the things my grandchildren have been put up to during the fireworks are …
We Don’t Have To Like It
“For there is a great difference between displeasing and offending, as also between pleasing and edifying. For one may be displeased, and yet edified; well satisfied, and yet offended” (James Durham, Concerning Scandal, p. 2).
And It Appears To Have Worked
“A deviant from a Leninist (and even Marxist) point of view, Gramsci formulated in his Prison Notebooks the doctrine that those who want to change society must change man’s consciousness, and that in order to accomplish this they must first control the institutions by which that consciousness is formed: schools, universities, churches, and, perhaps above …
What’s Wrong With Civil Rights
“There is a vast difference between the way Christians and humanists define ‘civil rights.’ For a Christian rights tend to be negatively defined. For a humanist they are positively stated. For example, a Christian approach can be seen in such common law rights as the right to trial by jury or habeas corpus. A humanist …