My friend and prayer partner Terry Ivy called today just to say hello and tell me he was praying for me. What an encouragement to know you are being prayed for. Terry, in my opinion, is one of those unsung heroes in a generation enamored with celebrity, size, and bombast. A cancer survivor, a pastor … More Weekend Biography: David Brainerd
“I never heard of the Gospel of Jesus Christ . . . of the cross, of sin and forgiveness, of death and life (while) in New York . . . only an ethical and social idealism which pins its faith to progress.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer … according to Bonhoeffer, a congregation without mutual confession of sin is … More The Courage to Confess Sin—What Bonhoeffer Still Teaches Us
Sunday Afternoon Musings Great day at Trinity Church today when one church in multiple locations became one church in one location. It was great to have both of our campuses together and to celebrate the great things that God is doing in our midst. Fourteen baptism today and a great indoor picnic with lots of … More The Poor Have Much to Teach the Rich
Weekend Musings “The church can preach salvation and nurture the saved, but it cannot save. The church can preach, exhort, rebuke, and admonish against sin, it can proclaim the forgiveness of sin and it can give theological definition to sin, but the church cannot atone for sin.” —R.C. Sproul Who is Jesus? (Crucial Questions Series) … More What the Church Can and Can’t Do
Weekend Musings Christians are called to love and pray for our enemies and even those who persecute us (Matthew 5:4; Luke 6:35; Romans 12:14). But we are also warned throughout Scriptures like the one quoted below, to not emulate or follow their example. Christians have not always been faithful to “the love and pray for” … More Living Wisely with and Praying for Those Who Identify Themselves as Enemies
Something we definitely need right now with the heavy assault of the media on Christians, is a real show of Christian charity and love. Bonhoeffer can help us see what the Spirit desires for our age. The reality is that without some challenge, our love for one another remains superficial and unremarkable. But what we … More Bonhoeffer’s Take on Christian Unity
Weekend Musings The following is from Kairos Journal . I envy those of you who will read Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress for the first time. His allegory is not subtle, but it is powerful. And his book, written out of the timeless contemplation of the gospel he did while imprisoned for his faith, is the second most translated … More Suicide and the Christian
Sunday afternoon Musings This is a Francis Chan video that fit perfectly with my message this morning. One of the men of the church asked me if I would post the video on my BLOG so here it is. Be blessed and live a life full-throttle, open-armed, burned-bridges adventure with the Risen Savior. He is worthy. … More A Full-throttle, Open-armed, Burned-bridges Adventure with Christ
Weekend Musings Here’s another brief article from Kairos Journal on a better methodology for feeding the poor without destroying initiative. Personally, I would love to see every Christian family who owns a home to carve out space for gardens perhaps 10 foot square and pointedly work to share their bounty with neighbors, poor, street people … More Plan Now for a Spring Harvest of Souls
Weekend Musings “Every choice away from the will of God is a choice to diminish our joy in God. Any diminution of God’s law or application of of God’s word in our situation is always–no matter how reasonable it appears, no matter how pleasurable the immediate gratification, or how stress-reducing (for the moment), a movement … More Choosing Joy Over Sin
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