Wednesday is for Prayer The Hebrew word for murmur sounds a lot like a murmuring crowd. The ancient Israelites had a big problem with contentment in God. They murmured against their leaders almost endlessly. But God pointed out numerous times that their real murmur was against the living God (cf. 1 Samuel 8 for one … More The Murmuring of Our Discontent
Tuesday is for Preaching I have never met a preacher who was satisfied with his work. Never. I have never preached a text that I felt adequate to the task. Every week there is a level of discontent with my efforts at explaining and living out the word that I preach. Every single message, every … More The Sweet Torture of Sunday Morning
Sunday Afternoon Musings At New Song Church in Bolingbrook, by the grace of God and through the great vision and zeal of Sue and Mark Davis, the commitment of a single small group, the vision and openness of a great elder board and the heart and prayers of a congregation that wanted to make a … More How Can We Go from Disease Management to Real Health Care?
Weekend Links With all the snow here now, all the snow predicted for today and Tuesday, it is a little hard to get excited for some of us. But here’s good news for many. It is February 1 and pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in just two weeks. I can’t wait, hence the … More Cessationism vs Continuationism; Discussing Gay Marriage; Presidential Lies; Hobby Lobby, House Church Preaching and much more
“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.” —Exodus 34:21 (ESV) While this verse is directed perhaps most appropriately to farmers, it applies to all. What does resting one day out of seven do? It demonstrates obedience It demonstrates trust. It … More A Challenge from God to Farmers
Some years ago, in a community I was serving there was a rash of suicides. Situations like that always send pastors to the word of God for appropriate words to deal with the aftermath left behind for the families of those who have lost or nearly lost, a loved one. It was during that season … More Suicide and the Bible
Sunday Musings All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience. —Henry Miller, writer Henry Miller is a writer and as far as I know, no great authority in things spiritual, but I think there is some truth hiding in his words here. All growth is an advance … More How Does Growth Happen?
Saturday Afternoon Musings C.S. Lewis writes about seeing “glory” or “an image of glory” in nature and its effect on us. We see beauty, we see majesty—and something happens in the deepest parts of our soul. Glory and longing, and love rise up in our souls. We see a majestic mountain view, or a forest … More Substituting Nature Religion for the Real God
Weekend Links The wind is howling outside and later today I will post a reflection from C.S. Lewis on what we can learn and not learn from the majesty, power and glory of nature. But for now, here are the weekend links for the past week. Defeating Abortion Culture Roe v. Wade’s Days are Numbered … More Ending Abortion; Victoria Secret Culture; Progress on Poverty?; Common Core and so much more .
Friday is for Heart Songs Continuing my goal to reread all of C.S. Lewis in 2014, I read this today from God in the Dock. It was a great reminder to me that those churches who are on track to equip the next generation best are churches that take seriously the discipleship of not only … More Discipling the Whole Family for the Glory of God
