THE BLOG
Topic
- Anxiety 2
- Beauty 1
- Bible 5
- Blessings 1
- Body of Christ 1
- Burden 1
- CEO 1
- Christian Living 127
- Christlikeness 6
- Christmas 12
- Commandments 1
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- Conflict 1
- Cults 1
- Culture 1
- DDM 1
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- Discipleship 5
- Emotions 4
- Eternity 2
- Evangelism 6
- Faith 2
- Forgive 2
- Freedom 1
- Fusion 1
- Gather 1
- God 2
- Gospel 2
- Gratitude 1
- Hebrews 11 1
- Holiness 1
- Holy Spirit 1
- Homosexuality 1
- Humility 1
- Israel 2
- Jesus 6
- Joy 2
- King of Glory 1
- Lying 1
- Missions 1
- Outreach 1
- Pastor Jeff 1
- Perspective 2
- Prayer 7
- Psalm 119 3
- Reading 1
- Salvation 13
- Sanctification 1
- Satan 1
- Scripture 2
We’re Different; Are You?
I closed my message this past Sunday with the following citation from Brett McCracken’s book (Faith: Deconstructing Doubt in the Church) that shows how different and strange and unwelcome historic Christianity is in our culture as it subverts all the current norms.
Never Stop Doing 3 Things
Growing up, my parents would tell us to avoid using the words “always” or “never.” These words tended to overexaggerate what really happened and lead to a potential and needless conflict.
God doesn’t avoid using the words “never” or “always” because He knows best what needs to be carefully avoided and intentionally perpetuated in our lives.
It is interesting to read the 9 English words (or 7 Greek words) in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 that tell us three things God wants us to always keep doing (present tense imperatives).
Why Read the Bible
There are many reasons to make a commitment to read your Bible regularly, and there’s no better time to start than at the beginning of a new year.
God is all-knowing, all-wise, all-truth, and all-good, so what He says is authoritative, accurate, supernatural, sufficient, and indispensable for our lives. Here are just a few of the many benefits of reading God’s Word:
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
This last Sunday, the worship team and I presented a classic, liturgical, Christmas hymn called “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.” The song “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” reminds us to receive with deep humility the incredible blessing of Christ’s incarnation, who humbled Himself to be born among us. Yet, the hymn also venerates Christ’s incredible power, a power so great that all of heaven bends to the will of Jesus, our “Lord Most High.” Below are the full 4 verses of the original song with Scripture
Who Am I?
Here’s an understatement: People are suffering from an identity crisis. Everywhere you turn, our culture is redefining everything: gender, sexuality, marriage, parenting, family, race, work, crime, policing, victims, you name it. No one seems to know who they really, are and we are watching the tragic results of this all around us.
What’s the Key?
Back in 2010, I read an article by Dane Ortlund (senior pastor of Naperville Presbyterian Church in Naperville, Illinois) who posed the following question, “What’s the Key to Healthy Christian Growth in Godliness?” Pastor Dane asked various respondents to keep their answers to a single, short sentence. He then shared the purpose of the exercise: “The purpose of this exercise is not to provide an opportunity to nit-pick but to re-center, refresh, encourage, spur on, help one another.”
