Something is Relative

September 16, 2011

The Census Bureau just came out with its 2010 poverty report. The numbers spiked. Just over 15% of Americans are now considered “poor.” That’s 46.2 million people. But if you dig a little you soon discover America’s poor aren’t like the world’s poor. The typical household considered “poor” in America has a car, air conditioning, […]

Nine Reasons Why You Didn't Like the Pastor's Sermon

September 9, 2011

You didn’t pray for your Pastor last week. You may not even have asked God to prepare your heart for the preaching of the Word on Sunday. (2 Thessalonians 3:1-5) You were sleepy in church because you stayed up too late the night before. Maybe you were even late for church (as always ?). And […]

From Kenya with Love

September 2, 2011

I just got back from two weeks in Kenya. The focal point of the trip was to train a gathering of mostly rural pastors. Most of their churches have dirt floors, mud walls, and thatched roofs. The nicer houses of God have sheet metal to keep out the rain and an outhouse in the back. […]

Christian Biographies Worth Your Time

August 19, 2011

“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” (Heb. 13:7) And as one preacher said, “you can’t imitate what you don’t know.” So when was the last time your read a good Christian biography? Plenty of Christians have an […]

From My Foxhole

August 11, 2011

The homosexual machine is well-funded and relentless. Washington DC and Hollywood are allies. Academia and culture are, as well. It is important, however, to oppose the “machine”—to lovingly assert truth. We do so for the honor of God and for the good of those deceived. Last Sunday (August 7), the News Tribune ran what will […]

Free Kill Pill

August 4, 2011

The Obama Administration announced this week that the nation’s health insurers have to start covering birth control as part of women’s preventative care. What that means, among other things, is no more co-pays for contraception. I didn’t know pregnancy was a disease. That’s how it’s being treated, however. Contraception is preventative healthcare for this crowd; […]

More From My Dead Friends

July 28, 2011

There was something else I wanted to mention about the prayer life of the Puritans (see “Praying Like a Puritan,” June 30, 2011 blog). Not only was the content of their prayers biblically rich; so were their salutations. Here are a few opening addresses from their prayers found in the book, “The Valley of Vision.” […]

Are You Praying for Your Pastor?

July 21, 2011

(Pastor Rich Hamlin is on vacation with his family this week and Lord willing will return next week.) The Puritans abounded in preachers like Richard Sibbes (1577-1635), Richard Baxter (1615-l691), John Owen (1616-1683), Thomas Watson (d. l686), John Flavel (1627-1691), Jonathan Edwards (1702-1758), and that later Puritan, “prince of preachers,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). One […]

Can’t Have the Name

July 14, 2011

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet…” I was in the minority but I enjoyed reading Shakespeare my sophomore year in high school. I enjoyed the clever language and innuendo; I enjoyed deciphering the not-so-obvious. The line above is from “Romeo and Juliet”; enchanted […]

A Small Church in a Big Town

July 7, 2011

The Holy War rages on; the Kingdom of God versus the Kingdom of Satan. Opening shots were fired in the Garden when the serpent craftily inquired of Eve: “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1) God really did say but Satan has looked for ways to get us to question ever since. Sometimes the battle looks […]

Praying Like a Puritan

June 30, 2011

“O my Savior, help me. I am slow to learn, so prone to forget, so weak to climb; I am in the foothills when I should be on the heights….” Those Puritans sure knew how to pray; and it’s not because they had extensive vocabularies and were good with metaphors. Theirs was a deep piety […]

Don’t Neglect the Voice

June 23, 2011

He’s one of those Old Testament kings we pay little attention to; written about in a book from which we rarely read. But even though he was on the throne so long ago; his downfall still instructs. His name was Joash and his story is told in 2 Chronicles 24. Joash became king of Judah […]

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