By grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone
People will call this a political blog. I will deny that if they do. If you need a category, let’s call it theological. It is a cry for Christians to think. It is an appeal for followers of Jesus to reason biblically. It is a plea for the redeemed to consider the weight of God’s […]
“We believe that God has ordained various governments among men,” says our Statement of Faith. “The three basic governments are civil government, church government, and family government. All…working in individuals to bring about self-government.” If asked to summarize each of their responsibilities, how would you respond? C.S. Lewis answered this way regarding the civil government. […]
Let me provide some visuals. The latest Apple phone has just come out. Lines are out the door and around the block, hundreds of would-be customers hoping to get to the front before the last one is sold. The Seahawks are in the play-offs. Season ticket holders have gobbled up most of the seats but […]
The dinner table never had been so full, chairs wrapped all the way around. Hungry mouths gathered to be filled. The laundry room was busier than ever. Would the old washer be able to keep up? And then there was the bathroom. It always seemed to be in use. The winy question from the hall, […]
We breathe culture. We do because society’s norms are all around us. Culture codifies acceptable conduct. And therein lies the problem. Culture is dictated by what man thinks. Therefore, we must be careful. The question becomes, “Are we breathing in man’s wisdom and norms, shaping how we act and think, which often runs counter to […]
The doors of the church remain wide open, the free offer of the Gospel proclaimed to all, but culture’s continued free-fall required us to clarify our Statement of Faith and amend our Bylaws. Hesitant to name specific sins given we are all sinners who have our own particular proclivities and sins to wrestle; we still […]
There’s over 7 billion people in the world; about 320 million living in the United States. We get “glassy-eyed” over such large numbers. I recently discovered an annual report that takes those large numbers and makes them easier to understand. It’s called the “State of the Village Report.” It imagines the world as a 100 […]
Last week I spoke at a “Men’s Prayer Breakfast”; actually, there were two women mixed in with the 35 or so men—so let’s just call it a prayer breakfast. This group represents several different churches throughout Tacoma and has been meeting for 43 years. That’s no typo. Every Wednesday except for the occasional holiday that […]
I’m no movie critic. But I am a pastor. That means I still get to comment on movies. Even though I took a class in college called “Introduction to American Film,” my opinions on plot, character development, cinematography, and the like are, well…no better than just opinion. The pastor in me, however, gets to make […]
Lakewood Church in Houston is the nation’s largest church (43,500 members). The face, voice, and smile (literally) of the congregation are Joel and Victoria Osteen. In a recent message to the mammoth congregation, Mrs. Osteen said: I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it […]
He said “church sucks.” The surprise isn’t the off-color phrase he used; no doubt, many others have said it before. The surprise is who said it. He’s the pastor of the One Love Church in Eugene. He and his church are in the midst of their “Church Sucks” campaign, sending out mailers to hundreds of […]