By grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone
It’s easy to lose things—even important things. “Where are my keys?” “Have you seen my wallet?” “Can you call my cell? I can’t find the blasted thing!” Yes; it is easy to lose things. We identify. But how do you lose the most important thing? Josiah was just eight years old when he became king […]
If you hadn’t heard of him before, you probably have since May 21, 2011 is now behind us. Harold Camping, the self-described Bible scholar and radio station mogul, proclaimed that was the day Christians were out of here (his understanding of “the rapture”—which is an entirely different matter, by the way) and the day the […]
A few Friday’s ago, man celebrated the “41st Earth Day,” cleaning mother earth by picking up garbage, planting trees, and promoting composting. On that same day (Good Friday), the church celebrated the Father sending the Son to die on a cross to clean us. The competing celebrations offered quite the contrast. One was man’s effort […]
There is a surprising word in our Bibles. According to my Exhaustive Concordance, it is used only once in the sixty-six books that comprises our Holy Spirit inspired Bible; but it is there. And if it was used more than once, you’d remember it. I came across it in my devotional reading a month or […]
A number of years ago, preaching to his beloved 10th Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, Pastor James Montgomery Boice threw out a little test for his congregants—especially the youth of his church. He set it up this way: “What I cannot understand is people, particularly young people, believing that everything is well with their souls simply […]
The numbers just came out and once again, bad news for mainline denominations. They can’t stop the leak. The numbers are compiled by the National Council of Churches and were just released in their 2011 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. Here are the five “biggest losers”: United Church of Christ (UCC) down 2.83%; Presbyterian […]
We’re told it’s unwise to be a one-issue voter. We are told it’s naïve to jettison a candidate who fails our particular litmus test; that we’re losing sight of the big picture when we do. There is an issue, however, that trumps all other political issues and says a lot about a candidate. That issue […]
Theologians call the gathering of the church in heaven “triumphant” and the gathering of the church on earth “militant”—the label indicating her state; the congregation in heaven rests, the congregation on earth works. The division is descriptive but it can also confuse; leading some to think that our earthly worship is distinct, even separate from […]
Who’s changed? Not God. The word used to describe His attribute is immutability. It is why God is often compared to a rock: “He is the Rock…” sang Moses in Deuteronomy 32:4. If we miss Moses’ lyric and metaphor, God declares of Himself: “I the Lord do not change” (Malachi 3:6). If you want some […]
“We need to get back to the first century church.” How many times have you heard that? Their point being that the 21st century church has lost its purity, focus, and way. What is interesting is that many who say this are the very ones pressing for a progressive and ever-evolving Sunday morning worship. In […]
We spoke of the “three marks” last time. It is time to comment on the disappearance of the third and why such a discussion belongs in a series on worship. The third mark the 16th century reformers used to distinguish the true from the false church was the practice of church discipline; the true church […]
They called it the “marks of the church.” As a result of the 16th century Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church no longer was the only church in town. Questions arose: “What’s a true church?” “How do you recognize one?” “What’s the difference between a true church and a false one?” These were very good questions […]