Our church, primarily through our small groups, recently read through a book by Thom Rainer entitled “I Am A Church Member” which talked about the benefits and responsibilities of belonging to a local body of Christians. It covered six primary subjects: I Will Be A Functioning Church Member I Will Be A Unifying Church Member…
All posts in Faith
Light Shining Out of Darkness
Even though William Cowper wrote these words in 18th century England, they still hold true today, in 21st century America, and will continue to hold true whenever and wherever people live. We need only look around us to see things we don’t understand, but know that God is working through them to His plan, and…
What is the Gospel?
“…Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, … he was buried, … he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” This is the Gospel, the good news that Paul preached. It is the wisdom of God, not of man, and is deemed foolishness by the world.
Where do we find joy?
I was talking to another recently, and they used these words: “There’s no joy in … ” That saddened me, because it was obvious they were looking for their joy in all the wrong places. I tried to reason with them, to tell them of the true source of joy, but they wouldn’t listen, and…
Adoration and Praise
All Nations exhorted to Adoration and Praise by TATE & BRADY.Taken from Psalm 100 My newly rebound hymn book, originally published in the 1840s and reprinted with new supplements in the 1850s opens with this 17th century Psalm adaptation by Tate & Brady, known for their “New Version of the Psalms of David” published in…
Peace. My peace, for you!
I got a new book recently. Two of them, to be exact. I’m trying to decide how to attack them. Do I study for myself, use for our small group, or men’s bible study? But that’s not the only quandary. Where do I start? The target study is the Lord’s Prayer. No, not the one…
In the presence of enemies
For some reason, I never published this post from 2015. I just found it in my drafts as I was cleaning out, and thought I would resurrect it. Remember, as you read it, that it was originally written in May 2015. A lot has happened since then – many new enemies have reared their ugly…
On public worship – do it together
From “Public Worship – Considered & Enforced” by Joseph Kinghorn: “The public worship of God has a great tendency to keep up in our minds, a sense of his character and of our situation.Every part of it suggests that God is great and that we should be lowly before him; that he is holy, but…
Proper and Ethical
I love this clip from a 2015 episode of the CBS cop show Blue Bloods. Tom Selleck’s character, Police Commissioner Reagan, has this to say: “Something is not proper simply because it is permissible, nor is it it ethical because it is legal.” It’s almost as though he were quoting from one of Paul’s epistles,…
Declaring our dependence on Him who holds all power
“He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens — far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:20-21, HCSB) Our nation is…