I preached at St. Paul’s Evangelical Church today. http://stpaulsmarietta.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Phil-2019-06-02.mp3 June 2, 2019 Sunday service *= stand Prelude *Passing The Peace (Share signs & words of the peace of Christ with those around you.) Announcements *Call to Worship Psalm 103:1-6 Praise…
Category: Christianity
Issues and opinions about Christianity
Why Trump?
It all really comes down to a matter of faith, not in Trump, but in Jesus.
Hope And Community
“…always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you…” (1 Peter 3:15). Hope is essential for human well-being. Conversely, the lack of sufficient hope is the root…
ISIS: Conflict Resolution
The world is awash in a theological conflict brought to the fore by the rise of ISIS. Yet, Western leaders continue the canard that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. However, ISIS supporters firmly believe that their Caliphate and…
Christmas 2015
“This book is concerned with the big picture of the Bible that is revealed by careful, thorough study of Scripture. This view of the history of Israel in the Old Testament will be shown to be the biblical view revealed…
Beyond Superstition
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude…
The Real Conflict with Islam
Ten years after 911, the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City, Robert Reilly provided the structure for identifying and defeating the enemy that had declared war on the West. That structure unfolded in the pages of his…
Sustainable Living
Eternal life is sustainable life, to put it into current vernacular. And because eternal life begins with our salvation, it begins here, on this planet.
The Error
The failure to see the wholeness of a thing is the failure to see its essential character because it is its wholeness that defines it as the thing that it is. The failure to understand God’s holiness amounts to a failure to stand under His wholeness. People do this when they engage in compartmentalization, the unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid the mental discomfort.
The Church and the Future
We who are in the church, especially pastors and denominational executives, have a vested interest in maintaining the church as it currently exists. Of course we’d like our church and/or denomination to grow, but what we mean is that we would like more of what it already is, more of the same kind of people, more resources, etc. What we really want is a better status quo, churches like the ones we have, but bigger. But is that what God wants or what God is doing at this time in history? It doesn’t seem to be. The church plural is in crisis. I don’t have a magic solution for this problem, but it is worth discussing, worth facing up to some harsh realities, and taking stock. Which is better: harsh realities or false hope? …