A pastor settles on one of two versions of salvation he will emphasize. The first salvation is that from a sub-Christianity.
Let’s sketch an image of ’sub-Christian Bill.’ Bill has grown up in an understanding of Christianity that is (the kindest word for it) diminished. He is truly joined to God through Christ, but has not [...]
Pastor's Notes
I am of Paul
Psalm 13
Psalm 13 is a lament—a category of prayer that you are surprised to find in the Bible, since there is in it the potential for God to be thought of poorly. Here the psalmist is confused, impatient to the point of exasperation. Four times he declaims, “How long?” to God.
We are not sure of the [...]
Spirit in the World
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning [...]
Read this entry »But the Hour is Coming
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:23,24
Jesus says to the Samaritan woman that it [...]
Library Announcement
Our church library is almost completed, and books can now be borrowed. Thanks to all who have contributed volumes and have worked to set up the library, including especially Allie Thompson, Kelsea Molitor, and Melita Matzko (from a distance!)
I said almost: we still have a few things to do. 1) place bookplates in the books, [...]
As Kingfishers Catch Fire
A more eloquent version of what I was trying to say in “Go for it,” by Gerard Manley Hopkins:
As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and [...]
All Kinds of Change
In this post I want to bring to light some things from our study on “Christian Change.”
Crossroads: a step-by-step guide away from addiction, by Dr Ed Welch, lists ten steps to change. The first one given is “Listen.” Christian change can begin when one decides to humble himself and dedicate himself to listening to God [...]
Go for it
On Sunday we heard Jesus refer to his followers’ relationship with him as a participation in him, specifically a participation in his death. When we become followers of Christ, we truly receive him, and our identity is altered. The events that formed Jesus’ destiny—his death, resurrection, and ascension—must now inform the calculations and priorities for [...]
Read this entry »Missionary Zeal
You’ll enjoy this: Following is a letter written in the early 1800s by a ten-year-old boy and his sister. The letter was sent to the natives of modern-day Sri Lanka through a missionary who was going to the island.
HT: Doug Wilson
Dear Heathen:
The Lord Jesus Christ hath promised that the time shall come when all the [...]
Patterns in Revival
HT: Ray Ortlund
Horatius Bonar, writing the preface to John Gillies’ Accounts of Revival, proposes that men useful to the Holy Spirit for revival have been marked in these nine ways:
1. They were in earnest about the great work on which they had entered: “They lived and labored and preached like men on whose lips the [...]