Here’s a sermon I preached today on the message of Genesis 1-3 and the Gospel in Romans 5.
I’ve been teaching Genesis 1-11 this week in my Bible classes, so you get to hear a lot of how I handle that. Those of you wanting a creation science approach to Genesis 1-3 will likely be disappointed.
I’d like to have had a second sermon to fully unpack the second half of the message, but it’s the Gospel. That’s what matters to me.
Thanks to Pastor Ted Thulin for sharing the pulpit with me today.
Why is the church AWOL on spousal abuse?
Check out my other blog at Jesus Shaped Spirituality.
Guitar Priest Peter Matthews’ first podcast.
Our sponsor, New Reformation Press. Incredible new t-shirts. Check them out.
Music by Rhodes, Sun Like Blood and Randy Stonehill.
Flat out the funniest take on evangelicals out there is Rock TV. Watch this one, and then check out WWJD Radio.
I’m not usually the guy with sports illustrations, but this one couldn’t be passed up. (And if anyone I know says to me that I was “secretly” talking about them, I’m going to laugh right at you, very loudly.) This is so relevant to thousands of situations, it preaches itself without explanation. Young pastors, listen up.
Friday night high school football with several other men is a highlight of fall for me, and last night was the first game we’d seen. The who, what and where aren’t important, but one aspect of the game was memorable.
The officiating crew was terrible. I know that’s a frequent complaint, but I didn’t really have a dog in the fight and the team I was modestly pulling for won, so I’m not whining. The terrible officiating simply ruined the game. I felt bad for everyone: fans, coaches and, of course, the boys.
In short, the officials threw over 30 flags, most of them frivolous, and mostly in the second half when one team had some hope of gaining momentum enough to make up a three touchdown deficit. There were four reversed calls. Four! Four times the announcer read the signal, the teams reacted, and then a couple of minutes later- without benefit of instant replay- the call was reversed, usually taking away a fumble recovery or a first down.Continue reading “Lessons from a Lousy Referee”
I have been reading a novel, and the protagonist is an Italian immigrant, and Catholic. At the end of a long introductory description, it simply said, “…he was a Christian.”
Now for some reason this struck me. It’s not that I’m enamored with the word. I’m on record as saying we might have good reason to give it a break, considering all the confusion and distortion that accompanies it.
But what actually got my attention was this: in the context of Roman Catholicism, you could simply say this man was a Christian, and that summarized a great deal without further explanation. He believed. He confessed. He communed. He prayed. He loved his family. He knew his calling. He tried to live the Christian life. He was a Christian.Continue reading “Christian Without The Adjectives”
I assume that we are supposed to love the church, even though there isn’t a direct command with those words in the New Testament.
The love of the Psalmist for the people of God is obvious. Paul’s love for particular congregations causes him to recite his sufferings and sacrifices for their sake. His love for the churches he has planted is obvious in his affection for the Philippians and his correction of the Corinthians.
Jesus loves the church, and gave himself up for her. If the love of Christ controls us, then we should love the church as well.
These days, however, the command to love the church is complicated. The churches that most of us are dealing with are constantly dictating to us what it means to love them. Much like a dysfunctional family member who tells you that your love must help them continue their self-destructive patterns of behavior, so the church in America asks for “love” that many of us are hesitant to give.Continue reading “How Do I Love The Church? (Or Why Jesus Isn’t An Enabler)”
The ministry where I serve has students from all over the world. We have many Africans and we have many children of African immigrants. These students come from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds.
Hebrews 13:3b  Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. (NLT)
The 9:15 a.m. student worship service had just ended. The preacher of the day was continuing a series on Philippians. Like most other Sunday morning congregation of teenagers required to go to worship at a church sponsored school, things were a bit sleepy and slow.
At all of our worship services, and throughout the ministry of our school, we evangelize students. We explain the Gospel. We live it out. We explain it. We invite our students to believe it.
We are constantly offering Jesus Christ to those students God brings to this campus.Continue reading “God Have Mercy On the Messenger”
My guest today is Julie Neidlinger, who blogs at loneprairie.net and recently wrote a very honest and controversial post called “Why I Walked Out of Church.” That post has been discussed all around the blogosphere over the past month. I’m assuming you’ve read that post before you read this interview, otherwise you’ll be in the dark.
First, a bit of a bio from Julie’s website.
“Julie R. Neidlinger is both a writer and a visual artist. She writes, she paints, and she photographs — but no matter what medium she chooses, she excels in finding and describing the universal themes that connect North Dakota to the larger, outside world. She has written for a small newspaper, but she is probably best known as the voice of Lone Prairie, a hugely popular website and blog that ranked as one of the top 400 blogs in the “TruthLaidBear” ecosystem at one time. She lives on a farm near Hampden, N.D., and she has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Moorhead State University.”Continue reading “Julie Neidlinger’s Real Voice: The Internet Monk Interview”
Run, run now to the Trinity Church in Greenwich website and get Rob Mathes’s sermon/song from August 17th. Just do it. It’s called “London-Dublin.” I’m with Bill Kinnon- Rob has a future as a preacher. What wonderful interaction with the Psalms. Incredible stuff. The sermon will disappear in a few days so get it asap.
If you were excited by the review of Concordia’s Treasury of Daily Prayer, then you really must go to their fully working online demo version of the book. Complete with page turns! Very nice.
And if you haven’t visited our sponsor, New Reformation Press, you should check out the new t-shirts in the store. Very nice art work.
The Internet Monk Archives