A challenge concerning the shooting at Newtown, CT: Sympathize before you Synthesize
Many of us were appalled with those who began talking about gun control, school security, and the effects of video games on America’s youth within hours of what some are calling the most tragic school shooting in American history. It just seemed insensitive. In our Single Focus Bible Study on Sunday morning–48 hours after the...
“We don’t want sawdust in the pulpit.”
Around a year ago I likened seminary to a Dewalt drill. I’m definitely not a big tough tool kind of guy, but this past week one of my professors, @kyledunham, said something that provided some clarity in my constant search for balance between the complexity of seminary studies and practicality in the pulpit… he said,...
Knowledge Makes Me Accountable
The other day, I was hurrying across the parking lot at church to teach a school class when a man approached me holding his forehead. With a look of pain he explained, “I was just stung by a bee. The hive is right over there by that sidewalk…” My first thought was not, “Oh poor...
Some thoughts on Gospelization, Culturalization, and Contextualization
Since I haven’t posted in a while, I think I should say it, “No. I don’t have an ax to grind.” God has been good to me over the past few months and I am excited to get back into a regular cycle of sharing what he is doing in my heart and mind. I...
Mainstream: The End or a Means to an End?
During my high school years from 1997-2001, all the cool kids had ‘em. If you were a teenager at the turn of the century, you know what I’m talking about–W.W.J.D. bracelets! I had a couple different ones that matched my outfits. Along with those, I had a full array of Jesus bracelets… FROG, PUSH, and a...
My Craziest 10 Days in the Ministry
This picture, colored by Aaron on my iPad, is how I felt at the end of what I am officially calling “my craziest 10 days in the ministry.” When I say “crazy” I don’t mean scattered, unorganized and frustrating. In fact, it was none of these things. But with all the extra stuff I had...
Guest Post from John MacArthur*
A great guy who I spend a lot of time with** is John MacArthur, or as I call him, Jay Mac.*** I appreciate that he took time out of his busy schedule to provide these words of advice for us.**** Here are some of his thoughts from I Thessalonians 5:12-15. “Nothing is more devastating to...
The Free Will Song
I came across this video not too long ago–enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrczyFvkv8Q Here are my thoughts… –I agree 100% with the message of the song. –I never knew a whippoorwill had anything to do with Arminianism, but I am now convinced. –Although they were slammed in the YouTube comments, I appreciate this group’s job well done. The “someone is...
Democrats, Republicans, Monopoly and Leviticus 19
I gave up on Temple Run when after many, many tries I finally accepted I would never beat @someasiankid‘s 9 million point high score. My current time waster here lately has been Monopoly. I must confess, I never actually knew how to play Monopoly until a few days ago when I started playing the EA...
Well Begun Is Half Done
I pushed the desk chair away and stood up from my laptop after nearly four hours of intensive work. “Finished!” I said to myself, “at least for now.” While sitting on the couch and sipping hot tea, I thought to myself, “Why for so long did I put that project off?” It wasn’t because I...
The Source of Your Worth – part 2
In part 1, I expressed the thought that the source of your worth begins with an understanding of who you are. In the thoughts below, I hope to articulate that it continues with an understanding of what God expects. Self-esteem is a term used in psychology to reflect a person’s overall evaluation or appraisal of her or his...
The Source of Your Worth
It is tempting to seek self-worth among earthly things like popularity, athletic ability, good looks, musicianship, or possessions. For an earthly minded person, their level of self-worth is directly proportional to the amount of attention, love, and/or commendation they receive from people. But, if the source of your worth is in earthly things you will...
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