tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-317287342012-01-04T05:57:00.167-05:00in medias resall our stories are trapped in a context we did not chooseTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.comBlogger501100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-72646268481290573162012-01-01T13:09:00.002-05:002012-01-01T13:17:47.163-05:00From One Generation to the NextA few weeks ago, Psalm 145 popped up in the lectionary (as it would have again this week had Christmas not been on a Sunday). Verse 4 of the Psalm says, "One generation shall praise your works to another, and shall declare your power." During evening prayer on a Sunday night a few weeks back, my wife and I stood in our living room as we said this Psalm together out loud. As we stood together Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-17105010961741688422011-12-30T06:35:00.003-05:002012-01-04T05:57:00.175-05:00Nuptial ApocalypseCuring you
of the legend of me
are my sins
against God and them
and you.
But vows with blood, benedictions, and life
together are recreating me,
as the myth becomes
free from lies:
a flickering image of God,
healing waters from softened stone.
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-31138395159447753222011-12-25T00:52:00.001-05:002011-12-25T16:01:14.427-05:00Us vs. the ShepherdsIn Luke 2, we have presented to us the story of Jesus' birth, followed immediately by the revelation of Christ's birth (via a multitude of angels) to some shepherds nearby. The shepherds, having heard the report from the angel and having visited the Holy Family, proceed to tell others and to praise God for what they had seen and heard. (Luke 1:17)
We might say that anyone would've responded Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-21506243774961886802011-12-21T17:03:00.000-05:002011-12-21T17:03:28.855-05:00It's not about meIt's always good to get in touch with reality, but it is not always fun. This was my experience with the morning Psalm on Wednesday during this last week of Advent. As I read Psalm 72, I had nothing to "connect with" as I do when I read other psalms. There was no crying out to God in anguish, no thanking Him for good things He's done for me. There was no asking God for help with enemies or Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-29703450294393149372011-12-19T09:47:00.002-05:002011-12-19T14:13:32.125-05:00Readiness and WatchfulnessThe readings for this Thursday in the third week of Advent included Jesus' parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. This parable reminds us that it is a terrible thing to be unprepared for God's arrival. As Jesus tells this story, we cannot help but feel the horror of the five virgins who are shut out from God because they don't have oil for their lamp. Feeling their loss, we should be Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-46878403061678444882011-12-10T08:13:00.007-05:002011-12-10T14:21:54.747-05:00A Gospel Too Big for My HeartThis week in the Daily Office we have been taken on quite a journey... through visions of Christ walking among his churches (Rev. 1:12-16), to songs of confidence in the goodness of God to his people (Psalm 30). We have heard of his mercy on our sins (Psalm 32) and also of God's great judgment against our sin (Matt 23:1-12; Amos 8; Psalm 38). We have read of the requirement of our endurance as Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-30764945964283521532011-12-07T11:08:00.000-05:002011-12-07T11:08:20.778-05:00Charles Simeon on PreachingA quick nugget here from Charles Simeon (via John Stott's lecture on Simeon) on preaching. His simple three-part description of the goal of preaching should cause all preachers to reevaluate the motivations and results of their own preaching.
Simeon said that preaching should:
1. Humble the sinner2. Exalt the Savior3. Promote holiness
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-61376834531869455132011-12-03T15:13:00.004-05:002011-12-07T10:18:52.344-05:00Seek Me and LiveDuring this first week of Advent, we hear words from God through the prophet Amos. The Lord says, "Seek me and live... Seek the LORD and live... Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts will be with you..." (Amos 5:4,6,14) When you read these words did they surprise you?
That the LORD calls his people to repentance is no surprise. Since the chapter two ofTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-3082082662403705842011-11-24T08:21:00.001-05:002011-11-24T08:21:49.212-05:00Prayer for ThanksgivingAlmighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and to all whom you have made.
We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ;
for the means of grace, and for the hope of Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-19171898217078386182011-11-20T14:00:00.006-05:002011-12-03T16:50:22.114-05:00God isn't like meYesterday evening, during the time in evening prayer that begins our Sabbath day, my wife and I read aloud the appointed Psalm for the evening, and it contains the following words: "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host." (Ps 33:6)
For years this verse has been a key to open my heart in worship toward God. When I consider the impact of Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-6751425583306312542011-11-18T11:22:00.004-05:002011-12-03T16:50:31.444-05:00I am the 1% (but not in the way you think)Either because of oppression from the law, disunity from within, or the advent of the winter's cold, the Occupy Wall Street movement has begun to peter out. Expressing discontentment with an elitist monopoly on power and wealth, the Occupy Wall Street movement has brought together a surprisingly diverse group and has received ample media coverage. The battle cry has been "We are the 99%." TheTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-84791475734524401152011-11-03T08:12:00.000-04:002011-11-03T08:12:43.567-04:00A Prayer for Being a Disciple of JesusAnd now, beloved, let us bind ourselves with willing bonds to our covenant God, and take the yoke of Christ upon us. This taking of his yoke upon us means that we are heartily content that he appoint us our place and work, and that he alone be our reward. Christ has many services to be done; some are easy, others are difficult; some bring honor, others bring reproach; some are suitable to our Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-91009320051285906552011-11-01T13:51:00.004-04:002011-11-01T13:56:19.743-04:00Prayers for the Sabbath
Collects for Saturday EveningsO God, the source of eternal light: Shed forth your unending day upon us who watch for you, that our lips may praise you, our lives may bless you, and our worship on the morrow give you glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We give you thanks, O God, for revealing your Son Jesus Christ to us by the light of his resurrection: Grant that as we sing your Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-53988368731534232742011-10-29T12:10:00.011-04:002011-10-30T14:35:57.221-04:00Our "Best" SabbathIn a previous post (long ago), I promised to post some specifics about how to spend the Sabbath. I had hoped to have other people chime in on this, since obedience to the 4th Commandment in this way is still so new to me, but this never materialized. So, what follows is my "Best" Sabbath: the way I would ideally spend any given Sunday.
It is important when suggesting specific ways in which Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-35549929928798781682011-09-03T15:32:00.005-04:002011-09-03T17:52:26.804-04:00Prayer for TruthLord Jesus, Word of God, power of God, wisdom of God; you are the way, the truth, and the life, and you desire truth in our inmost parts. Send out your light and truth that they may lead us, open our eyes that we may see wonderful things in your law, and bring us, by your grace alone, to that holy City of which you are the light and where you live and reign, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-42514070337081599332011-09-01T16:01:00.002-04:002011-09-01T16:05:38.612-04:00Cana HymnCana Hymn by Ben Sharpe
Our feast has failed, its fullness fled.His mother pleads him in our steadAnd prays him to restore the mirthWhich once in Eden filled the earth.Sure of the might that now lies hidServants hear, “Obey what he bids!”
In faith the stony jars are filled.Creator God is now revealedWho spoke the darkness into dayAnd drives the night of death away.Plain water hears its MasterTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-33559109170068715852011-08-10T22:26:00.007-04:002011-08-14T15:19:19.992-04:00600,000 Children About to DieAs I write this post, I'm working on two very different things. I'm preparing to officiate a very special wedding on Saturday, and I'm putting together a sermon to preach this Sunday on the 6th Commandment: "Thou shall not murder" (Ex 20:13). My heart and my mind are preparing, at the same time, for the celebration of the divine mystery of marriage, which promises to bring so much joy and life Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-52072219068074236072011-08-05T11:34:00.011-04:002011-11-01T13:58:43.345-04:00Do You Need Rest? (Part 2)In a previous post, I described what the Sabbath as we see it in the 10 Commandments. (By the way, what follows won't make much sense if you don't read that post first.) In this post, I hope to outline the reasons why I think the Lord's Day (a.k.a. Sunday) is the day on which Christians should obey the Fourth Commandment.
Is the weekly Sabbath still for us?
To answer this question we Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-80635261424779835262011-08-05T11:21:00.011-04:002011-11-01T13:59:04.340-04:00Do You Need Rest? (Part 1)Would you like a break?
Don't you wish you had time for the more important things in life? Don't you wish you had more time with God in prayer and in the Scriptures, more time with your family and friends? We all want more time for real rest.
For most of us, this kind of time is only found when we're on vacation. But what if God has a better plan for us? What if He has already cleared Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-48708516208131851092011-07-22T10:07:00.004-04:002011-08-05T11:23:10.588-04:00False Worship as an Industry
In the sermon from last Sunday at Christ Church, I made mention of 'pagan' worship that the Israelites imported into the worship of Yahweh, the true God. In light of this, we discussed the dangers of importing two ways of life from our world into our worship of the true God: an individualistic or consumerist mentality, and an inordinate desire for efficiency or activity.
But don't get theTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-38572658102749189762011-07-11T08:16:00.005-04:002011-08-03T16:29:48.125-04:00Oaths: Sermon on the Mount (Leftovers)Should those who follow Jesus take oaths? Jesus says in Matt 5:33-37:
"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-50305575323123585452011-05-09T08:00:00.000-04:002011-05-09T12:08:21.058-04:00Castle and KingdomI am dust,
Dignified by divine fashioning,
And yet, a shifting soul of the finest sand. I am
Contingent and
Derivative, or
I am nothing at all.
What shape will I be
today, my God?
Any breeze may make me
a castle or a whirlwind.
Scoop me all in your hands
And cover me.
Let your breath permeate my grains
And lift them into order.
Let them take no form,
But what, from your mouth,
The Spirit Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-2069173865476666632011-05-02T02:20:00.001-04:002011-05-02T18:11:36.921-04:00Diaspora AnastaseosBurst like the wind-struck daffodil.
Be these flung white hammers
lifted up on tongues of air;
Crash down into the sea of toppling green towers.
Let the waters baptize you,
And let your tendrils reach down
and claw fistfuls of earth
to grow the seed,
up and higher:
Be not Babel,
But the Liar's Ladder.
For the Seed's sake:
Burst, break, Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-61560048769268849112011-04-29T02:22:00.023-04:002011-05-05T21:50:24.472-04:00Divorce (Part 2): Sermon on the Mount (Leftovers)In this series of posts we are looking at the Sermon on the Mount, and in the previous post, I introduced the problem of divorce in the Church today. In this post we will be looking at Jesus' teaching on divorce in more detail and seeking to know how to obey Him in this area. Though it is not my own view, let me briefly explain the most liberal view of divorce I think Scripture allows and how Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-37247616780798357982011-04-24T02:14:00.001-04:002011-05-01T07:39:33.587-04:00Divorce (Part 1): Sermon on the Mount (Leftovers)In this series of posts on the Sermon on the Mount, we have previously covered the rather sticky topic of lust, but now we move onto something even more difficult and offensive: divorce.
Few things stir up more controversy and reveal old, unhealed wounds like biblical teaching on divorce. But as we move through Jesus' great Sermon, we cannot simply skip this part (as the lectionary does!). Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-37751013375023158312011-04-02T21:44:00.001-04:002011-04-21T13:25:51.119-04:00A Prayer for Sermon PreparationMay my own heart be comforted by you, my Shepherd:
That I may be still and know that you are God,
and that your Name will be lifted up among the nations.
That I may embrace this trustworthy statement:
"Christ came into the world to save sinners--
And I am the worst of them!"
That I may believe and not doubt that nothing will separate
me from Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-28942823694907055182011-03-29T08:00:00.005-04:002011-04-02T23:36:27.107-04:00Lust: Sermon on the Mount (Leftovers)(This post is the first in a series called Sermon on the Mount (Leftovers). Click this link for a brief explanation of the series.)
Jesus' teaching on lust is famous (or infamous!?). It is, like most of Jesus' ethical teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, considered too high to attain. And indeed, almost every man on the planet does falls short of Jesus' standard: "... everyone who looks at Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-10952976068710865412011-03-27T01:19:00.004-04:002011-03-29T13:56:01.153-04:00Sermon on the Mount (Leftovers)The Saturday night worship service at my church is about to finish a nine-week series through the Sermon on the Mount. (You can check out what sermons have been posted online here.) Throughout the series we have not been able to cover every sentence of Christ's great discourse, but I promised my people (and myself) that I would write on the sections we missed.
So, in the coming weeks I plan Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-27773097740243551962011-02-11T12:37:00.009-05:002011-12-05T08:28:52.265-05:00Praying for Your FamilyPraying for your family is one of the most basic and fundamental things a Christian does. God calls us to love our neighbor, that is, to work for their good. He also calls us to tell all the world about what He has done in human history through Jesus Christ. And since the family itself is the building block of humanity, it makes sense that God would call us first to the foundation of the Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-54835109833662372772011-02-08T22:43:00.004-05:002011-02-09T10:06:36.577-05:00Signs of True Spiritual LifeIn a previous blog post (or here) I mentioned the very challenging (and sometimes disturbing) doctrine of the Narrow Way or of Good Works: Anyone who has true faith in Christ will not rely on their own good deeds to make them right with God, but true faith, and the spiritual life that God promises with it, will always be accompanied by signs of spiritual life. Put another way, we are saved by Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-85399619872041732462011-02-04T17:59:00.005-05:002011-02-09T10:06:49.794-05:00Learning to Pray in Community
Someone recently asked me to share some insights with them on using the Book of Common Prayer in personal devotions. While I have not yet responded to this person fully, I recently read something from Eugene Peterson that speaks to the issue of common prayer as relates to private prayer, and it will do quite well as a the beginning of a response. So, what follows is a segment of an Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-42462801111208185262011-02-04T17:35:00.003-05:002011-02-09T10:07:07.329-05:00Am I different?I am currently reading through William Law's classic "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life," and through it I am being reminded of what faith that is true faith really looks like (Matthew 7:13-14).It is still easy to call one's self a Christian in our country without facing much opposition. But it is not easy, nor has it ever been, to actually be a Christian without facing opposition. If Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-64779609276339943072009-10-02T11:35:00.015-04:002011-02-11T01:40:46.322-05:00Our Post-Christian CultureAfter years of work in India and service in countless ministry and missionary efforts around the world, Lesslie Newbigin "retired" by settling into a small, struggling church in very rough part of Birmingham, England. He found this last assignment to be his most difficult. He writes: "I have been forced to recognize that the most difficult missionary frontier in the contemporary world is the oneTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-71150510963898353432009-09-28T16:01:00.004-04:002011-02-11T01:37:52.868-05:00A quote from Simon Chan's "Liturgical Theology""But the question whether the church should be understood as a divine-humanity or as essentially a social organization has less to do with hermeneutics as with one's presunderstanding or worldview. The issue concerns boundary principles by which we seek to make sense of Scripture. If we accept the idea that the church is only a way of organizing ourselves, then all biblical descriptions of the Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-68584399133864422572009-09-14T16:29:00.009-04:002011-02-11T12:20:14.433-05:00The Church as a Means of Appropriating Salvation
In his work Sin and Salvation, Newbigin lays out a rather typical evangelical understanding of man's need for atonement and the satisfactory propitiation of Christ. However, once he moves on to "how salvation becomes ours," the bishop's reasoning takes a surprising turn. In his biography on Newbigin, Geoffrey Wainwright takes note of this: "Instead of beginning with the inward spiritual act ofTomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-52685140385700470582009-08-24T08:38:00.007-04:002011-03-27T04:03:14.640-04:00A Prayer of Confession"Forgive my sins, O Lord-- forgive me the sins of my present and the sins of my past, the sins of my soul and the sins of my body; the sins which I have done to please myself, and the sins which I have done to please others. Forgive me my wanton and idle sins, forgive me my serious and deliberate sins, forgive me those sins which I know and those sins which I know not, the sins which I have Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-52929812640705975462009-08-18T09:47:00.011-04:002011-07-14T17:52:47.184-04:00Words, words, wordsTheologians, politicians, ad-men and journalists,like world controllers,subtly deceive,murdering words in academic gulags.
They know not what they do. GoodGod, destroy thembefore they reach into the souls'of my children andcut out the tongues that make us human.
-- a reflection on Hamlet II.ii and Lewis' Abolition of Man
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-87147805110632691082009-07-28T08:26:00.004-04:002011-02-11T01:29:28.913-05:00Why is it "good" to help the poor?I am currently knocking out some reading for a class on Ethics, and I have floating around in my head many fragments of the reading I've done lately. These fragments are being brought in slowly into my worldview, and I don't think I'll ever be the same... at least I hope not. This class has given me a new set of goggles with which I'm looking at the world, and as a result, I'm noticing ethical Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-67246788411023298502009-07-11T16:26:00.013-04:002011-03-27T04:02:51.409-04:00Prayer of Dedication
Let all of me be Yours.Let my aim be love
from a pure heart,
from a clear conscience.
Let my day be sacrificed
to You,
to my wife,
to my family,
to my flock,
to the poor, to the hurting,
to the world.
Let your glory be made known through me:
may I be less,
may You be more.
Let my eyes, hands, ears and feet
be moved by your Spirit,
be clean from Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-18749656203548943412009-07-07T11:18:00.008-04:002011-03-27T14:03:41.427-04:00"Without love, I am nothing"
When someone asks you what the Christian life is about, does love enter the top three things you mention? I have to confess that very often I have not given love its important place in my life and teaching, and this is simply not biblical.
"The goal of the commandment is love from a pure heart and from a clear conscience and from a genuine faith." (1 Tim 1:5) Paul's instructions and the Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-62036294101651813622009-04-24T08:55:00.007-04:002011-02-11T01:23:38.753-05:00Demythologizing IdolsIt seems that I won't be able to post original material regularly until I finish with seminary, but in the mean time I will pass on the some of the stuff that I am enjoying.
The following talk is a discussion of idol worship from a Christian perspective. Having said that, my non-Christian readers may find it interesting. Dr. Keller discusses, among many things, the idea that an ancient Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-40358209902696833942008-09-28T22:19:00.025-04:002011-03-27T04:04:32.608-04:00Freedom from the Tyranny of the SelfMy pastor just preached on Philippians 2:1-13 this week. Two big concepts from his sermon that really hit me concerned the purpose of the church and narcissism.
We often think that the purpose of the church is for us to reach self-fulfillment. For good or for ill, I have spent most of my life seeing the church's purpose in this way: God uses the church to grow me spiritually through the Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-51300183292006229702008-09-27T12:43:00.010-04:002011-02-11T01:15:26.234-05:00No love without committment
I am learning a great deal these days about the value of committed love. I am seeing how our ability to live in committed love shapes us, our faith in God, and our ability to mature in general. What follows is some thoughts on this that have been helpful for me.
True love does not come but through a committed relationship over time. Love at first sight is not real, at least not in the Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-13129987826727004392008-09-15T18:18:00.006-04:002011-02-11T01:11:00.874-05:00Healing after genocideWhen I think of this film and the hope in the Rwanda that it portrays, I am thankful for my connection, however tenuous, to the men who are leading the healing in this country. I am thankful to live and worship under their leadership in my church.... and I'm seeing the greatest and the least being inverted again.
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-79711330409895620402008-09-11T09:59:00.006-04:002011-04-02T22:22:51.514-04:00The Long Pastorate
In my morning devotions and prayers this morning I ran across this excerpt from John Watson's "The Cure of Souls". It both warmed my heart and filled me with a profound sense of my own inadequacies as a pastor. If you're not in the ministry but you are a Christian, reading this quote may give you a picture of what to expect, in the best case, from your pastor. If you are a minister, there's Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-26649521897189951992007-11-30T16:19:00.007-05:002011-02-11T01:09:29.662-05:00"Beware... of presuming thou art saved"
A quote from Charles Spurgeon concerning those who claim to be Christians but who show no real evidence of it:
They say they are saved, and they stick to it they are, and think it wicked to doubt it; but yet they have no reason to warrant their confidence. There are those who are ready to be fully assured; there are others to whom it will be death to talk of it. There is a great difference Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-72742729694540704192007-08-22T19:18:00.002-04:002011-03-27T04:05:01.049-04:00Saving face as a foreign policyFor some reason, this article really scared me. It would be funny, but they're not joking..
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20388256/Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-1162322607342953352006-10-31T13:16:00.002-05:002011-03-27T03:59:36.758-04:00A Note to Christians...
I just finished reading a book by Bishop J.C. Ryle (pictured left, looks like Father Christmas!). I have found it exceptionally challenging. Ryle is writing in the mid to late 1800's, and I find many similarities to his world (19th century England) and ours (21st century America). It is an especially interesting connection because it is shortly after Ryle's death that England's church began Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-1161950536003141602006-10-27T07:35:00.004-04:002011-02-11T01:00:06.763-05:00Tolerance
Are you a tolerant person?
A few days ago, I was talking with my brother, and he said something about tolerance that was profound:
"Tolerance used to be based on knowledge; now it is based on skepticism."
I think what he meant was this: In the past, a tolerant person would know the differences between his own view and the view of his neighbor. Knowing these differences and being fully Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31728734.post-1159115260087633052006-09-24T12:12:00.001-04:002011-02-11T00:58:29.350-05:00The Roman Empire and the U.S.A.
I ran across this while reading Tertullian’s Apology. I am impressed by the similarities between Rome and the United States. Do we really hold the same values our founding fathers did? Are we still a nation living by their principles? Tertullian’s thoughts on Rome speak to us today.
“Where is that happiness of married life, ever so desirable, which distinguished our earlier manners, and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13186466063916230998noreply@blogger.com2