Too much stuff…
A few weeks ago, I wrote about having way too much and the resulting struggle between distraction and trust. Today, I was encouraged and challenged as I read a very similar post on a friend’s blog. I recommend heading over to Mill Musings and reading “Warring Unentangled“!
And how do you prefer your church?
John Blake at CNN recently wrote a thought-provoking article entitled “Why many Americans prefer their Sundays segregated.” In it, he addresses what he perceives to be a departure from the Galatians 3.28 image of the church as a racially integrated community.
Preaching Philosophies: which is the best and why it might not be…
I definitely count myself in the camp of “expositional” preachers – in the Chapell sense of the term. More specifically, not merely sermons that exegete a single passage clearly, but preaching multiple messages that move thoroughly through a book, long portion of one or a specific theme. I see this preaching method as the necessary outgrowth of applying biblical theology to homiletics. This is evidenced by the way I preach (chapter expositions for isolated methods and book studies for lengthier preaching opportunities) and the church I attend (primarily because of the consistent thorough expositional preaching. In my estimation, this is the best (at least, the best for me) preaching philosophy.
Hospitality
There are a number of places where the Bible commends (even commands) hospitality:
Christian Liberty and Stumbling-blocks
Paul’s discussions on meat sacrificed to idols and observance of special days (Rom. 14; I Cor. 8-10) have been rolling around in my head for a while. There’s some good fodder for contemplation in those chapters: there will always be differences between the ways that godly believers apply Scriptures. Some people have “higher standards” – others have “more liberty.” This came to the forefront of my mind when a friend recently asked for my thoughts on those passages. I dug up an old email I had sent; here is that note (slightly updated).
Stay Right
One of my best friends is moving tomorrow. I’ve known Andy for 5 years and he has been a faithful friend during the hardest and happiest moments of that time. I’m not sad about his departure – he’ll be taking an assistant pastorate in a church and following the Lord’s leading into the vocation for which he’s prepared.
I hardly recognize my own inbox!
I opened an email account with Gmail in January of 2007. In the past 19 months, not counting spam, I accumulated over 3200 emails (let’s see, that would be over 170 emails a month, 6-7 a day). I know, I know, that’s a very modest number. I know some people who deal with as many emails in a day as I see in a month.Harnessing the Power of Google for Exegesis
I just stumbled across an amazing website – BibleMap.org!
Free from Guilt and Free from Sin
I’ve been listening to King of Love today and the words to one of the songs reminded me of the great debt that Christ paid for me and the great freedom he provided!
My own righteousness? No, my need for grace!
This morning the following paragraph in Whiter than Snow (Paul David Tripp) made me stop and think: