Posts from "2014"
Resolved
'Tis the season for resolutions. A brother in the church with me recently sent me this very practical blog post from Tim Challies concerning making resolutions that stick. I commend it to you:
Christmas Cheer or Christmas Deception?
Last Sunday we as a church body found ourselves in Genesis 3. We are asking the question, "Why did Jesus come?" And the answer from Genesis 3:15 was "Because of the Promise and Plan of God."
Sin's Surprising
I am a waterfowler. I enjoy seeing ducks swim. I like hearing the whistle of the wind under their cupped wings. I am often struck by the beauty of a flock of Canada Geese in their familiar V-formation. More times than I can count, I have nearly run off the road while gawking at a field full of feeding geese. And I enjoy hunting ducks and geese, and enjoying them later as table fare.
The Enemy Within
You and I have an enemy within us. Our flesh fights against us and leads us into sin. We must kill it! This book can help. The Christian life is about becoming more like Jesus Christ everyday. Jesus was perfect, righteous and holy. He never sinned. We on the other hand sin often. The Christian life is a an ongoing battle against sin. We put off the old and put on the new. Christian maturity is about the process of putting sin to death and striving for holiness. The war will last the rest of our earthly days, but we are not fighting it alone. We have been given the Spirit of God Himself. He is at work within us. He is also given us a weapon for the fight which is the Word of God. Sadly many Christians neglect the power and weapon that is available to them. Probably the most helpful writing on the topic was penned about 300 years ago by John Owen. His works Indwelling Sin, The Mortification of Sin and Treatise on Temptation have become Christian classics. They are a very challenging read and have been recently combined and updated into more modern English under the title Overcoming Sin and Temptation. Owen's writings are a boot camp that will prepare you to fight sin. To make this treasure of wisdom even more accessible an author has done a modern rewriting and abbreviation of Owen's books. The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin
Gratitude: Our Weapon
As a preacher, my bread and butter is verse-by-verse, or passage-by-passage exposition of the Scriptures. This normally means preaching through Books of the Bible. The advantages of this kind of expository preaching ministry are manifold, and have been expounded upon by men far more qualified to speak to the subject than me. For my purposes here, just suffice it to say I do not do as well in the pulpit when trying to come up with topical sermon series.
Beheadings and the Christian Conscience
With more and more violent persecutions being committed against Americans and Christians by Islamic militants (not to mention Hindu radicals or North Korean atheists), we western Christians are being forced to deal with matters we'd prefer to ignore or not think of often.
Warriors Unite!
Digital Dementia
For nearly seven years now as a Pastor, I have been warning parents about the harmful effects on their children of too much "screen time."
Ancient Tennessee Speaks of God's Glory
I graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1995 with a Major in Human & Organizational Development. I almost minored in Geology. I really enjoyed studying the earth, and at that time bought into the geologic epochs, millions of years, and so on.