Author Archives: Clark Bunch

There is No Such Thing as a Ground Zero Mosque

Posted on by

There is an old saying that goes “You can’t believe everything you hear.”  In this day and age, what with viral videos, soundbite political ads, Twittering, mass e-mail forwards and ever-shortening attention spans, we do tend to believe everything we hear.  Research is time consuming and considered perhaps somewhat unnecessary in the information age.  This is especially true if a piece of information creates an emotional response.  We hear something that makes us mad, and in a blind rage forward e-mails, talk out of our heads, or fire off a heated blog post.  Does it matter whether or not the info is true?

And that brings us to the Ground Zero Mosque. Continue reading →

Born Again

Posted on by

(click “watch on YouTube” when prompted)

Text = John 3:1-15

John 3 is a familiar text for those of us that grew up in church.  That is exactly the point I mean to get at.  When Jesus says the words born again, we know what he means by that.  But to a person on the outside looking in, our choice of words can alienate the very people we are trying to reach.  Terms like born again, regeneration, converted or even saved have meaning to the Christian believer but require explanation to those not versed in our church  jargon.  So, perhaps you are trying to find out what it means to be born again.  Otherwise, we could all use a reminder from time to time; it helps when explaining it to others. Continue reading →

Jesus Would Not Burn a Koran

Posted on by

Last Wednesday I asked the question “Would Jesus burn a Koran?”  I was responding to recent events in the news regarding Terry Jones and his Gainesville, FL church.  Jones and company will be hosting Burn a Koran Day on September 11th, marking the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

That post was somewhat stream of conscience as I worked through the issues and hoped we would all arrive at the same conclusion.  I have worked those ideas into a sermon, with more focus on exactly what Jesus would do and why.  The major points are:

  1. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us to live counter-culturally.  He speaks on anger, retaliation, going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, and the golden rule. Continue reading →

Would Jesus Burn a Koran?

Posted on by

Terry Jones, pastor of Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, FL, has declared 9/11 “Burn a Koran Day.”  Publicizing the event has earned Jones multiple death threats, and many have threatened to burn down his church as well.  Jones is also the author of “Islam is of the Devil,” and his church has a large sign out front that reads the same.  You can read more on the event here.  Many Christian groups have tried to convince the church to cancel the event, still scheduled to take place next month. Continue reading →

Archives: Who Does God Call?

Posted on by

I don’t make a habit out of running repeats.  Like leftovers in the refrigerator, some old posts keep better than others.  This one is still good.

When Moses encounters the burning bush, he asks of God “Who am I, that I should speak to Pharaoh?”  That’s a legitimate question.  Who am I that I should preach the gospel?  Who are any of us?  We are those called by God into his service.  He calls us, saves us, then equips us to do his work for the Kingdom.  Moses was a herdsman, already wanted for murder.  David was a shepherd when he was called, and only a child at that.  Look at the disciples; blue collar workers at best, rejects and outcasts at their worst.  But look at who God calls; every major character in the Bible was tragically flawed in some way.  God takes the small, the broken and the unwanted and fixes them up.  He then sends us into the world, a world that is fallen and broken.  It may look great at times, but we live in a fallen world affected by the curse.  God calls little children wrecked by sin into his service, to spread the gospel among all his other little sinwrecked children.

Click here for the original post Who Does God Call? (Sep. 14, 2008)

Religion is Bad News

Posted on by

If you type “religion, gospel” into the Google search bar, you get 3.6 million results in about 0.22 seconds.  Search on WordPress and the results are even more along the lines of “Religion vs. the Gospel” and such like.  Lots of people are aware of the shortcomings of religion compared to the Good News of Jesus Christ.  But even for the believer, and certainly for everyone else, the temptation is still there to not fully trust in the concept of grace.

In Mark’s Gospel (Mk. 5:1-20) Jesus and the disciples land on the coast of the Gerasenes.   They encounter Legion, a mad man filled with demons.  After Jesus casts the demons into a herd of pigs, the locals are amazed to see the man formerly known as Legion clothed and in his right mind.  Rather than allow him to follow, Jesus commands him to go back to his home town and tell them what God has done.  In this case, the man does so.  Ergo: You don’t have to fix all your problems before coming to Jesus.  How many people plan to come to church as soon as they quit drinking, stop smoking, get back with their ex-wife, find a job, etc. etc.  We cannot fix our own problems, and if we could then we wouldn’t need Jesus in the first place.  Remember what Jesus told the Pharisees; it is the sick who need a physician, not the well.

The rich young man (Mk. 10:17-22) come to Jesus with one simple question; What must I do to be saved.  Religion is about what we do.  We could substitute Law if we were comparing the Law to the Gospel.  Keeping the Law, very religious.  This man claims to have keep each of the commandments since his youth.  Unlikely.  David was a man after God’s own heart, and he failed all kinds of ways to keep the Law.  We simply cannot do what is right, just like we cannot in and of ourselves fix what is wrong.  Religion is what we do; grace is what God has already done.

We can’t.  That’s the story of fallen man.  We can’t keep the Law.  We can’t be right.  We can’t fix what’s wrong.  Religion is our attempt to either be right or fix the wrong, and we the human people are epic failures at both.  Religion is bad news; the Gospel is Good News. Tell the world.

For God and Country

Posted on by

The 4th of July falls on Sunday this year.  The comparisons between our liberty and freedom as Americans and the freedom found in Christ are easy to make, but we need to be careful.  I wish to present a sermon that is both patriotic and scriptural, but also fair and truthful.  The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 – the Bible was not. Continue reading →

Lewis Bunch pics

Posted on by

These pictures go with the post Obituary: Mr. Lewis Bunch. They make more sense if you read the article.  Each is a thumbnail, click for full size.

Family Portraits

First picture together, 1958

Basic Training, U.S. Air Force, 1966

Late 70's (baby Clark)

Continue reading →

Obituary: Mr. Lewis Bunch

Posted on by

When Michael Spencer was sick, I posted a couple of times asking my readers to pray.  I wrote a lengthy tribute to him while he was still able to read and respond to it, and like 10,000 other bloggers quickly reported his passing.  This post is much, much harder to write.

(click here for more pictures)

Lewis Bunch was born October 9, 1943.  His parents were at times textile workers, and at other times migrant farm workers.  His family was in many ways the same types of dysfunctional that all families are to some degree.  By his mid-30’s, Lewis Bunch had lived in Atlanta, Chicago, and Fairbanks.  James Dean was his idol, and his life seem to mirror his title role Rebel Without a Cause.  In 1975, after 14 years of marriage, his first son was born, Clark Joe Bunch.  He then began his life as family man. Continue reading →

Unusual Father’s Day Text

Posted on by

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’  But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”  Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”  Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”  Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.  -Matthew 26:30-35

This selection from Matthew’s Gospel is well known, but is most often used during the Easter season.  We all know what happened next, right?  By the end of v. 56 the scripture says “Then all the disciples left him and fled.”  The sad truth is that people are going to let you down.  There are some folks we are naturally suspicious of, but most people we would like to think we can trust.  My advice to people is trust in God, but lock your car.  Sometimes it is the very people we should be able to put our trust in that let us down.  In this sinful, fallen and broken world it is sometimes the police, a school teacher, a church leader or a parent that crosses the line and hurts rather than helps. Continue reading →