Category Archives: Christianity

Reading Leviticus

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Plenty of well meaning individuals have tried to read through the Bible by starting at Genesis 1 and going straight through. These attempts often correspond to New Year’s Resolutions, you know “new year, new you” kind of turning over new leaves. Many times, I can’t say always, but more often than not that person gets through Genesis and Exodus because those books are narrative. That’s the kind of story we are used to reading; there are characters and a plot. Sometime in the middle of February, about halfway through the book of Leviticus, plans to read through the Bible this year and this time I mean it fall by the wayside. Hopefully your Bible doesn’t get pushed up against the wall and covered with laundry like that new treadmill you bought – I mean, somebody bought – after Christmas.

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Checking Boxes

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I had a thought the other day and even though I was driving, I was nearly to my destination so I was able to write it down when I stopped. The ADHD I’ve always had, combined with turning 50 in a few months, means if I don’t write it down it either never happened or it’s never going to, depending on the situation.

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He Cannot Save Himself

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So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross and we will believe him.” Matthew 27:41-42 (ESV)

It has been a few years since I shared this poem. Attached is the live reading I did at Unity Baptist on Palm Sunday, April 13th.

He Cannot Save Himself
A poem for Good Friday

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Look at Jesus (pt 3)

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Word of mouth advertising is often more effective than any print, radio or television ad a company can purchase. If someone you know tells you about a restaurant with excellent food or an auto repair place with incredible customer service, that will influence your opinion more than a paid spokesperson or celebrity endorsement ever would. I bought a car from a local guy one time that had a sign in shop that said “If you are unsatisfied with the service you receive, tell us. If you are satisfied please tell someone else.” We are more likely to talk about a business or go online and write reviews about a product if we are unhappy. We just don’t take the time or exert the energy to share when things go exactly the way they are supposed to. A good endorsement goes a long way, especially from someone we know, which is why those are better than any money buy.

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Look at Jesus (pt 2)

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Read the first comment.

If you stare at an object for several seconds, particularly one that is brightly colored, when you look away you may see a residual image but in the opposite color. It doesn’t last long and the image fades away but for a moment whatever you see is affected by the thing you were looking at before. Sometimes perspectives change with age. Things that used to be punishments – staying at home, not going to a party, heading to bed early – are things you look forward to later in life. That happens to all (or most) of us as time goes by. Then there are dramatic life-changing events; a near death experience, a car accident or a long hospital stay that forces us to reconsider what is important. Ice cream may taste sweeter or the embrace of a loved one may be incredibly significant whereas before those things were just ordinary. Some events in life, for better or worse, profoundly change us.

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Look at Jesus

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In Matthew 14 Jesus came to the disciples walking on water. Peter said “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus told him to come on and Peter got out of the boat and was walking to Jesus on the water. Then Peter began to notice some other things. Matthew says that when he saw the wind, he began to sink. He cried out for Jesus to save him, which he did, and they got into the boat together.

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Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

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A few years ago I wrote a series of posts on what I consider academic discussions. The discussion and debate over Calvinism is, ultimately, academic. It is hotly debated only by people that are already saved. No one shares the gospel by saying “if you are of the elect then God has chosen you and will give you the faith to be saved.” Only after being saved do we debate whether we chose God or God chose us, and to what degree we had anything to do with it. The unsaved need to hear the gospel and ideally they would not hear Christians argue over Calvinism or any other doctrine. That needs to be an internal discussion. Another example is the age of the earth. I refuse to argue this issue because ultimately there is no way to know who is right and wrong and it doesn’t make any difference. If Jim believes the earth is 6,000 years old and Amy believes the earth is 4.5 billion years old, all that really matters is whether they believe Jesus was dead and made alive again for our justification. We could host a debate, make the respective cases and even have a panel of judges determine who wins. But the outcome of the debate would have no bearing on when or how God created the world. There would be no impact on how I love my wife, raise our child or treat my neighbor. There is no meaningful application.

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They Don’t Teach That

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Let me start off by saying that I am thankful to have a group of pastor/preacher friends that met together on a regular basis. Such a group is the exception, not the norm, but there are benefits of gathering with like-minded individuals and sharing. Every Monday morning in our case, a group of 8 or 10 Baptist preachers, the vast majority of whom pastor small churches in rural northwest Georgia, meet to talk about things going on at church, share prayer requests and then hear a sermon. The speaker will be someone from our group or a guest we have brought in, sometimes a missionary or someone from the state office. After the meeting, which starts at 11:30 and lasts about an hour, most of us will go somewhere and eat together. We pitch in and buy the speaker’s lunch. Sometimes the conversation continues at lunch and sometimes it’s kind of loud and you can only speak to one or two people that are closest to you.

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The Ten Commandment Law

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The governor of Louisiana recently signed a bill into law that the Ten Commandments shall be posted in every public school K-12 classroom. It’s been in the news this week, I have wanted to say something, but every time I think about it I also feel like “I can’t believe we have to say these things again.” Here is what Jimmy Humphrey of the Jimmy’s Table Podcast had to say on social media and he gladly gave me permission to copy and paste:

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But Who is Wrong?

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I have written before on the fact that denominations exist and suggested that Luke 9:49-50 may apply. The church exists all over the world and without being worldly minded people are products of their culture. There are many different flavors of Christianity and what one must believe to be saved is that Jesus is the Son of God, died for our sins and God raised him from the dead. Everything else is details; there may be important details but the facts listed in the previous sentence is what all Christians must agree on.

So the question has been raised regarding different positions on theology. There are Calvinists, Arminians, and those that claim neither position but believe all we need is the Bible. There are Christians that believe we should worship on the Sabbath and others that gather on what they call the Lord’s Day. There are three basic positions on when the rapture will take place, other sub-divisions, and those who do not believe there will be a rapture. There is so much disagreement that one must either conclude there Is no God or that he offers us much grace otherwise no one gets credit for doing everything correctly. Who is right, who is wrong, and more importantly how can we know?

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