Category Archives: Christianity

Why I blog in ESV

Posted on by

“The ESV satisfies the preaching, memorizing, studying, and reading needs of our church, from children to adults. We are building all of our future ministry around it.”
John Piper
Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis

I was first introduced to the English Standard Version when I joined the ministry I am presently involved with about five years ago. (see footnotes) The ESV translation is used by our Bible teachers in our classes.  Our campus minister uses it most often when preaching in chapel, but not always.  Since I got mine in 2004, I always teach and preach from it.  I believe the ESV to be the Holy Scripture presented in our modern form of spoken and written English.  It is the Bible.  Continue reading →

Do you like church?

Posted on by

There are many books out right now about the dislike of church, why it has lost appeal, what should be done to reform worship, why men hate church, etc. etc.  One blogger has generated some stir on this subject, and if you like/ dislike church attendence then you should weigh in.  You’ll notice I have already.  Check out Why I Don’t Blame You for Not Liking Chruch.  Rich will appreciate it, and I think we all need to be aware of this problem if we plan to do anything about it.  The president of the SBC predicts that 20% of Southern Baptist Churches will die in the next 20 years.  (Thanks iMonk.)  It’s time to recognize.

Lessons from the Prodigal Son

Posted on by

Luke 15:11-24

The Parable of the Prodigal Son. It’s an old favorite. Beginning with chapter 10 and going all the way through 20, Luke basically recalls one parable after another. There’s a lot of good stuff in there, but this story is perhaps the best known; and most frequently taught. There are still good lessons we can learn from it.

Let’s begin by looking at the father in this story. He’s not your typical Jewish father. When the younger son asks for his inheritance, he’s saying in essence that he is tired of waiting for the old man to die. It would have been an appropriate response to take the young man to the gates of the city and stone him to death. Continue reading →

Still on vacation…

Posted on by

While we’re in GA I have limited access to the internet (I hope to buy a laptop next week, and not have this problem in the future).  I want everyone to know we’re alive and well, and not give up on The Master’s Table as one of the blogs you read.  Hopefully this will tide you over:

The Internet Monk is in transition to being Jesusshaped.com.  In the meantime, he wants everyone to keep up with what’s going on at http://jesusshaped.wordpress.com, the temporary home during this transition phase.  Check his new stuff out there.

We’re having Ricky from Two Channel Station as a guest blogger (he just doesn’t know it yet).  I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.  If you don’t know about Two Channel Station, this will be a good introduction, and keeps with the theme of The Master’s Table quite well also.  Ricky writes:

Logic vs. Faith

How do you know that Christianity is the only way? How can you say that? Do you know for a fact that Christ did all that he supposedly did? Logically, how is that possible? Continue reading →

Christian testimony of a former homosexual

Posted on by

After wrting about the gay marriage ruling in California, I got a lot of feedback in the comments.  Most statements were made by either conservative Christians that thought the decision was horrible, or by gay men that saluted California for doing the right thing.  As expected, they wanted to know what my problem was, and what gave me the right to decide gay couples couldn’t be married.  One commenter, however, was unusual.

What follows is the testimony of an individual who previously practiced the homosexual lifestyle before accepting Jesus Christ as savior.  This is the story of one who gave up a life opposed to God’s law, and by God’s grace became a believer and a follower.  Thank you A.J. for sharing. Continue reading →

Should Christians fight the culture war?

Posted on by

This is what the ancient ruins of Corinth look like today. Special thanks to Joe for the image, who had the chance to visit this site last year.

The Apostle Paul spent most of his ministry in places like Greece and Rome, far away from the church at Jerusalem and God’s chosen people, the Hebrews. The Grecco-Roman world was populated by a pantheon of pagan gods and goddesses, whose stories of jelousy and betrayal make our soap operas look like children’s stories. It is probably safe to say most Greek adult men were bisexual (I was actually taught they all were.) A skilled craftsmen, for instance, would have had a wife and children at home, but also have been having sex with a younger apprentice who was studying the master’s trade. This was typical in the culture. The public bath houses were “meeting places” for leaders of the city and merchants to meet daily. The original Olympic games were held nude; and only men were allowed.

Paul would have been surrounded by it. There’s no way he missed the decadent and sinful way of life going on all around him. But we don’t see Paul marching through the streets of Corinth or Ephesus wearing a sandwich board sign declaring that “God hates fags,” Fred Phelps style. Continue reading →

Free will, or not free will?

Posted on by

Today that is the question. We clearly read in scripture where God has ordained certain events to take place. God establishes thrones and kingdoms on the earth, to serve in certain instances, as instruments he uses to bring about his righteous judgment, or at other times to show his mighty hand. He is the Lord of history. But.. what about free will? If humanity has the will to choose for himself, how does God predestine historical events? That my friend is the right question.

Okay, I’m going to cheat. I’m not exactly going to answer these quesitons, but give you some useful information as you work it out. In Genesis chp. 50, Joseph tells his brothers “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” They had evil in their heart when they sold Joseph into slavery, but God used it to bring about his purpose and plan.

Consider this passage from Acts 2:23 “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” God’s plan of salvation called for Jesus to die as a sacrifice. The evil men of the first century, whom Peter is preaching to in Acts, carried out God’s plan in order to bring salvation.

Man does what he wants; God gets what he wants.

Let’s try something new. Below is video of this sermon being preached on Sunday, May 18th. Sorry about the sound quality. This is my first attempt at uploading digital video. (The video made me nervous; I’m normally a better public speaker than a writer.)

The Cross of Christ?

Posted on by

You need to see the image for this to work.  If you’re getting this from a reader, you may want to stop in for a minute.

This is a real product.  I jokingly refer to it as i-Cross.  The question is, does this help promote the gospel message?  Does this help the believer give the cross of Christ the right place in our lives?  Or is this making the Father’s house a den of thieves rather than a house of prayer?

I read and enjoyed the prayer of Jabez.  Whatever you thought of the book, it started a whole phenomenon.  There were Jabez t-shirts, prayer journals, desk calendars, study Bibles, the list goes on.  Remember WWJD?  It had all of the above, plus children’s items like backpacks and bracelets.  Christian bookstores are supercenters for a mass of products besides books anymore.  Publishers of books and music are running a business, and are looking for products to sell.  If i-Cross sells a million units, you can bet they’ll quickly make a million more.  Is this product God honoring and Christ centered, or just more Jesus junk?  Let me know what you think.

Gay marriage in California

Posted on by

Are we really surprised?  I read online where someone called it a “Day of Shame” when the California Courts ruled a law unconstitutional that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.  I’m not sure California has any shame left. 

Remember the case a few years ago (I’m thinking ’02, maybe ’03) regarding the phrase “under God” in the Pledge?  The father in that case, offended his daughter had to say that in school, had first gone to court in Florida.  After losing there, he decided he had the best chances in California.  This guy moved his family across the country so he could be offended by the pledge in California, and sue there.  And he was right; a judge there sided with him, on the basis of First Ammendment rights, and separation of church and state.    The whole country knows California is way left, and I don’t mean geographically.

San Fransico has been a Mecca of gay and lesbians since the 1960’s.  “If you’re going to California, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair… You’re gonna’ meet some gentle people there.”  There is no single day in California more shameful than any other day. 

I’ve been hapily married for the past ten years.  My wife and I are unusual in the fact that we both grew up in happy, unbroken homes.  I believe in holy matrimony, as described by God in the Bible.  We live in a free country; if you want to have homosexual intercourse, you’re well within your rights to do so.  But don’t call it marriage.  That cheapens and degrades the marrital relationship I have with my wife.  Marriage is the first institution created by God.  Do what you wish with your gay lovers, but leave “marriage” to those of us who understand and appreciate it. 

Jesus has left my building…

Posted on by

…and I’m leaving with him.

UPDATE: Internet Monk has deleted the original article this post references.

Many of my readers are already familiar with the internetmonk. His latest blog post is the best thing he’s written in a long time in my opinion. If you’re a fan of his, you know he’s been going through some kind of “funk” for while. If you’re not already reading internetmonk, I want Jesus has left my building…and I’m leaving with him to be the first thing of his you read. It’s way more than just a reminder that denominations are the creation of man.

This link is to a post I wrote in March about the ecumenical and international nature of the ministry I’m a part of. If you stand in a room with people from many different nations, or perhaps many different types of Christians – or both – then you get a glimpse of what Heaven is going to be like. The gospel message is even now being carried to every tribe, every tongue, every nation. Heaven is not going to be divided by denominational differences; all people from all the ages will gather together in praising God. Jesus will be the firstborn of a large family; a family made up of Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopals, Roman Catholics, Messianic Jews and a host of others. There are over 30 Protestant denominations, plus Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, non-denominationals, and God only knows – literally – how many others. But there is one God, one faith, and one baptism.

We will sit down as God’s children some day; we should live like we believe that.