Hindsight is 20/20 means that anything you look back on is easier to understand that it was at the time. We make decisions in the now, then sometimes realize later we acted too quickly, neglected certain facts, or else were simply uninformed. Hindsight being 20/20, we would have done things differently if we could just have seen the big picture. Continue reading
Category Archives: religion
Jesus is Christ
Not just Jesus Christ. Jesus is Christ.
I’m not sure if it’s the title or what. On March 1st I posted the sermon I preached that morning Peter Confesses Jesus is the Christ. I’m not hung up on stats, but that particular post has only been viewed 3 times in the past 10 days. Personally, I feel it’s one of the better sermons I’ve preached in quite a while, yet almost no one read the blog post.
Like I said, maybe it’s the title. The post has little to do with Peter, and more to do with our understanding of what Christ means. It is particularly appropriate with Easter approaching. So may I politely suggest giving this post another try. No pressure.
The Wilderness of Sin
In Exodus 16 the Hebrews wandered into the Wilderness of Sin. My Bible teacher and preacher friends shouldn’t even need me to make this analogy. There it is. They literally entered the wilderness in the region of Sin.
It could have been the Mountain of Sin, the Valley of Sin, the Municipality of Sin, but no. The place was known to people in the region as the Wilderness of Sin. How often do we willingly wander through the Wilderness of Sin knowing full where we are and how to avoid it? What an illustration, and the Bible has already made it for us.
Peter Confesses that Jesus is the Christ.
And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” -Mark 8:27-29
I want to unpack Peter’s statement here that Jesus is the Christ. There are two questions we need to answer; 1) What does Peter mean by saying that Jesus is Christ, and 2) What does it mean to us that Jesus is the Christ. Continue reading
Jesus Shaped Spirituality
What is Jesus Shaped Spirituality? That is precisely the question that the InternetMonk tried to answer earlier this week. In short, it is about making sure that our Christianity is modeled after the teachings and examples given to us by the Jesus of the Bible.
If you’re a regular at this site, you know that I have written several posts on the examples given by Jesus. Click “Jesus’ Examples” in the Categories list at right for a complete listing. Each post is a specific lesson (or lessons) that we are to learn from something Jesus did himself, and in many cases encouraged his followers to go on doing. Jesus didn’t lecture on how to be a Christian; he went around ministering to people’s needs and told his followers to keep doing the same things they had witnessed him doing.
iMonk explains what a Jesus Shaped Spirituality looks like when we read the Scriptures and are challenged to conform to the image of Christ. It’s not about denomination, emerging or church tradition. It’s about each of us taking up our cross and following Jesus Christ. Check it out.
Jesus, Friend of Sinners
John chapter 4 tells the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well. It just so happens I’ve written on this passage before. This post describes everything “weird” about the conversation Jesus had with her, namely that a religious leader, or any Jewish man for that matter, would not have been talking to such a person.
John chapter 8 recounts the story of the woman caught in adultery. In this situation the woman is clearly guilty of a sin punishable by death. When she is left with no accusers (“Let he that is without sin…”) Jesus tells her that he will not condemn her either. She is told to go, and sin no more. How can he not condemn her, having been caught in the very act of adultery? Continue reading
Freedom of Choice Act
I wrote last summer that Barack Obama would be the most liberal president on abortion to ever serve in the White House (Barack Obama on Abortion). He said during his campaign that the first thing he would do in office is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. There is a campaign in the works that makes a lot more sense than the typical “add you name and forward this petition” junk we usually see. I know that I often come down hard on the Culture War people, but if you want your voice to be heard this may be the way to do it. What follows is the text of an email I received today from a trust worthy source at the KBC (Kentucky Baptist Convention). Continue reading
When All Else Fails…
“When all else fails, pray.” Have you ever heard that? Maybe you’ve said that. If we pray before everything else fails, maybe it won’t fail.
“He Cannot Save Himself”
He Cannot Save Himself
Many questions were asked of him,
though no answer was heard.
Pilate pressed him to respond,
but Jesus spoke not a word.
As prophesied by Isaiah,
like a lamb he was silent.
Which angered the crowd even more,
and they began to riot.
Governor Pilate faced the Jews,
and in order to honor custom,
told them that at their choosing,
he would release one prisoner among them.
He knew that Jesus was delivered
out of envy, malice and vice.
But the crowd choose Barabbas,
shouting “Crucify Jesus Christ.”
Pilate washed his hands before them,
saying “I am innocent of this man’s blood.”
The crowd said “Let his blood be upon us,
and upon our sons.”
They stripped off his own garments,
placed on him a robe and crown.
And then pretended to worship,
before him kneeling down.
They placed on his head
a crown made of thorns.
Then they spat, hit and slapped him,
and mocked him to scorn.
They compelled the man Simon
to carry his cross.
And divided his garments,
by casting lots.
They made for him a sign,
placed over his head.
“This is Jesus, King of the
Jews” the words read.
Thieves were crucified with him,
on his left and his right.
One was loud and boastful,
the other more humble, contrite.
“We are guilty of our crimes,
and deserve to die this way.”
And when Jesus saw his faith,
promised paradise that day.
“He cannot save himself” they mocked,
as his blood fell to the ground.
But they were crucifying an innocent,
in whom no guilt was found.
This was God’s plan of salvation,
established before there was time.
Each event had been prophesied,
and now fell perfectly in line.
The trial, the false witness,
his hanging on a tree;
It was all prophesied clearly
in Isaiah fifty-three.
So the words of their mocking
are actually true, you see.
He could not save himself, for
on the cross… he saved me.
On the Subject of Theology
Theology – theo meaning having to do with religion, ology meaning the study of something. Theologians are those that study religion. We need not all be theologians, but a Christian should at least know what we believe, and hopefully why we believe it. In this we are lacking.
In his Collapse of Evangelicalism, Michael Spencer says ” massive majorities of evangelicals can’t articulate the Gospel with any coherence.” The next day after reading these words, our school chapel sang Hymn 604 in the Baptist Hymnal, which ends with these words: “And repeat the gospel story ’till his name the world has heard.” We have not done this. It is not surprising that the un-churched do not know how to become a Christian, but church members not knowing how one gets saved is unacceptable. Continue reading
The Master's Table 