I’ve thought some more on what Christ centered means, and wish I could say this to every preacher everywhere: Preach the gospel. Are you preaching on the Law being given to Moses? Great; just make sure to mention how Christ fulfills the Law and the Prophets, and perhaps include Paul’s statement that the Law is like a tutor to him. Teaching from Job? Be sure to include “I know my Redeemer lives,” before you’re finished. The story of how God deals with fallen man is the central thematic element that runs through the entire Bible. Continue reading
Tag Archives: faith
God honoring, Christ centered
I don’t know how well that shows up on your screen in the banner. Is that just a slogan? Well, sort of. When creating a wordpress page, you’re asked to write a title, and then a brief description of what your blog is about. “God honoring, Christ centered” is there as much as anything to remind me what I’m doing here. What does it mean? Now that my friend is the right question. Continue reading
When it rains, it pours.
Here’s a useful illustration you’re welcome to. Or perhaps just a funny story.
There was a family watching anxiously as floodwaters came up around their home. They had a great deal of faith, however, and trusted in God to save them. As the water came up into their yard, a 4-wheel drive truck pulled up to their house, and told them it was time to evacuate. “God will take of us,” was the father’s reply, and the truck moved on to help other families in that same neighborhood. As the waters came into the first floor, the family moved upstairs. A boat came up to one of their windows, and warned that the water would continue to rise. “God will provide,” was the only response the father would give, and finally the rescuers moved on to search for others in need. At last the family climbed onto the roof, and a helicopter tried to pick them up. After much argument with the reluctant family, the helicopter moved on as well. The flood water continued to rise, and all the family members drowned. As they stood before God, the man was confused and distressed. “I told all of those people that I trusted in you to save us. Why did you let us perish in the flood?” God replied “I sent you a truck, a boat, and a helicopter. What else did you want me to do?”
Even when opportunity knocks, we must open the door.
Leaps of Faith
Remember those team-building seminars that had you fall backwards into the arms of your co-workers? That trust fall activity was about building trust and forming community, etc. The video below is something like that, but a lot more fun to laugh at.
Let me give you all the background first. In the Sunday a.m. service, I preach a straightforward, classic sermon on faith. Genesis 15 and Luke 8 were used as the main texts, and other examples from the Old and New Testaments were illustrated briefly. In the first text, Abram’s faith was counted to him as righteousness, and the second is the story of the woman with the issue of blood for twelve years. I explained that faith was more than believing, it was about trust. Faith causes us to act. In the Sunday evening service, I read the many examples of how people of faith took action found in Hebrews 11. Then we did the fun stuff.
Each of the volunteers was taken out of the room and kept in isolation, being brought back in one at a time. What they were told was that after being blindfolded, we would be raising them up 5 or 6 feet, and asking them to jump. I told each to have faith that we would be providing for their safety, and they wouldn’t get hurt if they took the leap of faith. In reality, they were never more than about 6 inches off the floor. They could feel the sensation of movement, while at the same time I’m kneeling down. In all the times I’ve done this, I’ve never had a kid not jump. Most fall (as do our 3 people of faith in the video), since they expect to drop several feet to the floor.
How is abortion not killing babies?
Kurt says:
Enough with this nonsense already!
The abortion “issue” is the biggest scam the GOP has ever come up with.
Think about it. If republican politicians and religious leaders truly thought we were killing babies, abortion would be stopped in an instant.
I’m a religious leader, and I think we’re killing babies. We have been doing so legally in the U.S. since the early 1970’s. Continue reading
The Biblical Exegesis of a Renowned Atheist
“Christians seldom realize that much of the moral consideration for others which is apparently promoted by both the Old and New Testaments, was originally intended to apply only to a narrow defined in-group. ‘Love thy neighbor’ didn’t mean what we now think it means. It meant only ‘Love another Jew.'” -Richard Dawkins
You see friends, what you have here is one of the world’s foremost anti-theists, what Becky Garrison describes in her book as “the new atheists.” Richard Dawkins not only believes there is no God, he thinks religious faith is dangerous and a threat to our society. Continue reading
Do you like church?
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
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…
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
The Cross of Christ?
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.
The Master's Table 