There were different types of offerings and sacrifices made for other reasons, but animal sacrifices made for atonement are the ones that kept the priests busy. This is the very beginning of “if this happens, do this” that is prescribed by God in the Law.
Leviticus 4
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Continue reading
A short note about design change, we are dropping the audio player right at the top of the post so if you want to listen before reading anything – or wish to listen to the audio and read nothing at all – it’s right there and easy to find. You can click the play button and listen in your browser or click the three dots on the right and download the .m4a file to listen later.
Continue reading
The post Time and Eternity was my attempt at concisely putting together some ideas that kind of spiraled out of control when I preached them from the pulpit. I wanted to outline the main points, support with scripture, and come as immediately as I could to a conclusion. I am pleased with the way it turned out, except for later realizing I had left out what could be an important consideration.
Continue reading
Preaching at First Presbyterian of London, KY; discussion of false assurance; Here’s the quote: Think about who you are this weekend. Be in the Lord’s house with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day and let your assurance be challenged because unless your assurance is changing you, unless it is putting your treasure in things which cannot rust and thieves cannot steal, you have a false assurance. -Frank Turk
The end of Hebrews 4 informs us that Jesus is our Great High Priest and then the chapter ends. Hebrews 5 tells us why he is a better high priest than the Levitical priests of the Old Covenant. The high priests called by God to the priesthood were human beings and had the same shortcomings as the people they ministered to. They had their own sins to confess and be forgiven before they could attend to the sins of others. The Christ is God’s own Son and also a priest forever after the order Melchizedek. Abraham was blessed by Melchizedek in Genesis 14 and Abraham gives him a tenth of everything he has. This is centuries before the Law was given to Moses. The Levitical priesthood had not been established and there was no commandment, at least none recorded, to give a tithe. Genesis will not answer all of our questions. There is no recorded beginning nor ending of Melchizedek’s priesthood and this little detail is used to show what kind of high priest Jesus will be. There is no beginning and no end to his priesthood. He does not have his own sins to sacrifice for, and he is not called by God but is God’s own Son. Although he was the only begotten Son, through suffering in his mortal flesh he learned obedience.
The final verses of chapter 5 is a chastisement to an audience that should be eating “spiritual food” as mature believers but must still be given milk as infants. Hebrews will get to comparing Jesus to Melchizedek in a couple of chapters and list more ways in which he is greater.
There is no single verse of scripture that we can site by chapter and verse number that says love the sinner, hate the sin. You will also not find the word trinity in the Bible yet most Christians believe in it. We use the word trinity to describe the triune nature of God who manifests himself in three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is no verse of scripture that says abortion is morally wrong but when seeking the counsel of God’s Word we find many references to the value of human life, that we are made in God’s image, and commandments to not commit murder. The Bible does not say, in so many words, to not look at internet porn but imagine someone arguing with their pastor or Sunday School teacher that it’s okay because the Bible doesn’t say anything about it.This is reposted from October 31, 2010
Father’s Day, June 2010
I know what you’re thinking: the stress of working in full time ministry with a 14 month old at home has finally caused me to crack. I reached a breaking point if my sermon is on changing diapers. It’s not as bad as all that. Let me explain.
Last week I preached this sermon on Galatians 4. It’s about God adopting us into his family. I had three well-defined points, as a good Baptist preacher should. Today I preached that same sermon for our students in their Sunday a.m. chapel service. I can’t take for granted that 6-12 graders know their Bible stories that way my church congregation does. I cut some of the scripture citations and needed a more colorful analogy or two. The first point in the sermon is that we are naturally the enemies of God. He says “Do this” and instead we do that. Adam and Eve are the first example, and not much has changed since. I talked about how cute Johannah is; all our students know this to be true. But when we’re changing a diaper, sometimes she quits being so cute. If she sits up, rolls over, or otherwise tries to escape then everything takes longer. We have to do things twice; or three times. The students all smiled, nodded and laughed. Then I pointed out that in my history class some of them are the same way. I have to repeat myself and/or do things twice. Sometimes three times. That’s our nature.
It gets worse. God sent his Son. Like the father of the prodigal, God waits and watches down the road for us to come home. The prodigal son (Luke 15) spent a fortune on good food, good wine and loose women. Eventually he hit rock bottom, and desired the same slop that he fed pigs. He had to learn that lesson the hard way. You couldn’t have told him any different, and if the father had come looking for him any sooner, he would have ran as fast as he could in the other direction. We were all wallowing (or are still wallowing) in our own filth. We are slaves to sin, whatever sin you want to fill in the blank with. If my daughter Johannah has filled her diaper, then she is basically sitting there in her own mess. She stinks. Yet when I reach for her she runs away. She ducks and dodges. Her natural impulse is to escape the diaper change. Are we any different? We wallow in our filthy sin, in our own mess, and push God away even as he wants to clean us.
God loved us when we were unlovable. That’s the Gospel. And if you have kids, had kids, or know parents with new kids, fell free to preach the Gospel according to dirty diapers.
Josh Duggar has confessed to being “the biggest hypocrite ever.” Is he really the biggest hypocrite ever, or is this just his first honest assessment in a long time and admission that he, like all of us, will always fall short?
David was a man after God’s own heart that committed lust, adultery, murder and conspiracy. The Apostle Paul lamented that he did the thing he wanted not to do but left undone those things he should. When they brought Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery in John 8, he suggested the one without sin should cast the first stone. One at a time they each walked away. A hypocrite in the Greek language of the New Testament was an actor. Is that not what we all do every day? From drinking coffee before work so we can act like we are not tired to smiling at others when we are not truly happy, we put on a public show every day. As Christians we should be the first to admit; confess; proclaim that we are not better than anybody else. We need to be honest with ourselves, before God and before others.
Perhaps admitting that we fall short – and we all all short compared to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the perfection which God requires – perhaps admitting that we are not perfect and do not have to be will allow us to deal with issues instead of covering them up and keep us from getting to the point that Duggar and others sometimes come to. None is righteous, no not one. Acting like we are or can be leads lies, secrets and cover ups.
Taken from “God Loves You, Hates Sin” originally published during the Advent season of 2012.
I have been physically ill for much of this week and there hasn’t been a new post since Monday. I’ve been digging in the archives and to be honest probably don’t post “reruns” often enough. It’s been six years since this post was published. There is constant turnover online as blogs disappear and new ones are created. I certainly have many more friends and followers today than way back when. And of course some things are worth repeating. From July 2008, here is Lessons from the Garden of Eden.
7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. -Gen. 2:7-9
Lesson 1: We are special to God. Human beings are made in God’s image and likeness (Gen 1:26-27). What does that mean exactly? I’m not even sure. People will tell you what it means, but truthfully, we don’t really know for sure. We do that no other being in creation is described this way. Continue reading
The Master's Table 