Posted on Mar 30, 2020 in BLOG |
“It’s not a concern. The virus we believe is politically motivated,” Pastor Tony Spell proclaimed. We hold our religious rights dear, and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says.” The Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has continued to meet in defiance of orders from the governor prohibiting large gatherings. Over 1,000 people gathered for worship, trusting God to protect them from danger and heal their diseases. To Pastor Spell, it is a matter of faith.
Mark Palenske is no Tony Spell. He is the pastor at First Assembly of God church in Greers Ferry, Arkansas. The church assumed they were safe given their rural location and no government orders prohibiting them from meeting even though the authorities urged people to practice social distancing. They held a children’s ministry event at their church. Since then, 34 people who attended the event have contracted Covid-19, including the pastor and his wife. Bill Barton, a 91-year-old greeter at the church, died from the virus. Pastor Palenske writes, “Please adhere to the social instructions that you are receiving locally and nationally.”
One pastor made headlines. One pastor has regrets. Read more…
Posted on Dec 20, 2019 in BLOG |
At this time of year, Santa Claus is a great moral monitor, keeping children in line so they can get what they want for Christmas. Parents use the selfish desires of children to control their sinful desires. A useful exercise, perhaps, but it misses the point of Christmas entirely. The naughty and nice theme obscures the true meaning of Christmas. God is not up in heaven waiting to reward our good deeds and punish our bad deeds. We are all naughty. None of us are nice in God’s estimation. Christmas is about God intervening in a world gone rotten so that He can redeem that world from its rot. Christmas is the ultimate rescue event of all human history. The world of humans is not pretty and pleasant. It is dark and despotic. God enters the heart of evil to rescue humans from evil at Christmas. Read more…
Posted on Jul 3, 2019 in BLOG |
“I can’t keep up now,” the pastor said, “so I certainly can’t add anything else to my schedule. I feel like I’m all alone in this ministry trying to keep all the plates spinning. How do I meet all the needs in my church?” We don’t! There is no way that the pastor can meet all the needs in any church, and the more we try, the less we accomplish. We confuse our priorities, elevating the less critical but urgent needs over the more essential but eternal goals. The reality is that trying to do it all says more about us than about the ministry.
Our own needs often drive our choices. Our motives get skewed. Eternal priorities are lost. I know. I’ve been there. The issue of ministry busyness cuts much deeper into our souls than we often want to admit. We think that the problem is their needs when the reality is that we scurry around like ants on an anthill to meet our needs. Ministry becomes our mistress, and we lose sight of God’s priorities in our busyness.
Read more…
Posted on Apr 16, 2019 in BLOG |
The media recognized Jeanne Calment in 1997 as the oldest living human whose age could be verified. She died on August 4, 1997, at the age of 122 years and 164 days. On her 120th birthday, she was asked to describe her vision for the future. “Very brief,” she replied.
Life is brief from earth’s perspective but not from Christ’s. Paul wrote that Christ was the “firstborn out of the dead ones” (Col. 1:18). The resurrection of Christ changes everything about our future. Easter teaches us that there is hope for the future beyond the grave, and our hope is grounded in Jesus Christ.
Read more…
Posted on Mar 1, 2019 in BLOG |
Why is so much preaching today shallow? Many sermons give a superficial examination of the biblical text in the quest for a sound bite theology with its popular appeal. Why? I just finished reading
Why Johnny Can’t Preach: The Media Have Shaped the Messengers by T. David Gordon. Gordon challenges us with his first thesis.
Johnny can’t preach because Johnny can’t read!
Posted on Jan 16, 2019 in BLOG |
The gospel preached today is often a man-centered gospel.
“Are you lonely? Do you feel afraid? Do you feel ashamed? Are you hurting and broken? Jesus came to meet your needs. God loves you as you are and has a great plan for your life. Jesus died on the cross to give you abundant life. Come to Jesus today and live.”
Much missional preaching today identifies needs and proclaims Christ as a need fulfiller. It is a man-centered gospel, but the apostolic gospel was God-centered.
What are the characteristics of missional preaching in Acts? Read more…
Posted on Jan 3, 2019 in BLOG |
One of the most recent books – if not the most recent – to be published for preachers is Homiletics and Hermeneutics: Four Views on Preaching Today. Edited by Scott Gibson and Matthew Kim, the book became available in December 2018. What are the theological and hermeneutical underpinnings of our preaching? Do we preach Christ-centered or gospel-centered sermons? How does the flood narrative in Genesis 6 relate to the New Testament? This book will spark discussions about those questions and many others as preachers think through the different evangelical preaching traditions.
The book follows a simple format. Each practitioner presents his position followed by responses from the other three writers. Each writer interacts with four topics in advocating his position: 1) A biblical rationale, 2) A theological rationale, 3) A homiletical rationale and 4) An applicational rationale. There is a refreshing irenic spirit throughout the book as each writer debates the merits of each position with a heart of respect for each other.
Read more…
Posted on Dec 19, 2018 in BLOG |
Earthly events are the result of heavenly actions. There are cause and effect relationships between heaven and earth. We can see Christmas through heaven’s eyes portrayed for us in Revelation 12:1-5. In this story, there is a woman, a dragon and a baby. The woman is Israel. The baby is Messiah – Jesus – who will rule the nations with a rod of iron. The great, red dragon represents Satan (cf. 12:9). Satan wages war against Israel over the birth of the Messiah.
Satan is the enemy of God and God’s people. He is determined to rule this world and will do whatever he can to maintain his rule. Milton wrote of Lucifer in Paradise Lost, “To reign is worth ambition, though in hell. Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.” Power is what drives Satan. That same ambition is what drives all those who serve Satan in this world. We see Satan’s global strategy pictured in these verses. He works through humans who will swear allegiance to him. In return, Satan offers such pawns the illusions of earthly success, wealth and power. Read more…
Posted on Nov 30, 2018 in BLOG |
A modern Olympic pentathlon combines five sports into one. An athlete completes all five sports in a single day. The first three sports are fencing, freestyle swimming, and equestrian show jumping. The final two sports combine pistol shooting and running into one event. An athlete must balance her efforts to achieve the highest total score which means that sometimes she must avoid pushing to win in one event to focus on a later event. The total score of all five events is all that matters to win Olympic gold.
Read more…
Posted on Nov 12, 2018 in BLOG |
I just returned from a ten-day boat trip down the eastern coast from Falmouth, Maine to Norfolk, Virginia in Mark Halfacre’s boat
Pegasus. Mark was beginning his trip down the intra-coastal waterway to Florida, and I had the privilege of joining him on the first leg. Each night Mark would get out his navigational charts on the iPad and plot his course for the next day. He had to chart a course that avoided shoals under water and buoys above yet led us to the next marina.
Mark would enter the GPS markers on his chart plotter as “waypoints.” Each day we would navigate the boat from waypoint to waypoint. The chart plotter would alert us when we arrived at a waypoint. We would check it off and start for the next waypoint until we arrived at our destination for the night.
Sermon waypoints help us navigate our way from text to message each week. I know that I need spiritual GPS markers to plot the course for my sermon preparation. The waypoints help me avoid the shoals, so my message does not end up as a Sunday shipwreck.
Read more…
