What are the advantages of preaching consecutively, chapter after chapter, all the way through a book of the Bible? There are five reasons…
The essence of Christmas is the mysterious, glorious and profound claim that God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, became a man in the person of Jesus Christ. To this astounding truth one might be compelled to ask: did it have to be this way? Was there any other way for God to redeem us? The second chapter of Hebrews gives us three reasons why God had to become a man:
Next Saturday (April 19, not tomorrow) is Record Store Day. This annual celebration of independent record stores has been taking place since 2007, and gives special attention to the vinyl record, which happens to be the main reason independent records stores are still in business. As music consumption moves away from CDs and increasingly toward MP3 downloads or direct streaming, there has been a movement back toward buying records the old fashioned way. Vinyl sales have been on the increase for the last few years, and show no signs of slowing down.
In August, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood released a document called “The Nashville Statement” (read it here) that, in 14 concise articles of affirmations and denials, presents the traditional Christian position on human sexuality.
Much has been written lately about the potential negative effects of smart phone use and social media. To me, one of the most pressing concerns is that, in our anxious scramble to always keep up with what is new on Twitter and Facebook, we neglect the value of what is old. In particular, I am thinking of the benefit of reading books from the distant past.
During the week of June 13, I was blessed to be able to attend the General Assembly (GA) of our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), in Greensboro, NC. It’s always a pleasure to reconnect with pastor friends (from Maine, Illinois, Florida, Colorado and Pennsylvania!) and seminary classmates, and personally I always find it rewarding to participate in the work of the body of Christ at the highest court level.
Back in 2011, New Life released a strategic plan in which the elders of the church proposed a plan for planting our first daughter congregation, as part of an overall movement of church planting taking place in our denomination and in our local presbytery. By God’s grace and as a display of his faithful provision, we are now on the cusp of getting this first church plant started.
Some people I meet say “The Shack” is one of the most powerful and spiritually helpful books they’ve ever read. Others say it is one of the most dangerous deceptions of the last 200 years. Personally I have not read the book, but I did see the movie, so based on the film adaptation of the book, I offer three good things and three bad things about “The Shack.”
