“Whether we like it or not, the moment we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we are at the same time a member of the church. Even if we do not permit our name to be placed on a church roll, or decline to identify ourselves with a particular congregation. Even if we […]
I’ve noticed that people are easily unsettled. We are concerned, bothered, offended, and disturbed by the people around us. The statements and comments made by coworkers, fellow church members, neighbors, and instagram followers pierce our hearts and weigh heavy on our minds. Clearly we have not lost the capacity to care deeply about, and become […]
Imagine you are Ethan the Ezrahite (author of the final poem in Book III of the Psalms). …Ethan – that famous sage in the entourage of wise men – along with Heman, Calcol, and Darda – in the days of King David and King Solomon. This Ezrahite saw firsthand the glory of the Davidic empire! […]
Is “Telling the Truth: The Gospel As Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale” by Frederick Buechner. Fred says that the Gospel is “the fairy tale that is too good not to be true.” [Selah] Fred says that the truth is “high and wild and holy, but preachers often reduce homiletics to apologetics. Preachers exchange the fairy-tale […]
On Christmas Eve a stranger pulled up in front of Raven Hill. It was approx. 30 minutes before Lessons & Carols was scheduled to start, so I thought that perhaps it was someone who had seen an advertisement for the event and had decided to arrive early to socialize and get to know people ahead […]
The story of Above Reproach is related to the story of Integrity …in fact, they might even be the same person in slightly different outfits; or slightly different colognes on the same body – but with both outfits being objectively pleasing to God’s eye, and both aromas pleasing in God’s nostrils. |inˈtegritē| is the quality […]
Last year at this time I was in China. Everywhere I went I heard Christmas music. And not just “Jingle Bells”, but also Jesus-permeated carols like “O Holy Night!” I found myself in a very unfamiliar place hearing very familiar Christmas music, and I was forced to reckon with the strangeness of it all. It […]
Caveat and full disclosure: the following words are not my own. Moreover, the words are those of a Baptist (although we cannot with absolute certainty rule out the possibility that he is a closet Presbyterian). Without furher ado I give to you the words of Albert Mohler: Many Christians would be surprised, and perhaps […]
Remember Christmas 2015? Me neither. But this post from 2015 was recently brought to my attention, and I have decided to re-post it. Enjoy! Well, it’s Christmas time! And of course that means we’re all ready to die. Right? Christmas time and death? …What do these have in common? What is Tyler talking about? Has […]