Just A Thought...

How come people want to take the God out of Easter but no one wants to take the Satan out of Halloween? - Jay Leno

Sunday Spurgeon

Your extremity is God’s opportunity. The difficulty all along has been to get to the end of you; for when a man gets to the end of himself, he has reached the beginning of God’s working.

Blogging From The Road

My infrequent posts will be coming from my homestate of Iowa where I am attending my little brother's wedding. Here are a few pictures to give you a feel for the place...

Sunday Spurgeon

Men of the world are apt to say, “You are such a set of bigots; you think everybody wrong but yourselves.” Is it wonderful that if we think we are right, we do not believe that those who are opposed to us can be right also?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I bind unto myself to-day
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever
By pow'r of faith, Christ's Incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His brusting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heav'nly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star-lit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old etrnal rocks.

Chirst be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.
Of Whom all nature hath creation:
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Versified from the Irish by C F Alexander, Poems (London, 1896)

"Juiced" Preaching

I'’m a baseball purist. Like many, the recent scandals surrounding Barry Bonds and other names of the game, have almost drained my tank of goodwill for the sport. "“Juicing"” has tainted a generation and honor may never return to the national pastime.

I'’m also a preaching purist. And the realization that many pastors are short-cutting the Holy Spirit by downloading or purchasing sermons from notable pulpits is more scandalous to me than anything in baseball.

As a preacher, I spend long hours reading, researching, pondering and praying over my text in order to feed the flock each Sunday. I use many resources to do this: original language studies, commentaries, dictionaries, the Internet, and yes, even the sermons of other preachers! But unlike a growing segment of pastors, I preach my own sermons. I might use an illustration, or a point or even an outline from something I have read or heard; but I always give proper credit. If Rick Warren said it, I acknowledge it. If Spurgeon was a source I say so. If Bill Hybels preached it, I praise him for it. But on most every Sunday 99% of what my people hear is what the Holy Spirit has laid upon my heart.

But if Steve Sjogren is to be believed I may be in the minority. Here is what he says in a recent Pastors.com article:

"“I regularly read the blogs of my favorite communicators from influential churches around the United States. Without mentioning their names in this article, they are young guys who are well-known to everyone reading this piece. They are all authors. They all have very large churches. Each of these pastors has recently come out on their blogging sites and admitted, curiously, the same thing. They get approximately 70 percent of their messages each week from other people -– word for word according to them. They fill in their own personal illustrations and stories, of course. Two of the guys that I am thinking of as I write this have churches of more than 10,000 in attendance each weekend."

He then goes on to defend the practice and offers this "“helpful"” advice:

"“First of all, stop all of this nonsense of spending 25 or 30 hours a week preparing to speak on the weekend. The guys I draw encouragement from -– the best communicators in the United States -– confess they spend a total of about 15 hours preparing for their message. As I have already said, they get 70 percent of their material from someone else. Remember, Solomon wrote that "there is nothing new under the sun ..."

Borrow creatively from others in the Church world. Some are easier to relate to than others. The one guy who is the most borrowed from in the United States is, no doubt, Rick Warren. Warren's famous line is "If my bullet fits your gun, then shoot it!" By the way, who does Warren borrow from? He says that he listens to three or so preaching tapes a day! So who knows where he gets his stuff!

Let's forget about originality -– which is often a form of pride. Let's begin to focus on effectiveness, and pray that we will be powerful at connecting with not-yet believers."”

Since when is hard work, much study and dependence upon the Holy Spirit prideful? To hear people like Steve and others tell it, I wasted my seminary years, when all I needed was a broadband connection. I guess we need to amend the Eighth commandment to read: "“Thou shalt not steal except for sermons."”

"Juiced"” preaching is ultimately not so much about content as it is about integrity. Before God and man. I may not hit a homerun every Sunday, but at least the sermon won't need an asterisk behind it.

Spurgeon on Committees

"The best committee is a committee of three, of whom one is away and another is home sick."

Charles H. Spurgeon: His Faith and Works, by H.L. Wayland, 1892

HT: Between Two Worlds

Does God Offer Fast-Pass?

From The Hour Of Power:

Following in the footsteps of his father, Robert A Schuller takes the hard work out of salvation. And it even comes with a guarantee. But no toll-free number?




Jesus offers us this incredible gift of eternal life — that He'll fulfill our desires and our needs and our hopes. He'll give us that eternal "ticket to heaven."

Above is your personal "Ticket to Heaven." Once you make a decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, just sign you name and it's guaranteed that when you come before Christ, in that day in which there is no sunset and no dawning, He will open His arms and He will receive you with a loving embrace that only comes from Jesus Christ.

You can't earn it. You can't buy it. All you can do is accept it, and say, thank You Jesus for saving me, for giving me eternal satisfaction because today I hunger and thirst for righteousness.

— Dr. Robert Anthony Schuller

To get your "Ticket to Heaven", please write to:

Crystal Cathedral Ministries
P.O. Box 100
Garden Grove, CA
92842-0100

Or call: 1-714-971-4000

Jonathan's First Try At Cereal

Our 18 lb and 28 inch (three month old) is
taking his first spoonfuls of cereal.
Big boy gonna get bigger...Watch out world!

The Church That H.E.A.L.S.

The conclusion of our mini-series on healing looks at how we can become a church that heals by considering the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. A church that heals must be: Holistic in its approach, possess the empathy of Jesus, work to alleviate suffering, lift up one another in prayer and be wiling to sacrifice for the common good.


MP3 File

Sunday Spurgeon

Reader, meet me in heaven! Do not go down to hell. There is no coming back again from that abode of misery. Why do you wish to enter the way of death when Heaven's gate is open before you? Do not refuse the free pardon, the full salvation which Jesus grants to all who trust Him. Do not hesitate and delay. You have had enough of resolving, come to action. Believe in Jesus now, with full and immediate decision. Take with you words and come unto your Lord this day, even this day. Remember, O soul, it may be now or never with you. Let it be now; it would be horrible that it should be never. Again I charge you, meet me in heaven.

Wrong In Oh So Many Ways...

Click the video for a disturbing look at what happens when we lose touch with the truth of Scripture and let anything go...



Here is what one woman shares regarding an "art" project she did under the direction of Pastor Stacy:

Pastor Stacy reminded us of some of the discounted feminine images of God in the Old Testament—probably none of which were the products of female imaginations—and invited us to form our own images in clay of Asherah, the mother goddess of the Canaanites familiar to early Jewish inhabitants of Canaan. I am no artist. Warming and working the clay with my hands, I wondered whether my goddess would look anything like the photograph of an Asherah figure Stacy provided as a possible starting point. Almost immediately I forget all about the picture. I began to form, as well as I could, my own breasts and hips, my own hair and face and arms and belly, my 52-year-old self, an Asherah with a sacred body just like mine. I can't tell you how healing that was.

You can find out more about this group here.

Father, forgive them, they know not what they do...

Lift High The Cross!

"Overcoming the widespread Christian belief that 'Jesus died for my sins seems an insurmountable challenge! Preachers, liturgical rites, hymns and religious education curricula continue to reinforce 'atonement theology/theories.'"..."Personally and pastorally, 'atonement' thinking creates a mire of destructive results and I, for one, would well appreciate your cogent analysis of how we might best approach this."

The above quotation is from a letter written to Bishop John Shelby Spong by a liberal pastor decrying the prevalence of the atonement in the church. (ht: Slice of Laodicea) Sadly, he is not alone in his belief that a "bloodless" Christianity is to be preferred in this enlightened age.

However, in order to overcome this widespread Christian belief, it is necessary to gut the heart and soul of the Good News. From the Garden of Eden, where God knits Adam and Eve animals coverings, to the last pages of John's Revelation where the saints overcome by the blood of the lamb, the story of our faith is etched in blood. The details of foreshadowing sacrifices fill dozens of pages in the Old Testament, the majority focus in the Gospels are upon the passion of Christ and what is to be done with the 43 references in the new Testament to the "blood of Jesus?"

Rather than being the source of violence, brutality and suffering - the atoning death of Christ is the answer to these things. There is no other solution for the evils wrought by sinful humanity. We cannot save ourselves from the blood-lust. It needed to be confronted, engaged in a life and death struggle and defeated in terms it could understand. Blood for blood.

David Legge is correct when he proclaims: "When He wanted to redeem you, He had to shed his blood. A word wouldn't do it! A sentence wouldn't do it! A lifetime of holiness and an example to the world of humanity that they had never seen before, the teachings that far outstretched every philosopher, every religious leader ever- that wouldn't do it! He had to shed His blood!"

What we need today is not less attention paid to the atonement but more. Not less singing of the blood of Jesus, but more. The truth that Jesus died to save us from sin is not a doctrine to be discarded, but embraced. Rather than removing the cross, as some do out of seeker-sensitivity, let us give it again its central place in worship. Let us once again preach Christ and Him crucified!

Matthew Evening Bible Study - March 5

This is part of our on-going verse by verse study of the Gospel of Matthew. This study covers Matthew 8:28-9:13. The format is a casual running commentary with applications made as we go along.


MP3 File

I'm thinking about adding this as a regular feature in addition to our morning messages. I would appreciate your comments on this. Thanks!

Audio Sermon: The Healing Ministry of Jesus

This is the second in a mini-series upon sickness and healing in the Bible. This message looks at the healing minstry of Jesus and considers five purposes for that need to guide our understanding of what Jesus hoped to accomplish in performing healing miracles. I am indebted to the work of Leslie Flynn in his book The Miracles of Jesus.

The five purposes of Jesus' healing minstry are:
1. Apologetic
2. Evangelistic
3. Characteristic
4. Parabolic
5. Prophetic

MP3 File

Sunday Spurgeon

I, the preacher of this hour, beg to bear my little witness that the worst days I have ever had have turned out to be my best days, and when God has seemed most cruel to me he has then been most kind. If there is anything in this world for which I would bless him more than for anything else it is for pain and affliction. I am sure that in these things the richest, tenderest love has been manifested towards me. I pray you, dear friends, if you are at this time very low, and greatly distressed, encourage yourselves in the abundant faithfulness of the God who hides himself. Our Father’s wagons rumble most heavily when they are bringing us the richest freight of the bullion of his grace. Love letters from heaven are often sent in black-edged envelopes. The cloud that is black with horror is big with mercy. We may not ask for trouble, but if we were wise we should look upon it as the shadow of an unusually great blessing.

A Warning From The Lord

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men who are complacent,
those who say in their hearts,
'The LORD will not do good,
nor will he do ill.'

Most Christians are blissfully unaware of the great struggle that is being waged around them for the heart and soul of the Church. Content to just watch as the faith once delivered to the saints is gutted and distorted by smiling faces and pseudo-scholarship, they rarely think deeply about the issues of time and eternity. In the quest for unity and peace, they are willing to sell their spiritual birthright for a mess of pottage.

The enemies of truth are allowed free range in our pulpits and seminaries, while the person in the pew settles into a state of stupor. Wolves ravage the flocks no longer even under the pretense of sheep's clothing and the only sound we hear is the bleating of lazy lambs. And those who dare cry wolf are shamed into submission or cast from the sheepfold. The hired hands are accorded more honor than the Good Shepherd and the gate is lowered to allow more wolves in.

Rather than being seen as unloving, the majority of Christians will tolerate and even embrace the very thing that threatens them the most. Whether through biblical ignorance or sheer laziness, we are in danger of fulfilling the words of Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the truimph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Ultimately we have the confidence that even when we are faithless, God will remain faithful, but at what cost to ourselves and future generations?

"Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God."

(Revelation 3:2)

BlogMad Invite

BlogMad is now in beta! What promises to be the next big thing in Blog Traffic is allowing a select few to join early and test out the site. With a 1:1 surfing ratio (the best around) and promises to add more fun ways to interact and earn credits, BlogMad is the hottest thing around. Right now the only way in is by invitation. I have a few to give out. So e-mail me for an invite. Don't miss out!

Examining the Emergent Movement

The next big thing in the church is the Emergent Movement/Conversation. Fronted by the likes of Brian Mclaren, Rob Bell and Doug Pagitt, the EM offers a new paradigm for doing church. Gone are denominational distinctions, doctrinal differences and deep discernment. These are replaced by feelings, experiences and encounters with "spiritual reality." A growing force in the post-modern church, this new way of doing things is actually a regression into old heresies and doctrinal deviations. In the rush to be relevant many well-meaning evangelicals are getting caught up in the conversation. Yet we must be mindful of Paul's warning in 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

The following link offers some useful resources in discerning whether this "new" movement is losing its hold on the truth of Scripture: Apprising Ministries.

Count Me As A Friend of Discernment

As a counter to the "Emergent Conversation" and its watering down of biblical truth, Keith Oliver from the Thinkerup Blog has issued a call for those who hold to the truth of Scripture to join him as a friend of biblical discernment. He has even designed this logo for those who believe in Biblical thinking.

(It tweaks the new logo from Doug Pagitt for Friends of Emergent)

You can get more information and the logo for yourself at his blog.
Lets spread the Word!

For My Irish Catholic Friends...

An Irishman moves into a tiny hamlet in County Kerry, and one thing you can be sure of in Ireland is this: if there is a town anywhere in Ireland, there is bound to be a pub. So this fellow walks into the pub and promptly orders three beers. The bartender raises his eyebrows because even for an Irishman three beers at one time is a lot. Nevertheless, the bartender serves the man three beers, which he drinks quietly at a table, alone.

An hour later, the man has finished the three beers and orders three more.
This happens yet again. The next evening the man again orders and drinks three beers at a time, several times. This goes on night after night for a week, and soon the entire town is whispering about the Man Who Orders Three Beers. Finally, curiosity got the best of them, so the bartender broaches the subject on behalf of the town. "I don't mean to pry, but folks around here are wondering why you always order three beers?"

"Tis odd, isn't it?" the man replies, "You see, I have two brothers, and one went to America, and the other to Australia. We promised each other that we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank as a way of keeping up the family bond."

The bartender and the whole town was pleased with this answer, and soon the Man Who Orders Three Beers became a local celebrity and source of pride to the hamlet, even to the extent that out-of-towners would come to watch him drink.

Then, one day, the man comes in and orders only two beers. The bartender pours them with a heavy heart. This continues for the rest of the evening: he orders only two beers, and finally the bartender says to the man, "All of us want to offer condolences to you for the death of your brother. You know -- the two beers and all..."

The man ponders this for a moment, then replies, "Well, now. I appreciate your sympathy, but you'll be happy to hear that my two brothers are alive and well. The one less beer is for me. You see, it's just that I gave up drinking for Lent."