A Christian Declaration

232 years ago the drafters of the Declaration of Independence produced a document that declared basic human equality, liberty and justice for all, coupled with a call to responsible freedom - they were following a great framework - one laid down in the first sermon of Jesus recorded in Luke 4:16-21. This message looks at Jesus' declaration and calls the church to follow Christ in leading this nation in the dream not only of our forefathers, but more importantly in the vision of our Heavenly Father.


MP3 File

What I Believe - A Politcal Primer

The following commentary from Glenn Beck sums up many of my feelings in this political year:

"So what are my core values, the things that I refuse to compromise on? To figure that out, I decided to try to define what I think a conservative really believes.

A conservative believes that our inalienable rights do not include housing, healthcare or Hummers.

A conservative believes that our inalienable rights DO include the pursuit of happiness. That means it is guaranteed to no one.

A conservative believes that those who pursue happiness and find it have a right to not be penalized for that success.

A conservative believes that there are no protections against the hardship and heartache of failure. We believe that the right to fail is just as important as the chance to succeed and that those who do fail learn essential lessons that will help them the next time around.

A conservative believes in personal responsibility and accepts the consequences for his or her words and actions.

A conservative believes that real compassion can't be found in any government program.

A conservative believes that each of us has a duty to take care of our neighbors. It was private individuals, companies and congregations that sent water, blankets and supplies to New Orleans far before the government ever set foot there.

A conservative believes that family is the cornerstone of our society and that people have a right to manage their family any way they see fit, so long as it's not criminal. We are far more attuned to our family's needs than some faceless, soulless government program.

A conservative believes that people have a right to worship the God of their understanding. We also believe that people do not have the right to jam their version of God (or no God) down anybody else's throat.

A conservative believes that people go to the movies to be entertained and to church to be preached to, not the other way around.

A conservative believes that debt creates unhealthy relationships. Everyone, from the government on down, should live within their means and strive for financial independence.

A conservative believes that a child's education is the responsibility of the parents, not the government.

A conservative believes that every human being has a right to life, from conception to death.

A conservative believes in the smallest government you can get without anarchy. We know our history: The larger a government gets, the harder it will fall.

Those are the things a conservative believes in, and they're the things that I believe in. Now, if only I could find a candidate to match."

Fathers and Sons (3)

This third and final message in our series on the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) focuses on the oldest son. While on the surface, it appears that the oldest son is the "good" son, deeper study shows that he is in fact the prodigal who never left home. How the father deals with him offers us a glimpse of how God feels about the modern day Pharisee.

MP3 File

The Jesus Trail - I So Want To Do This!

More information here.

The Gospel of John Wordled

Someone wordled all of John's Gospel and got this. Pretty neat.


UPDATE: Someone has wordled every NT book. You can see the results here.

The Parable of the Prodigal in Wordle

I made this design using Wordle. "Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text."

Note how the Father takes the central focus in the Parable of the Prodigal.

The Preacher's Work and Way

The Lord God has given me
the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
he awakens my ear
to hear as those who are taught.

(Isaiah 50:4)

"When God Ran" by Benny Hester

This is the video that was shown during our Father's Day message. Great stuff!

Fathers and Sons (2)

This second in a three-part series on Luke 15:11-32 (the Parable of the Prodigal Son) looks at the radical grace and love shown by the Father in the face of the younger son's rebellion and the culture of condemnation that was directed at sinners.



MP3 File

Cardboard Testimonies - POWERFUL!

The Rule of 52

Just came across an interesting article by Chris Forbes over at Ministry Marketing Coach about how we can maximize our outreach without spending a dime. Here is the part that jumped out at me.

I once read a marketing book that talked about the “Rule of 52”. The book said that 52 is the average number of people in the average wedding or funeral. That means that everyone knows at least 52 people that love and care about them.

In a church of just ten people there are least 520 people connected to the membership. How many of those names can you get a hold of and make a personal contact with? How many of them know what faith in Christ is all about? Start working that list this week!

You don’t have to act like an annoying salesman when you contact these people, just touch base with them and see if you might have a friend connection. At the very least you can pray for them and see if there might be a way you can serve them and let God open the doors for outreach.

I’ll go out on a limb here and predict, that if you start caring about people and praying for them and helping them, you’ll find you have more prospects for your church than you can keep up with! Your members will start bringing their contacts to church and will be talking about your church to the people they know.

I'm Big In Ulaanbaatar!

Just checking my site-meter and found that in the last week someone from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia checked out my blog. If you are my Mongolian reader - God Bless!

Fathers and Sons (1)

Charles Dickens called the Parable of the Prodigal Son the greatest short story ever written. This first in a series of three messages looks at character of the youngest son and tries to see through the eyes of its original audience. The story of the prodigal drives home the depravity of sin, the road to repentance and the surpassing grace of God. (I am indebted to the work of John MacArthur and John Piper in preparing this message.)


MP3 File

Care-A-Lot Graduation: God Bless America

Robert and his graduating class from Care-A-Lot Christian Preschool singing "God Bless America."

Reagan's D-Day Speech

A Proper Perspective On Pain

Today's pain (the result of three herniated discs in my lower back) has been particularly bad; so I was encouraged by this lengthy quote from Puritan divine William Gouge, himself no stranger to physical suffering. A much needed perspective...

"Soul, be silent; soul, be patient. It is thy God and Father who has ordereth thy condition. Thou art His clay, and He may tread and trample on thee as He pleaseth. Thou hast deserved much more. It is enough that thou are kept out of hell. Though the pain be grievous, yet it is tolerable. Thy God affords some intermissions. He will turn it to thy good and at length put an end to all: None of which things can be expected in hell."

"Obsessed"

In Galatians 6:14, Paul says that his obsession is the cross of Christ. How could the symbol of Roman cruelty become something that Paul was willing to live and die for? How could a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles be the source of all that is best in life?


MP3 File

Pondering Persecution

From today's VOM devotion:

The following is a letter from a governor named Pliny to the Roman emperor on the growth of Christianity less than one hundred years after the crucifixion of Christ:

"I have never been present at any of the Christians’ trials, and I am unaware of the methods and limits used in our investigation and torture. Do we show any regard to age or gender? If a Christian repents of his religion, do we still punish him or pardon him?
Currently, I am proceeding thus—I question them as to their religion; if they state they are Christian, I repeat the questioning, adding the threat of capital punishment. If they still persist, I order them to be executed. I do not believe that their stubbornness should go unpunished.
I recently questioned a group of Christians who, after interrogation, denied their faith. From this event, I could see more than ever the importance of extracting the real truth, with the assistance of torture, from two female prisoners. But I was able to discover nothing except depraved and excessive superstition.
I therefore thought it wise to consult you before continuing with this matter. The matter is well worth referring to you, especially considering the numbers endangered. This contagious superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has also spread throughout the villages.
Nevertheless it still seems possible to cure it."

Are Christians easily “cured” of their Christianity? When push comes to shove, are most believers incurably faithful to Christ or merely running a mild fever? Persecution is one sure way to discover the truth. Only God knows a person’s heart. However, persecution introduces us to our real selves and helps determine whether we will forsake Christ or remain faithful. If we are truly committed to Christ, then he will give us the stamina we need to endure for his sake. If we are more committed to an ideology than the person of Jesus, we will find ourselves faltering under pressure. Are you an incurable case for Christ or will your beliefs turn out to be “excessive superstition” instead?