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Starting and stopping

Monday, January 29th, 2024

From an ancient scribe and wise man:

When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.

Just sayin’. Something to think about.

The quote is from King Solomon in Proverbs 28:2.

#TruthDecay#TheBible

Friday, March 4th, 2022

Just this week I listened to a podcast by John Cooper, the lead singer of the Christian rock band, Skillet. John was responding to a podcast by Phil Vischer (Veggie Tales fame) where he demeaned John and Alisa Childers because of their stand against “deconstruction.” Phil and his other two hosts (one was Skye someone and the other a female whose name I never caught) admitted they didn’t even know what deconstruction was. My advice: unless you know something about what you are talking about, don’t talk. How’s that for “kinder words” than “Shut up.”

Anyway, deconstruction is a very real thing going on. A group called “exvangelicals” are taking their garbage to the masses. Several artists (Kevin Max formerly of DC Talk, Jon Steingard from Hawk Nelson, and Audrey Assad to name a few), “superstars” like Joshua Harris, and even a former Desiring God writer have taken to the airwaves and print to tell their story.  Kevin Max believes in the “Universal Christ.” What in the world is that supposed to mean?

My new series on Sunday morning will be called Truth Decay and each sermon will deal with some belief that Progressivism (I refuse to call it Progressive Christianity because it isn’t) is seeking to destroy. Historic, orthodox Christianity is under attack by the liberal progressives (and I’m not talking politically). If I can be one voice to help prepare the people for their garbage, i.e. false teaching, then I want my voice heard. The first in the series this Sunday is entitled The Bible is Still the Bible.

I hope you will join me this Sunday with your attendance in person or via live stream. Most of all, though, I covet your prayers.

#Legalism#Deadliness

Friday, August 13th, 2021

Only someone who has grown up or been a part of legalism can truly understand its draw.

There are three ways of looking at the Bible.

Progressive “Christianity” (PC)– I use that term loosely because I am not convinced it is Christianity at all. PC takes a very open approach to the Bible and the things of God.

Legalism– the other end of the spectrum from PC. Legalism takes a very closed approach-not in the areas of inerrancy and accuracy of the Scriptures-but in the way God’s Word is followed.  Wanting to follow God’s Word is admirable, but in legalism’s case, it is taking it to an extreme and thinking, “Unless you see it my way there is no hope for you.”  It is the old adage: “Us four, no more, shut the door” type of thinking.

My sermon Sunday is going to explore that topic deeper. Using Mark 7:1-23 and Jesus’ confrontation/words with the Pharisees, I intend to show how legalism is dangerous and also life-sucking.  I would love to have you join us in person or live (whichever floats your boat). 🙂  One thing I do need to say if you plan to watch it on the live stream: due to a scheduling conflict of the two who are steady about streaming the second service, WE WILL ONLY BE STREAMING THE 9:00 SERVICE. Sorry for the inconvenience. You can still watch it at 10:45 or any other time.

I hope you will join me one way or the other.

That third way? The Bible is the inerrant, unchanging Word of God. True. Trustworthy. Completely accurate in its original languages. God’s written Word as He “spoke” it to the writers who wrote it down in their words.

#Forgiveness#LessonsforReal

Sunday, March 21st, 2021

This past Sunday I preached about the necessity of the cross. I once again went to an unlikely Scripture for better understanding: Psalm 130.  Thanks to the late Dr. James Boice (see the end of this post for an interesting fun fact), I was able to make some excellent remarks about God’s forgiveness. I share those with you here:

#1- God’s forgiveness is inclusive. Verse 4 does not say, “There is forgiveness for this sin but not that sin.” It would be even worse if it said, “There is forgiveness for this sin” but then not include the one you or I are guilty of. God’s forgiveness sets no limits. The only sin not forgiven is the rejection of Christ.

#2- God’s forgiveness is for now.  The translators do it right here (v.4) by using the word “is.”  The original Hebrew is even stronger because it says, “With you forgiveness.” You or I don’t have to wonder about our future of standing before God or standing in trembling uncertainty. There is forgiveness for you, this moment, right now.

#3- God’s forgiveness is for those who want it. In verses 1-2 the psalmist says, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!” Forgiveness is there but you must ask for it. One thing I have noticed over the years is God will never force Himself on anyone. You must ask. You must want Him. Notice the psalmist is confessing his sin in verse 1. Pleading for mercy in verse 2. And then believing and trusting God for that mercy in verse 4. 

#4- God’s forgiveness leads to godly living. Some people object to grace being a motivating factor because they say it leads to sin. You know that argument right? “Bill, if you teach about grace it will just give people a license to sin.” I see it as the opposite. The forgiveness we are talking about does not lead to license but to reverence for God. Notice the words at the end of verse 4: “to be feared.” That is reverence. A life truly changed by the power of the Gospel and the power of God’s forgiveness will not fall into a pattern of sin and disregard for God’s Word. The true effects of forgiveness are love and worship and service not license to sin.

So there you have it. Four lessons to learn and apply about forgiveness. I hope this helps you understand forgiveness a little more.

And now for the fun fact: Dr. Boice’s father was an M.D. who practiced in Duquesne, PA. and McKeesport Hospital. He was my family doctor. Today he would be called a Pediatrician. That was l-o-o-o-o-n-g before specialized medicine. 🙂 And there you have an interesting fun fact.

#Faith#Feelings#Doubt#

Sunday, October 4th, 2020

Today, Sunday, I spoke about how doubt should not be panned and dismissed as invalid. While I don’t question God’s character or who Jesus is as the Son of God, fully God and fully man, I do have questions. They center mostly on why things are the way they are. I struggle with not knowing what God has in mind for my life. I don’t doubt his love for me, nor do I doubt He has an ultimate plan. I struggle with Him not sharing it with me. 🙂

Part of my sermon was spent in Psalm 13 as David wrestles with the whole faith vs doubt thing.  I owe a debt of thanks to Randall Arthur (Randy Dodd) who first wrote about this in his excellent novel, Wisdom Hunter. (And yes, I am encouraging you to buy it and read it).  Anyway, here is how he teaches Psalm 13.

  1. In verse 1 David says God has forgotten him. But in verse 5 he says God loves him unceasingly (steadfast).
  2. In verse 1 he says that God has hidden His face from him. But in verse 6 he writes that God has been good to him. (dealt bountifully with me)
  3. In verse 2 he wrestled with many thoughts (take counsel in my soul) and had sorrow in his heart every day. But in verse 6 David says, “I will sing to the Lord.”
  4. In verse 2 David writes, “My enemy is triumphing over me.” And yet at the end of verse 5 he says God is delivering him (my heart shall rejoice in my salvation).

Why? Is David schizophrenic? No, of course not.  The point to see it this: There is often a difference between how we feel and what is true. Feelings can be so deceptive and unreliable. How many times have you or someone you know done something because “it felt right” or “it felt good,” but all along it is against the Scripture?  The very fact that David kept on going is proof that his beliefs kept him from being overtaken by his feelings. Trouble comes when our feelings become stronger than our beliefs.

I hope you will keep that in mind as you move through each day.

#Surrender#Preparation#ReadingGod’sWord

Wednesday, May 6th, 2020

In my last post I mentioned that I was looking for something in one of my old journals. I found it, along with the thoughts from the previous post.  I would like to include what I was looking for in this post for you to keep and have available.

There is a story behind this. Back in late 2016 and early 2017 I was dry. I had been hit by a hit-n-run driver while riding my bike in November of 2016. In February I did an endo while going down a hill. To this day I have no clue what happened. But as painful as the lessons were, combined they woke me up from my slumber.  This reading was one of the first things I latched onto after the first accident (or shortly before). I knew I wasn’t right and something had to give. I share it with you:

O Holy Spirit of God,

come now and live forever in my heart and in my thoughts.

Be the inspiration, through the Word,

for all my thoughts and deeds.

Take possession of my imagination and grant

that all my thoughts may be in line with the Word.

Take possession of the deepest core of my will,

and through Your Word, control my life in its totality.

God-given Word, be with me in my silence and in my words,

when I work and when I relax, in the freshness of the morning

and also the melancholy of the night.

Grant me the grace, Spirit of the Word, to delight

in the mystery of Your pronouncements.

Make my heart an altar and pour the

purifying fire of Your love into it.

Spirit of the Word, be with me today in everything I do.

Don’t let me deny friendliness and courtesy to those around

me, for I know I’m being true to the Word in the way I treat others.

O Holy Spirit, be with me when I

read and study the Word today.

Grant that it would refresh my spirit

so that I will keep on seeking in it

the pure, and the good, and the true.

Lord Jesus, You broke the bread there at the lake,

break every day Your Bread of Life for me, O Lord.   Amen.

It reminds me of the hold hymn “Break Thou the Bread of Life” and I would find myself breaking out in a quiet song after reading it. May this reading open your heart to listening to God speak through His Word.

#Lent#18

Thursday, March 19th, 2020

Have you ever noticed how some verses get a bad rap? Hear me out please. By bad rap I don’t mean kicked-to-the-curb-bad.  Instead, I’m referring to the fact that some verses are so close to another that stands out, that one verse is almost glossed over, even forgotten.

For example, Romans 8:29. Ask people to quote verse 28 and they’re on it!  Ask them to quote verse 29 and they most likely will stutter and stammer. Look closely though.  Verse 29 gives good traction and clarity to verse 28. All that happens is designed to conform us to the image of God’s Son.

Another one is in John 3.  Tell me what John 3:16 says.  That one is easy to spout off.  Some will know verse 17 if pressed. Okay, how about verse 15? We scramble for our Bibles to look it up.  Let me save you some time.  “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” BAM!

Powerful verse!  It finds its root in Numbers 21:5-9 where the Israelite people found life by looking at the serpent lifted up by Moses.  Life is found in the “lifted up” Christ.  That is a definite picture of Jesus being lifted up on a cross. There we find life. And it certainly isn’t a verse we can forget or leave out!!

Look up and live!

#PrayerfortheChurch

Friday, March 6th, 2020

We might occasionally hear someone say, “We need to pray for the church” and to stop short of gossip and story-telling they end it right there. Their heart and desire is sincere.  Some not so.  My sermon Sunday is going to take a positive spin on this often-used phrase and show how a person can pray for his/her church.

Paul’s prayer for the church from Colossians 1:9-14 is packed full of meaty stuff. 

  1. He first prays for them to have knowledge. This is direct aim at the Gnostics who were haunting the Colossian church with their nasty teaching. The Gnostics taught that Christ was a good place to start, but that there was so much more they could know and experience if only they would incorporate the Gnostic system of passwords, rites, and initiations.  The by-product of that was a know-it-all attitude and intimidation that their faith was not enough.  So Paul prays for knowledge. But here is the important thing: this knowledge is not just given to the follower of Christ to inform them, but to transform them.
  2. He then prays for them to walk well. The word walk has changed in meaning over the years. We all know what it means today. Back in biblical days it referred to a person’s pattern of daily conduct.  I’ll finish this section out with 4 marks of a pleasing walk.

Your prayers are deeply appreciated. Thanks.

#Trust#FulfilledProphecy

Sunday, February 2nd, 2020

In my last post I wrote about the sermon I was preaching this weekend.  As I write this post, it is Sunday morning and I am in a “holding pattern.” I am transitioning from studying and preparing myself to waiting. I thought I would share something that really struck me as I studied.

There are several reasons why we can trust God’s Word to be authoritative. One of those is fulfilled prophecy. I’d like to comment on that in this post.

I once had a man who was trying to defend his unbelief. When I asked Ken about Jesus and the fulfilled prophecy in His life, Ken’s answer was classic.  He said, “He was just the right man born at the right time and in the right place.” I wasn’t very knowledgeable at the time (and still have a huge lack in that department) and so my answer was simple: “Seriously? All those prophecies and one man filled them all in just the right time and just the right place?” Since then I have learned more. (Good thing since my answer was so weak). Here is just one thing I have found out:

There were 55 OT prophecies He alone fulfilled. One mathematics professor studied just 8 specific prophecies and his research was staggering. Just 8 prophecies and he found the possibility of one person fulfilling just those 8 was 1 in 10 with 17 zeroes. In a journal called Science Speaks this man said, “Suppose that we take 10 with 17 zeroes and had that put into silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep.  Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.”

That sort of puts it all into a different light doesn’t it?  Which is harder to accept-that Jesus was Who He said He was or that He was a man born at the right time and in the right place and just happened to fulfill the prophecies? I know where I will stake my sword.  And you?

#Trustworthy#Foundation

Friday, January 31st, 2020

Ideas on the Bible are mixed, even within the “church.”

Group 1 will say the Bible is just another book. You know…it has some wise sayings here and there.  It is mixed with a lot of genealogies, myths and other crazy visions.

Group 2 will say, “I know the Bible is important- at least my pastor thinks so. He’s always referring to it.” But they have no working, first-hand knowledge of the Bible itself.

Group 3 would align themselves with other Bible believers. It is true. It is God’s Word. It is infallible. It is without error. It is inspired. It is more than just a guide to life; it shows how to find real life.

Where do you stand? Group 1 stands for many in our culture today, even in the “church.” Liberal churches are teaching the Bible is just another book and it is being taught as a good guideline on how to treat people; how to be successful, etc.  Group 2 is a picture of those who might grow up in the church- might even still be in the church- but are really not convinced of its importance in their own life. Group 3 represents those who firmly believe in the importance of the Bible. Men of God are called on to preach the Word of God.  Paul told Timothy, “Preach the Word.”

That is all well and good if the Word is trustworthy. It becomes the foundation upon which we build. My sermon Sunday is entitled You Can Trust It!! It is getting more and more scarce to see and hear and meet people who firmly believe the Bible is trustworthy and are willing to teach it and preach it with authority.  My goal is to show why we can trust the Bible and MUST use it as the foundation of our faith and practice.

This is not an easy topic to make interesting because of the amount of information to be dispelled. I’d certainly appreciate your prayers for me and for those who listen. Thanks.