Truth
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Friday, May 13th, 2022
We tend to think sometimes that the early church knew no friction. Nothing is farther from the truth. Like all earthly entities, the church was and is no different. Church is made up of people and as such will find itself embroiled in tension from time to time. I’m not talking about big “C” church. I’m talking little “c,” like the local body of believers.
There is an old saying we hear and may even use often: they are like oil and water. We hear it used about siblings. We hear it used about parents and children. We hear it used about coworkers and even teammates. We even hear it used about individuals in a church. Sparks fly and at times it may even feel like WW3 is happening.
Blaise Pascal once said:
Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.
He said that of his day. (the 1600s). I think we can say that about ours as well. Seems like there is nothing new under the sun.
2 John is the 2nd book in my short series called Snapshots. The title is Picture of Tension Revealed. It is about the molding of truth and love. Truth is necessary; truth and love is vital. We would do well to listen, learn and practice both. Join me please at 9:00 or 10:45 in person or via live stream. We will also be honoring our high school and college graduates this Sunday. All told I think we have 15. Thanks for being a part of our worship.
Posted in Christian living, Church, Love, Peace, Sermon Series/Topic, Truth | 8 Responses »
Wednesday, May 4th, 2022
OOPS! I messed up. I allowed time to get away from me. In my last post, which was a preview of this past Sunday’s sermon, I said I would share some thoughts from Sunday’s sermon on Philemon and the power of forgiveness. As I said, I allowed time to get away from me since I had planned on posting this Monday, the 2nd. Well…better late than never I guess. 🙂
Here are four observations I made at the end of my message this past Sunday. I know it isn’t much but perhaps it might help with some perspective.
Failure to forgive imprisons believers in their past. Unforgiveness keeps the sore open and never allows it to heal. Hurt done to you and not dealt with is like having an open sore that always oozes pus. You can put a band-aid over it but the sore never heals. Ditto failing to forgive.
Failure to forgive produces bitterness. The longer you hold onto an offense committed against you, the more bitter you will get. Bitterness distorts your whole outlook on life.
Failure to forgive gives an open door to the enemy. He loves little cracks in the doorway. Ephesians 4 tells us not to give him a foothold.
Failure to forgive hinders fellowship with God. A barrier devel0ps as a result of bitterness. Having a horizontal barrier is bad; having a vertical one is even worse. A thousand time worse. A person who is not forgiving of others cannot be right with God.
One last thing: I say this over and over to the church. If you fail to forgive someone, they own you. You are their slave. Sad part is this: your failure to forgive does not hurt them. They don’t care. It does, however, hurt you.
In my mind there is only one thing to do.
Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Forgiveness, Freedom, Opinion, Sermon Series/Topic, Truth | 4 Responses »
Wednesday, April 27th, 2022
Last week I post a song by Arrows entitled The Lion Still Roars. You can see it here. It a great song to begin the day with. I have actually found myself listening to it during my workout at the Y.
Well…here comes another song which is totally different. It comes from a group called Honor and Glory, which features several members of the Christian rock band, Disciple. But before that turns you off, give this song a listen. I do believe you will be pleasantly surprised. Honor and Glory is the name of the band consisting of a few members of Disciple and others who play or sing in their worship band in their church. They decided to get together to do a worship album. Phenomenal album! This song is one of my favorite cuts, largely due to the power and truth of the lyrics. Another song, Jesus We Love You, will bring you to worship.
Anyway, here is the song Won’t Start Now by Honor and Glory. Let me know what you think. Sorry there is no version with lyrics but I’m pretty sure you won’t need them.
Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, God, Music video, Pick me Up, Truth | 4 Responses »
Friday, April 22nd, 2022
As you can tell there is a bad side to eternity and a good side. Let’s talk about it.
Bertrand Russell lived from 1872-1970 and was well versed in math, philosophy, logic, and other studies. By all accounts that I could find he was a brilliant man. He was, depending on who he was debating or talking to, either an agnostic (because he said one cannot disprove there is a God) or an atheist. Yeah…he waffled. But one thing was consistent: he believed religion was superstition. To complicate matters here is a quote he made:
“There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believed in hell.”
There is so much about heaven and hell we don’t know since none of us have been there. I do, however, believe they are both real places and the choice we make about Jesus will determine where we will spend eternity.
My sermon this Sunday is the final one in the series I called Truth Decay. I certainly have not covered all there was to cover, but for the past two months we have been looking at some serious “hot buttons” in today’s culture about what I call non-negotiables when it comes to what we need to believe. None of them had anything to do with cultural issues of morality, social justice, lifestyles, etc. That, as they say, is for another time and another place. This week I will be talking about where we will spend eternity.
I would love to have you join us in person or via livestream. We will be back to two services this week, with one at 9:00 and the other at 10:45. Join us won’t you?
Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Faith, Heaven/Hell, hope, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic, Truth | 4 Responses »
Friday, April 15th, 2022
Famous atheist, the late Christopher Hitchens, was once interviewed for Portland Monthly about his opposition to religion, and more specifically, Christianity. The women “minister” questioning him noted the Christianity he opposed was of the more “fundamentalist” variety, while she identified herself as a “liberal Christian.” After explaining that she didn’t take the stories of Scripture literally and rejected the atonement, she asked Hitchens if he saw a difference between fundamentalist faith and more liberal religion. His answer was surprising: “I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.”
I guess there is no other way to say it but that he put her in her place. And that I totally agree with him. If I became convinced that the resurrection of Jesus was not true, or that Jesus was just a good teacher or a wise man to imitate and not the Savior and King, I would disavow being a Christian. I would walk away from the faith.
This Sunday is the apex of our faith: the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I’m excited about preaching on that! We are meeting at Abram Farm Event Venue in order to be together as one church family. Our service will start at 10:00 and be live streamed as well (thanks to Pastor Ryan for making that happen). So I’d like to invite you to join us in person at Abram Farm or via live stream.
Posted in Doctrine, Easter, Faith, Resurrection, Sermon Series/Topic, Story, Truth | 4 Responses »
Wednesday, April 13th, 2022
After preaching on The Cross is Still the Cross this past Sunday, and knowing this is “Holy Week” i.e. the last week of Jesus on earth before His crucifixion, I was struck by the words to an old hymn. Honestly, I am not into many hymns because much of what I sang as a youngster fit more in the Spiritual songs genre. But there are some hymns which are real diamonds…diamonds we ought to mine and never forget. Here is one of them:
“What can wash away by sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus/What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus/
Chorus:
O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow/No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my pardon this I see, Nothing but the blood of Jesus/ For my cleansing, this my plea, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can for sin atone, Nothing but the blood of Jesus/Naught of good that I have done, Nothing but the blood of Jesus/
This is all my hope and peace, Nothing but the blood of Jesus/This is all my righteousness, Nothing but the blood of Jesus/
O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow/No other found I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Words and music Robert Lowry
A blast from the past. But what a punch! Remember this truth as you celebrate the death of Jesus this week.
Posted in Blast from the Past, Church, Death, Doctrine, Easter, God, Grace, hope, Jesus, Pick me Up, The Cross, Truth | 4 Responses »
Friday, April 8th, 2022
On March 24, 1989 the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, spilling almost a quarter-million gallons of oil into the sea. Cleanup removed all visible traces of the oil spill within a year. But now scientists believe some of the methods used actually harmed the ecology of the area rather than helped it. The plankton and other microbial organisms may take another decade from now to return to normal.
Looking back at that disaster, it seems almost ironic that the whole story makes a fitting illustration of self-reform and the necessity of divine grace for cleansing from sin. To the progressives, the cross is one of the most offensive elements in historic Christian teaching. They simply cannot and will not accept or believe God would sacrifice His Son for others.
For the orthodox (small “o” not big “O”) follower of Jesus, the cross is absolutely essential. I will be sharing the teachings (translated: heresy) of the progressives while comparing them to what the Bible says. Examples used will be William Paul Young (The Shack), Steve Chalke, Rob Bell (yes, that infamous one), Richard Rohr, and Brian McLaren. I believe you will be shocked what they say about the crucifixion and the cross.
And by the way: do you know what penal substitutionary atonement is? They don’t either.
I look forward to seeing you Sunday in person, or if not, then via live stream.
Posted in Doctrine, Faith, God, Grace, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic, The Cross, Truth | 2 Responses »
Friday, March 25th, 2022
In Matthew 16 Jesus asks His disciples who people say He is. Some say He is Elijah. Some say He is Jeremiah. Some say He is John the Baptist. Others say He is one of the prophets. Then Jesus turns the page and asks them who they think He is. Peter answers for all of them (of course) and says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
That question: “Who do you say I am?” is a really good one to ask. For some it is easy to answer. Ask me and I will tell you what Peter said. Ask a Progressive and he will hedge and hem-haw around. The doctrine of who Jesus is tends to be up for grabs. It is always open for reinterpretation. There are no sacred cows for them and at the top of the list is Jesus. They want to remake Him in their image. Unless you have studied the Progressive movement (and become a little jaded in the process), who they think Jesus is would floor you. I’ll be covering some of those ideas during Sunday’s message.
More importantly, I will be talking about who Jesus is and how the Bible describes Him. I like what C.S. Lewis once said, “Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something else.” There is more to that famous quote, but Jesus is what Lewis stated here: the Son of God.
My sermon this Sunday entitled Jesus is Still Jesus continues my series on Truth Decay. I would love to have you join me on Sunday morning in person or via live stream. We meet and broadcast at 9 and 10:45. As always, your prayers are appreciated.
Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Faith, Jesus, Sermon Series/Topic, Truth | 6 Responses »
Friday, March 18th, 2022
In his book titled God:Coming Face to Face with His Majesty, John MacArthur tells an old fable about six men blind from birth who lived in India. One day they decided to visit a nearby palace. When they arrived, there was an elephant standing in the courtyard. The first blind man touched the side of the elephant and said, “An elephant is like a wall.” The second blind man touched the trunk and said, “An elephant is like a snake.” The third blind man touched the tusk and said, “An elephant is like a spear.” The fourth blind man touched the leg and said, “An elephant is like a tree.” The fifth blind man touched the ear and said, “An elephant is like a fan.” The sixth blind man touched the tail and said, “An elephant is like a rope.” Because each blind man touched only one part of the elephant, none of them could agree on what an elephant is really like.
That analogy can be used to describe how many people have misconceptions about what God is really like. I’m not sure that misconception is not any more apparent than in today’s progressive movement. Their idea of God is so messed up and off track that it takes some doing to try to reign it in. That really isn’t anything new when you think about it. Freud once said, “God was an illusion.” Voltaire said, “He is an invention of man.” Some say He is a mean, hateful entity, a child-abuser. Jesse Ventura said, “God and religion are a crutch.” Stephen Hawking said, “There is no heaven or afterlife…that is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.” Richard Dawkins called God a “moral monster.” I believe those and others have already found out or will find out He exists and does not fit their description.
I’m continuing my series on Truth Decay with this week’s message titled “God is Still God.” I would love to have you join us in person or by live stream. You can see it live at 9 and 10:45 on the church’s YouTube channel or FB page or watch it later on both of those as well. Either way I would love to have you pray for us.
Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Faith, God, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic, Truth | 4 Responses »
Friday, March 11th, 2022
Have you ever had vertigo? I’m not sure there is a more awful feeling than having it. Watching the world spin out of control and you haven’t even moved. I went to bed feeling fine one time, but when I woke up in the middle of the night I walked right into the door jam. And then the nausea hit. A quick trip to the clinic revealed wax on my eardrum. A quick flush, an anti-nausea pill and I felt like a brand new man. Jo disagreed. She kept me under wraps. (I think it has more to do than just the nausea(.
Vertigo is an ugly thing to have. We seem to be in somewhat of a vertigo situation these days when it comes to truth. It is a fact that truth has always been in question. Check out the story of Adam and Eve. What did the serpent say to Eve? “Did God really say that?
Does truth matter? You betcha! If there is no truth then there is no place to stand. Anything goes-which, of course, our world likes. Truth still matters. Always has and always will. As truth decays so do our foundations. My sermon Sunday is the 2nd in the series Truth Decay, I’ve titled the sermon a real doozy (so he says out of the corner of his mouth): Truth is Still the Truth. I’d love to have you join me in person or via live stream. You can check it out at 9 and 10:45 on the church’s FB page or on YouTube. Oh…the Scripture is from I Cor. 1:18-2:5. See you there!
Posted in Christian living, Doctrine, Faith, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic, Truth | 2 Responses »
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