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Sacrifice of Peace
Often when we consider the sacrifice of our Savior, we focus on the physical sacrifices He made. We even sing, “He left the splendor of heaven knowing His destiny was the lonely hill of Golgotha…” The Bible uses human terms to describe the glories of heaven because it is above human comprehension. And we, as material beings, can conceptualize leaving riches and wealth for poverty and sacrifice. Probably most often when we consider Christ’s sacrifice, we think of the physical agony He suffered. We read of the beatings, scourging, bleeding, and pain and, again as humans, we can relate on some small level. I want you today to think of…
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Something Every Congregation Needs to Consider
At Central, we are so excited about evangelism, and about having every member involved in various aspects of that wonderful work. A few weeks ago, we hosted a “School of Evangelism,” and, while we had been involved in some parts of that model already, the work since then has only grown and excitement is everywhere. With that in mind, our sermons recently have also focused on evangelism. While writing the sermon I preached last Sunday morning (I wrote it a few weeks ago), I was doing some thinking about one particular aspect and wanted to share it on here, because it really is something that every congregation needs to consider.…
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“What Was the First Ever Church Called?”
The title of this post is taken from a portion of a podcast I listened to on September 15, 2023. The name of the podcast is The Briefing and its host is Dr. Albert Mohler. He is well known in some religious circles. This would be especially true among those identified as “evangelical.” In case you are not familiar with Dr. Mohler, the following information is from his website. The information is very basic. but what I’m reproducing here should help you to see how he identifies himself religiously. Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. serves as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary – the flagship school of the Southern…
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Friends or Brothers and Sisters?
Jim and I have been traveling quite a bit this last month. Some of it has been for speaking engagements and some of it for relaxation. We love being able to visit with other congregations of the Lord’s church. We almost always see friends we have known for years and sometimes those we have just recently met at Polishing the Pulpit or some other congregation. It is always such joy for us. Just this week we have been able to reconnect with so many friends from the Dexter church of Christ and others from southeast Missouri who have visited the Matthews church of Christ where Jim is preaching in a gospel…
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Is It “Self-Banned” in Your Home?
It’s so-called “Banned Books Week.” The propaganda machine is running hard again to let us know what books have been “banned” here in the United States–despite the fact that you can order any of those books from nearly any bookstore. It’s a publicity stunt, and I hope we see right through it. However, when I saw that this week was upcoming again, it made me think of the one Book that is often not allowed in many places–the Bible. Many of the libraries that are up in arms because a book about gender identity isn’t allowed in an elementary school would not dream of putting the Bible in that same…
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Why It’s Easy to Spot a Non-Conformist
I suppose that every generation has them. They are the ones who adamantly refuse to conform to whatever norms there are at a given time and/or place. My generation probably didn’t invent the idea, but many sure popularized it. Some of us did not buy into the entire agenda, but we were influenced in various ways. One of those ways was seen in what could very loosely be called a “wardrobe” back then. Anything that was deemed to be “dressy” or “formal” was frowned upon. We were determined to not look like our parents. If they wanted to get dressed up, that was fine with us, but we were intent…
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If, Then…
Cause and effect is something we work on quite a bit in elementary English and Language Arts. What may seem rather obvious to those of us who are older can sometimes trip up young readers. Because of the different construction options for these scenarios, they need to be reminded to always think about what happened first: the cause. For instance, “I studied hard and got good grades so I graduated” has the same meaning and cause as “I graduated because I studied hard and got good grades.” Even though they are said in reverse order, a careful reader understands which must happen first. Why do we know that in our…
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The Night Pronouns Mattered
Teens in the Word has become a real highlight for Central’s Youth Group. Each year, the group studies something different and the atmosphere is like nothing else this group does. For awhile, I was the “main” teacher (thankfully, Noah has taken that over and is doing a great job!) and came up with the theme for each year. So, for one year, we decided to handle some very tough subjects, but ones that these young people are facing from day-to-day. Among those subjects was transgenderism. We looked at it from a Biblical perspective as well as a practical, how-do-we-deal-with-it, perspective. At the end of the study, we built a list…
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The Numbers on the Board
51. 45. 37. Have you guessed what those numbers are? They are not (as far as I know) the combination needed to open a safe somewhere. They are not winning lottery numbers. They are not any number of things you may be thinking. We could go on and on with various possibilities, but it’s probably better not to do that. They are the numbers I observed on “the board” of a small rural church building not long ago. You do know what I mean by “the board,” don’t you? It is the board that is placed in the front of many places of worship. Sometimes, it is one of two boards.…
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The Highs and Lows of Life
If you have lived very much of your adult life, you have been through some “highs” and some “lows” in life. Even teenagers go through these periods of being on top of the world one day and down in the pits the next. Sometimes senior citizens feel as though all they have left are the lows of life and that all of the high points in life are passed and gone. This topic came to my mind as I have been studying through the book of Jeremiah, the prophet of God. You remember him, don’t you – the weeping prophet? God, in His infinite wisdom, knew Jeremiah before he was…
