Loving God's Gift of Liberty
Every seven years the fourth of July falls on God's seventh-day Sabbath. God's gift of rest in His salvation on that day coincides with His gift of liberty to the nation of America in 1776. Rare is the worship service where I touch a secular holiday. But it seems timely this sabbath to highlight how special is God's gift of liberty to this nation, as Americans are presently under siege by those who do not love liberty.
Read more...Jesus and the Gates of Hell
Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. This saying is interesting to consider today when certain voices have classified churches and their services "non-essential." I want to explore these two ideas today, the one, that the church is not essential for the well being of society, and the other, that the church is so enduring that the gates of hell will not prevail against her.
Read more...The Inconvenient Path
Christians are enthralled with Jesus. We love Him. He is merciful, kind, accepting, gracious, glorious, and relatable. He is God. He is also one of us. We are not gods but He came down to us to give us life. Talk about mysteries!
We come together with a purpose. We want to share what Jesus is like--who Jesus is--with others. In doing that we rub up against each other. Sometimes the sparks are good; sometimes off-putting.
Read more...Report on Annual Council 2017
- Introduction
- What is AC?
- Who goes to AC?
- What happens at AC?
- The Present Issue of Disobedience
- The Proposed Action
- October 9 Business Session
- Outcome
- What Next?
Bigger than Me
It is hard to think of anything bigger than me. In our world, in the enveloping narcissistic, self-loving culture, self is at the center. It's all about me. We are gods and our idols are our things because they are our things. Our pictures, our kids, our phones, our cars, our opinions--oh, how clever and important we are. We're smarter than God.
But God says that His Church is a fortress which He holds in a revolted world:
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