This blog is Pastor Jay's weekly musings about God's Word, God's world, and God's call to our culture. We hope they encourage, challenge, and inform you. Sign up to recieve them in your email.
What should the atmosphere of the church be like? Many churches today want you to know what their atmosphere is like. Their websites tell you what you can expect when you arrive. This is understandable and helpful. However, many churches are quick to let you know that they are casual and easy-going. And often times this is only half the truth. The reality is they are fun...
Keep ReadingThe gospel is not only the good news of salvation, the gospel is also good news of fruitful living. But those two things, salvation and fruit-bearing, are not separate and exclusive features. A part of being saved is being saved from barren, fruitless living. In one of the most precious portions of Scripture, John 15, Jesus is teaching his disciples in the Upper Room ...
Keep ReadingIn the book of Jude we find another striking example of how divine sovereignty and human responsibility operate together. Finding divine sovereignty and human responsibility brought together closely, even in single verses, is not uncommon in the Scripture. But in Jude, these concepts stand out all the more starkly because this letter is so short. Jude didn't have a lot...
Keep ReadingImagine you were at the doctor's office for a physical. When everything was done the Doctor came in, sat down and said, "I have bad news and good news. You have a serious disease. But I know what to do. I have done this surgery thousands of times. I have scheduled the surgery and we are going to get this taken care of. I am glad you came in. Have a great day." You sit...
Keep ReadingWith the abortion discussions heating up more than ever, I want to make sure each person can give the best defense possible on behalf of their unborn neighbor who is under such great threat. One of the latest arguments that has gained a lot of traction in the pro-choice movement is the notion of Bodily Autonomy. Since the science of the fully-human fertilized egg is be...
Keep ReadingThe pro-life cause is making gains that are unprecedented. This is tremendous and we should pray for more of the same. We should not be surprised that there is also a growing outcry coming from the pro-choice side. Many of the pro-choice arguments are being repainted and sent out for duty again. There are also newer arguments gaining momentum. None of this is too surpr...
Keep ReadingAs those who hold to a Biblical presupposition, namely that God's Word is completely true and totally sufficient, we expect every facet of life down to the smallest details to accord with what the Bible says. This means when science or psychology make proclamations that contradict what the Bible says, we continue to hold to the Bible and tell the scientist and the psyc...
Keep ReadingIn my last post Did the Church Get it Wrong on Gay People?, where I addressed the recent article in USA Today that affirmed that very question, I made the recommendation that every Christian today needs to be able to answer a frequent challenge from the LGBT community. That challenge goes like this, "Since the Old Testament has laws you do not obey, such as certain die...
Keep ReadingOn Monday April 29th, USA Today published an opinion piece entitled American Churches Must Reject Literalism and Admit We Got It Wrong on Gay People. You can read it here. The main point of the author, Oliver Thomas, is captured well in the subtitle, "Churches will continue hemorrhaging members until we face the truth: Being a faithful Christian does not mean accepti...
Keep ReadingNo matter how hard people try, they can't escape the fear of death. They can surround themselves with a stack of evolutionary textbooks, a hoard of hardened atheists, and a phone full of comedy routines about aging, but death still haunts them. My understanding is that the original zombie movies were a representation of the slow and creeping inevitability of death. Sure,...
Keep Reading