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.
I am writing this post because a number of people have joined me in striving to memorize the book of Colossians. This is not something we do because we are bored and looking for a challenge. On the contrary, we are busy and this pursuit will only add to our plate (just a little). But, life is short and we don't want to mess up the things we are doing. We need God's word ...
Keep ReadingA couple of weeks ago I preached through the first half of Matthew chapter 3. It was there that John the Baptist launched a stinging rebuke at the Pharisees and Sadducees who had come to be baptized. This led us to think about hypocrisy. These religious leaders were coming to be baptized with a baptism of repentance which seemed to be exactly what they needed. Any yet, t...
Keep ReadingIn case you need reminding, 2014 is halfway gone. That's right. It will never be repeated, ever. It is a memory that will fade into oblivion. At least that is what popular culture tells us. But actually, the first half of 2014 will come back when the books are opened in judgment. Hopefully, you are now thinking of commands you broke and callings you neglected in those mo...
Keep ReadingThere is a sober warning that comes in Paul's last letter. In 2 Timothy, Paul warns that difficult days will come and they will be difficult because they will be filled with godless, evil men manifesting every form of corruption. He says in 3:5 that one of their defining features is they will be "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." This ...
Keep ReadingSometimes it is not a book or a chapter or a paragraph that really nails you, it is the single sentence. A solitary quote can do you more good than a whole section. I encountered one of those the other day. It has been resonating in my mind. Usually, it is there convicting me of how poorly I measure up. But at the same time, I see the hope that it holds out. This is the ...
Keep ReadingThere is a famous quote that says, "never say never." It is one of those fun little quotes that endures because there is a glaring contradiction that still conveys an important reality that we do well not to forget. That dynamic is very similar to the simple admonition of this blog post, "don't grow weary of growing weary." The main difference is that my reminder is bibl...
Keep ReadingLast Sunday night there was a verse in Hosea that promoted a short discussion about the "Easy Believeism" mindset. I thought a few more reflections might be helpful. I think this might be one of those cases that shows us the complexities of discerning between the methods used and the messages conveyed. There is a need to start with some definition. When I speak of "Easy...
Keep ReadingWe have all heard it from someone at some time. They don't want to go to church because of all the hypocrites. But who exactly are they talking about and what church are they talking about. Let's deal with the church first. If the person you are talking to doesn't want to go to your church because of all the hypocrites, he might have a very good reason. If your church h...
Keep ReadingThis is a great question. I mean that. It really is. To be more precise, the question is "why does God seem to heal all types of diseases, but never once heals someone with an amputation?" Don't get me wrong. I know how this question can be asked. This question can be launched from a person who is looking at you with the narrowed eyes of a hunter peering through a rifle ...
Keep ReadingAnger is a difficult thing. The reason it is difficult is because there are two things that are clear from scripture about it. First, anger is not necessarily a sin. Second, most anger is sin. To illustrate the first point, we read of God's anger in the Old Testament, we see Jesus' anger in the temple, and we are instructed in Ephesians 4:26 that we can "be angry yet do ...
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