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.
A number of weeks ago I raised the issue that a pastor going into a bar would bring serious questions about his qualifications as an elder. A number of people later followed up on that with pastors they knew who did pub evangelism. Would their qualifications still be in question if that is what they are doing? So that gave me something to chew upon. A pub would certainl...
Keep ReadingPastor John Piper recently wrote that he would not be voting again this year. This has caused a stir and raised the question of when not to vote. What circumstance would compel a Christian to abstain from voting? There are two issues that I think are at play in this question. First is the morality issue, and second is the party platform question. Is the morality of th...
Keep ReadingWe have been hearing the phrase "right side of history" for years now. It has been the mantra of the progressive left so much so that it has become worn out and used less and less. However, it is still undergirding the thinking of the revolutionaries of our day. This showed up again in a recent article in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristof entitled Will We Choose The...
Keep ReadingOur church has been in 1 Timothy chapter three, and there we have been looking at the calling and character of elders. These are the men that God sets aside to lead, feed, and protect his people. But for those who have been in different kinds of churches, they may have seen different kinds of elders. Some churches have teaching elders and ruling elders. Teaching elders a...
Keep ReadingTreasure, riches, wealth, stock options, cash reserves, savings, the nest egg there are a lot of ways to speak of financial resources. Money is always in our lives and conversation. "Follow the money" we are told. Well, when you follow it all the way back, and I mean all the way back to the beginning, we find that God laced this world with gold and silver from the very f...
Keep ReadingThis last Sunday I sought to pound home the kingship of Jesus. Psalm 72 brought us into David's prayer for his son Solomon who would soon ascend to the throne. But there was another king that David was more interested in. As great at Solomon was, there was no way he would fulfill the expansive and universal reign that David spoke of, nor display the personal characterist...
Keep ReadingC.S. Lewis once said that everybody loves the idea of forgiveness, until someone actually has something to forgive. Unity can be the same way. Unity is easy when everybody agrees, but when there are differences, unity is kicked to the curb. Many churches are reeling right now because there are differences when it comes to wearing masks and other responses to Covid. Argum...
Keep ReadingIt seems that most people will tell you that ignorance is bad and you should do all you can to remedy it. That is, except theological ignorance. Many people are just fine with copious amounts of ignorance in this department. They don't seem to need it to drive a car or pay taxes, and so all is well. But A.W. Tozer sets us straight by saying that what you think when you t...
Keep ReadingIf you have made a habit of being at prayer meetings, you have probably been in the following situation before. As requests are being offered, someone asks prayer for Aunt Tilly's bunion. If the leader has his wits about him, this can be steered into a profitable time of prayer for Aunt Tilly. But sadly, many a saint has been led in prayer for untold numbers of hips, fee...
Keep ReadingThe Black Lives Matter organization has been catapulted to the national spotlight and it is pulling in every form of endorsement. While an organization is more than its name, it certainly is not less. With a name like Black Lives Matter it is hard to speak against it. Yet, because there is more than a name, we need to know what this organization supports and promotes. In...
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