Edinburgh 1910 and Protestant Missionary Expansion

As Henry Ford’s Model T first began rolling off the assembly line and down long stretches of American roads[1], planning was underway for the World Missionary Conference to be held in Edinburg in 1910.[2] But the man who said “history is bunk”[3] was far removed from the Conference’s efforts to learn from shared histories ofContinue reading “Edinburgh 1910 and Protestant Missionary Expansion”

Self-Appointed Judges

What follows is a lightly edited written account of a sermon recorded and broadcast on May 13, 2021. We’re in the book of James right now in this series called The Intersection of Faith & Life, and our reading this morning is from James 2:1–13. And it reads: My brothers (and sisters), show no partialityContinue reading “Self-Appointed Judges”

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

What follows is a lightly edited written account of a sermon recorded and broadcast on September 2, 2020. This morning, we are renewing our message and discussion series on the parables of Jesus. These parables are simple, illustrative stories and were used by Jesus to teach spiritual and moral lessons. They were used to tellContinue reading “The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard”

Solitude: All Oneness

What follows is a lightly edited written account of a sermon recorded and broadcast on February 3, 2021. We’ve talked about prayer. We’ve talked about fasting. We’ve talked about Bible study, and today, this morning, we’re going to talk about solitude.  Now, each of these we’re treating as fairly distinct spiritual disciplines. However, there’s notContinue reading “Solitude: All Oneness”

Blessed are the Merciful

What follows is a lightly edited written account of a sermon recorded and broadcast on November 6, 2020. Beatitudes — that term comes from the Latin word beatus, which means blessed. All of these statements start with the word blessed. There is a series of them that will bring us from where we started inContinue reading “Blessed are the Merciful”

Thoughts on a Christian Nation

The United States of America is not a Christian nation. For many Christians, that statement makes their blood boil. They recount much of what they’ve learned about the faith of the Founding Fathers. They also have specific interpretations of things like the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which reads in part, “Congress shall makeContinue reading “Thoughts on a Christian Nation”

False Messengers, False Prophets

“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:16) “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguisesContinue reading “False Messengers, False Prophets”

Thoughts on Leadership

Leadership is easy to say something about. It is another thing entirely to talk about leadership in a way that makes it tangible and definitive. There is a fog that often surrounds and obscures the concept. Many think they know about it or can recognize it, yet the error rate seems high. This confusion createsContinue reading “Thoughts on Leadership”

What is the Gospel?

What is the gospel? It’s a different question than, “What does the word, gospel, mean?” The answer to the latter question is that the word gospel means good news. In this sense, any news you receive which is good could be denotatively described as gospel. Problems arise when connotation, or ascribed meaning, of the wordContinue reading “What is the Gospel?”

Emotions, Social Justice, the Gospel

Things that I have read and heard recently: There is a War on FITB (Fill in the Blank) Things are getting out of hand People are reacting emotionally Emotions are being stirred up in an attempt at manipulation Social justice is not the gospel The Church should just focus on Christ Here are some thoughtsContinue reading “Emotions, Social Justice, the Gospel”