This afternoon I made a routine trip to a local grocery store to pick up a couple of items for my wife. Nothing complicated, just mushrooms and hair spray. Since I didn’t require a shopping cart it didn’t take more than two minutes for me to navigate the two aisles I needed that were busy…
Month: September 2012
The Lord is My Satisfaction:: 3
“I have all that I need” (Psalm 23:1, NLT) Or, as the KJV states, “I shall not want.” David is not describing desire, as if to say, “I don’t really want anything.” Literally he was saying I am not lacking anything that I need, for those who trust the Shepherd will never lack anything they…
The Lord is My Satisfaction:: 2
“The LORD is my shepherd.” (Psalm 23:1) David wrote Psalm 23 from his own experience as a shepherd boy on the hillsides of Judea. In this famous opening line, David used the word LORD, the designation for Yahweh, to point to the self-sufficiency of God. It is out of God’s self-sufficiency that He supplies our…
The Lord is My Satisfaction:: 1
Yesterday I began a new sermon series on the 23rd Psalm. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve never used this text in weekend worship. My use of it has been primarily for funerals and hospital visits. Scholars do not know with certainty when David wrote this Psalm. They are generally agreed that it…
New Sermon Series: The 23rd Psalm
This weekend I’m launching a brand new sermon series from a passage that I’ve never used in worship: The 23rd Psalm. As I’ve been working through commentaries and resources, I’ve been learning that Psalm 23 is not just a popular text for the aging or the dying. It is a very contemporary word for those…
Harvard Divinity Prof Claims Proof Jesus Was Married
Perhaps you’ve seen the hubbub in today’s news that Harvard Divinity Professor Karen King has discovered a piece of parchment dated sometime in the second century that claims Jesus was married to a woman named Mary during the time of his incarnation. The parchment, roughly the size of a cell phone, cites Jesus making a…
Foundations
Last Wednesday night I was invited to speak at the weekly gathering of InterVarsity on the campus of Drake University. Whenever I do that, I am usually assigned a teaching topic, and my assignment for that evening was to talk about how to build your spiritual life. As I thought and prayed about this, I…
Put it into Practice:: 2
Our Christian practice involves expressing love within the community of faith. The remainder of Romans 12 tells us that we must also extend love beyond the community of faith…to those outside the walls of our facilities. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who…
Put it into Practice:: 1
Last weekend I finished my three week series from Romans chapter 12 titled, Training Camp. Together we learned that the foundational elements of church are worship and equipping for service. The final piece puts it all together in the practice of our faith. The final verses of Romans 12 deal with our Christian practice in…
Need a Christian Perspective on Politics?
Here’s an interesting article by Bryan Roberts published in Relevant Magazine on maintaining balance as a believer as we approach the Presidential election in November. CHECK THIS OUT!
