The doctrine of “faith only is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort.” This a quote from the Articles of an American denominational creed book.
For centuries there has been a debate about the role of faith and works regarding one’s salvation. Another popular phrase is that salvation is “through faith alone by grace alone.”
What does the Bible say? Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Yesterday I began a task that I’ve been putting off–cleaning out the closet in my home office. There are lots of boxes, some unmarked, and others simply labeled “memorabilia.”
As I began to sift through souvenirs of trips, family mementos, pictures and some plain junk, I came across cards. Stacks and stacks of cards. There were birthday cards. Anniversary cards. Valentine’s day cards. Get well cards. Sympathy cards. Thinking of you cards. And thank you cards. Continue reading
Filed under Encouragement
In his book “Seeing Life: Finding God,” James L. Merrell, tells the story of a small, rural Tennessee church, from the 19th century that got into a fierce squabble which resulted in division.
The 100 member church was split right down the middle. There was no resolution. Neither side had the resources to build or buy its own building so they agreed to use the same building but meet at different times. However, they had a separate treasury to pay their own bills. They even had separate piles of coal to fuel the pot belly furnace to heat the building in the winter. Continue reading
Filed under Word of the Week
In a facebook post yesterday my friend and preaching colleague, Doy Moyer opined that “Changing hearts is greater than changing laws, for when hearts are changed for the good, the laws won’t even be necessary.”
In the aftermath of continued gun violence in general and another school shooting in particular, cries are coming to “do something!” There is pressure on lawmakers to pass more gun laws to “keep this from ever happening again.” Continue reading
Filed under Heart
Yesterday’s news was dominated by two major stories: What we can do to stop school shootings like the one in Parkland, Florida, last week and the death of evangelist Billy Graham.
Oh, there was NBC’s coverage of the winter Olympics, but even that network had considerable national and local coverage regarding the other two major events.
In watching and listening at various intervals throughout the day it occurred to me there was quite a striking paradox taking place. Continue reading
C. S. Lewis from his book, “God in the Dock, offers this interesting bit of dialogue regarding prayer.
“Praying for particular things,” said I, “always seems to me like advising God how to run the world. Wouldn’t it be wiser to assume that He knows best?”
“On the same principle,” said he, “I suppose you never ask a man next to you to pass the salt, because God knows best whether you ought to have salt or not. And I suppose you never take an umbrella, because God knows best whether you ought to be wet or dry.” Continue reading
Filed under Great Bible Verses
Is Jesus the “only begotten Son of God?
Apparently, Apollo Quiboloy, the megachurch preacher from the Philippines doesn’t think so.
Actually, I had never heard of Quiboloy who boasts some 6 million tithing followers in that country and worldwide, until he made the news when he was detained by federal agents in Honolulu, Hawaii, last Thursday. Agents discovered $350,000 in cash and parts to assemble military-style rifles were discovered on his private jet. Continue reading
Thomas B. Wheeler, who served as CEO of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company for many years loves to tell this story on himself.
Wheeler and his wife were driving along an interstate highway when he noticed that their car was low on gas. He got off the highway at the next exit and soon found a rundown gas station with just one gas pump. He asked the lone attendant to fill the tank and check the oil, then went for a little walk around the station to stretch his legs. Continue reading
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The story is told of the great British explorer, William Edward Perry, who led an expedition to the Arctic Ocean in the early 1800’s.
They wanted to go farther north to continue their charting. So they calculated their location by the stars and then started a very difficult and treacherous march north. Continue reading
Filed under Christian Living
“Horrific,” was the word Broward country Sheriff Scott Israel kept repeating in yesterday’s news conference describing the aftermath of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“It’s catastrophic,” Israel said, as he recounted the events that left 17 dead and 15 wounded, some seriously fighting for their lives. “There really are no words.” Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie called it “a horrific situation.” Continue reading
Filed under Evil
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