Author Andy Stanley, the Evangelical preacher at the North Point Community Church in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Georgia, has recently caused quite a stir among his peers and many theologians.
In a recent column in Relevant magazine, entitled “Why Do Christians Want to Post the Ten Commandments And Not the Sermon on the Mount?” Stanley argued that the ten commandments are not binding on Christians. Continue reading
Filed under Christian Living
Years ago Paul Harvey told a story on his radio show about The Butterball Turkey company setting up a hotline to answer consumer questions about preparing holiday turkeys.
One woman called to inquire about cooking a turkey that had been in her freezer for 23 years.
The operator told her it might be safe if the freezer had been kept below 0 degrees the entire time. But the operator warned the woman that, even if it were safe, the flavor had probably deteriorated, and she wouldn’t recommend eating it. Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
Though it happened years ago, I will never forget driving into the parking lot of the High School where I lived and seeing for the first time a bumper sticker that challenged: “Question Authority.” I’m guessing it wasn’t on a teacher’s car. Since then, I’ve seen and heard it many times.
This slogan was popularized by the late, controversial psychologist Timothy Leary who was known for advocating the use of LSD and psychedelic drugs.
Questioning authority is nothing new. Continue reading
Filed under Authority
Edward Skidmore relates a memorable moment many years ago as he and his wife Susan were on their way to Sunday worship. Sitting in the back seat was their 2-year-old daughter, Kimberly and her slightly younger cousin, Able.
Kimberly was in a foul mood that morning, but her smiley-faced cousin decided it was time for a word of exhortation. Though he could barely talk, he looked her in the face and said happily, “Rejoice Kimmy!” Continue reading
Filed under Word of the Week
Yesterday’s post, An Ironic Absence of the Bible, was about newly elected Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema refusing to take the oath of office by placing her right hand on the Bible. Instead she used a law-book.
One of our readers questioned whether or not it was right to take an oath and cited Jesus’ statement in His famous Mountain Message. Continue reading
Filed under Christian Living
Last week newly elected Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema took the oath of office but refused to be sworn in on the Bible. Instead, she placed her right hand on a book of laws that included the Arizona and United States Constitution.
“Kyrsten always gets sworn in on a Constitution simply because of her love for the Constitution,” the senator’s office said.
Hmm. Maybe. Continue reading
Following Clemson’s rout of Alabama Monday night to win their third national championship and Coach Dabo Swinney’s second title, he wasn’t interested in basking in the spotlight.
“All the credit – all the glory – goes to the good Lord,” Swinney said during a nationally televised postgame interview.
Swinney was a gracious, humble and charming winner. “There are so many great coaches that are so deserving of a moment like this and never get the chance to experience it. And to get to do it once and then to get to do it again, it’s a blessing, and it’s just simply the grace of the good Lord to allow us to experience something like this. … Continue reading
Filed under Passage To Ponder
Last night during the Alabama-Clemson national championship football game, there were some clever commercials. But the most amusing was AT&T’s ad with the catchphrase “Just Ok is not OK.”
The ads depict various situations where settling for ok is unacceptable. One shows a man in a hospital bed waiting for surgery. While his anxious wife looks on, she asks the nurse about the doctor and she responds, “He’s ok.”
In another scene, an artist tells a man getting his first tattoo that he’s “one of the tattoo artists in the city” and that the result is going to look “OK.” Continue reading
Filed under Christian Living, Growth
Norma Jean and I are spending the month of January on the southeast coast of Florida in the area of Ft. Lauderdale, often called the gold coast.
We have been invited to work with the Northside church and their preacher, my good friend, Steve McAllister. I am preaching every Sunday morning and teaching the Bible class. Our theme for the month is “Pressing Toward the Prize” We are studying the book of Philippians in the Bible class and presenting sermons around the theme that encourages us to “press on.”
Here are a few thoughts from yesterday’s lessons. Continue reading
Filed under Word of the Week
“To God Be the Glory” is one of over 8,000 hymns written by one of the most prolific hymnists in history, Fanny J. Crosby.
Written in 1872 and published in 1875 the hymn was very popular in Britain but was not widely used in the United States. In 1954 Cliff Barrows, the song leader for the Billy Graham crusades was asked to add it to the song selection for his London crusade. The next year it was again included in a US crusade in Nashville, Tennessee, and began to gain popularity. Today, it is widely used in songbooks of most churches.
There is a line in the first stanza that recently captured my attention. Continue reading
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