Today is the 64th annual observance of the National Day of Prayer.
According to NDP web site a joint resolution by Congress which was signed by President Harry Truman in 1952 declared an annual national day of prayer. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed an amended law that set aside the first Thursday of every May. Since then every President has signed a proclamation, encouraging Americans to pray on this day. Continue reading
File this under “America’s Dumbest Criminals.”
A man walked into a convenience store with the intention of robbing it. He gave the clerk a $10.00 bill to get her to open the cash register. It worked.
With a hand in his pocket, pretending to have a gun, he demanded that the cashier give him the contents of the drawer. And she did. Continue reading
Filed under Great Bible Verses
“Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”
These shocking words were spoken by Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as she delivered the keynote address at the 2015 Women in the World Summit in New York City on April 23rd. Continue reading
Filed under Abortion
“I’m not perfect.”
This is a line often used when we disappoint others, lose our temper, or are caught in an embarrassing situation. “I’m not perfect” has been echoed by philandering husbands, dishonest politicians, and athletes caught cheating.
I’ve talked to Christians who are failing in their faithfulness to Christ, shrug their shoulders and repeat the refrain, “I’m not perfect.” Continue reading
Filed under Word of the Week
As children, many of us learned a little prayer that began, “God is good, God is great….”
We often sing a praise song in worship with the lyrics, “God is so good.” And indeed He is. God’s goodness created the world. Called Abraham. Protected the patriarchs. And blessed Israel. Asaph, the Psalmist said, “God is good to Israel” (Ps 73:1).
It was God’s goodness that sent His Son into the world. But it was a corrupt culture. One perverted from God’s original purpose. In a word, evil. Continue reading
Filed under It's Friday. But Sunday's Coming!
This seems like an unusual topic for a post on ThePreachersWord, doesn’t it?
The reason for addressing it stems from an argument made by one of our readers, Stephen, regarding a post last week. It was based on Paul’s rhetorical question in Galatians 4:16, “Am I Your Enemy, because I tell you the truth?”
I asked 11 different questions regarding matters of Truth. Two of the questions spoke to the sin of homosexuality.
When I support marriage as being only between one man and one woman, (Matt 19:4-6) am I the enemy of lesbians?
When I affirm that same-sex relations is a sin, (1 Cor. 6:9-11) am I an enemy of homosexuals?
In part, here is Stephen’s response. Continue reading
Filed under Culture, Homosexuality
Yesterday our post, “Cherry Picking” The Scripture, was in response to a question asked by Stephen, one of our regular readers. Today we continue answering more of his questisons.
Stephen asks, “In trying to understand God’s Will on so many social (not so much individual responsibility) issues, how do you know who’s right and who’s wrong?”
Our questioner further opines, “If we go into a more liberal Church (such as a Methodist), what is taught, practiced, and what people believe is much different than more conservative Churches (such as Southern Baptist or Church of Christ).”
“Differences in opinion have always existed in the Church — isn’t a key question how not to make these differences so divisive as to split Christians apart?” Continue reading
Filed under Great Bible Verses
I have a regular reader, Stephen, who often comments on our posts. Not always, but many of his comments and disagreements address my stance on same-sex marriage.
I’m not singling out Stephen. His responses are publicly posted on this site. He has been kind, considerate, and often complimentary. For the benefit of all readers, I want to answer some of his questions.
“Could you talk about “cherry picking” Scripture?” Stephen asked. Continue reading
Filed under Bible, Homosexuality
There’s a missing word among many, if not most Christians.
Most preachers rarely, if ever, use the word
It’s found 53 times in the Bible.
It’s a word used by Jesus. John. Luke. Paul. Peter. And James.
We claim to believe it. Obey it. And teach it.
Ironically, we substitute another word in its place that is not found in the Bible!
Can you guess what the word is? Continue reading
Filed under Word of the Week
Jonathan Ortberg’s book, “Who is this Man?” provides a powerful testimony regarding the impact of Jesus’ life. He says, “Jesus is mysterious not just because of what we don’t know about him, but because of what we do know about him.”
We know he was a compelling figure. He Spoke with authority. As A.T. Wright put it “(Jesus) is so unlike what we know about anybody else that we are forced to ask, as people evidently did at the time, who, then is this?”
That is what the high priest wanted to know when he asked, “Are You the Christ?” Continue reading
Filed under It's Friday. But Sunday's Coming!
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