In his book Worship is a Verb, Robert Webber writes, “The focus of worship is not human experience, not a lecture, not entertainment, but Jesus Christ—his life, death and resurrection.”
Worship. It’s not about showcasing the talent of a gifted musician, or displaying a preacher’s knowledge of Greek verbs, or even a pleasant reunion of family and friends. It’s about Jesus. Continue reading
Filed under Sunday Seed Thoughts
It was the beginning of 3 days that these 3 men would never forget. Never.
The hour was late. Much had happened. The last supper. Prideful posturing. Washing feet. Judas’ departure. And the ensuing walk across the Kedron valley with Jesus teaching. Encouraging. Comforting. Promising.
Peter, James, and John are invited to walk a little father, as Jesus entered into prayer to the Father.
Struggle. Sorrow. Supplication. These words describe Jesus’ emotions in Gethsemane’s garden as Thursday turned into Friday. Continue reading
Filed under It's Friday. But Sunday's Coming!
American Atheists are at it again this Christmas season. As part of their annual tradition the past few years, the Atheists organization has raised eyebrows with their latest holiday-theme billboard.
Picturing a smiling Santa, promising not to tell on you, the message reads: “Go ahead and skip church! Just be good for goodness sake. Happy Holidays!” So far, these billboards have popped up in Colorado, Springs, CO and Raleigh, NC.
“We want people to know that going to church has absolutely nothing to do with being a good person,” said David Silverman, president of American Atheists, in a statement. “The things that are most important during the holiday season—spending time with loved ones, charity and being merry—have nothing to do with religion.” Continue reading
Jerry Shirley tells a story about a King who visited a slave ship. There was a slave galley where they chained prisoners to the oars and made them row.
The King decided to go below the deck, and talk to those who were chained to the oars. And he asked one man, “Why are you here?”
“Oh,” he said, “Sire, I don’t know why I’m here. I was in a crowd when a crime was committed and when they arrested everybody, they got me, but I’m innocent!” Continue reading
Filed under Great Bible Verses
In 1955 the husband and wife song writing team, Sy Miller and Jill Jackson, penned the song “Let There Be Peace on Earth” about their dream to produce world-wide peace. Jill wrote the lyrics and Sy wrote the melody.
The song was first introduced to a selected group of teenagers in the summer of 1955 from different religious, racial and cultural backgrounds who attended a week-long retreat in California. They lived and worked together in a camp setting, engaging in discussion groups to develop friendship and create understanding. Continue reading
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“This is not a day care. This is a university!” These words in a post by Dr. Everett Piper, President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, went viral last week and were reported by most of the media.
Dr. Piper’s post was in response to a student complaint that he was “offended” by a speaker on the campus with whom he disagreed. What was not widely reported by most outlets was the situation that caused the student’s discomfort.
Here it is and the commentary in Dr. Piper’s own words. Continue reading
Filed under Conscience
What is Christianity?
“Christianity, in its purest form, is nothing more than seeing Jesus,” writes Max Lucado in God Came Near. “Christian service, in its purest form, is nothing more than imitating him who we see. To see His Majesty and to imitate him, that is the sum of Christianity” elaborates Lucado. Continue reading
Filed under Sunday Seed Thoughts
“GOD ISN’T FIXING THIS” screamed the headline from Thursday’s New York Daily News following Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino leaving 14 dead and 21 wounded.
The subheading said, “As the latest bunch of innocent Americans are left laying in pools of blood, cowards who could truly end gun scourge continue to hide behind meaningless platitudes.” Continue reading
Filed under America
Last week one of our readers asked me to write about “how Christians should approach the current political climate and the Syrian Refugee?” I responded that I would think about. And I have been.
Like most issues of national and international importance there are several different valid viewpoints. And many are steeped in politics. Too often Christians allow their political views to influence their attitude and response in a negative way to those who differ. I have noticed some very sharp exchanges on facebook among brethren on this issue. Continue reading
Filed under America
A woman rushes to see her doctor, looking very much worried and all strung out.
She rattles off, “Doc, take a look at me. When I woke up this morning, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my hair all wiry and frazzled up, my skin was all wrinkled and pasty, my eyes were blood-shot and bugging out, and I had this corpse-like look on my face!
What’s wrong with me, Doc?” Continue reading
Filed under Great Bible Verses
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