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Moloch
In the midst of commands regarding sexual purity in Leviticus 18, we can find this directive from God to His people: You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. – Leviticus 18:21 (ESV) Moloch is a Hebrew name for a Canaanite god. (It’s also known as Molech, Milcom, or Malcam in various translations.) Later in Israel’s history, Moloch is most often associated with the Ammonites. Solomon actually brings Moloch worship into the borders of Israel at the behest of one of his many… Continue reading
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Focusing On the Family Doesn’t Help the Church…Nor the Family
Focusing on the family doesn’t help the church… nor the family Far too often, our children grow up with a church focused around them. Children’s church so they don’t get bored. Youth ministry designed to keep them entertained. Campus ministry that isn’t designed for discipling, just a desperate effort to somehow keep our kids going to church once they leave home. Family focus has led us to value youth sports over church attendance, family meals over pot lucks, school plays over midweek gatherings. If we find time in the midst of all of our family activities, we’ll go to church.… Continue reading
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Regret
I recently ran into somebody whom I haven’t seen in years. Actually “running into” may be exaggerating things. It was more like seeing her in passing, taking ten or so seconds to actually recognize her, and then getting hit with a small tsunami of regret. I have to admit, that last part surprised me. When I knew this person, I was not in a good place in my life. I was mentally and spiritually struggling, and I did not treat her well as a friend or Christian should. We had a pretty bad falling out, and it was entirely my… Continue reading
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Making Fasting Matter
Have you ever considered the fact that fasting is something Christians do in the New Testament? We often associate fasting with the Old Testament since it had periods of required fasting. The New Testament commands no such observances, but we find fasting listed along other traditions of worship we are familiar with. Acts 14:23 says: When they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. This is toward the end of Paul’s first missionary journey, and it gives us an apostolic example of early Christians participating in… Continue reading
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God and the Don
God and the Don CNN has a fascinating piece about the history of President Trump’s faith. It was clear that Trump was still preoccupied with his November victory, and pleased with his performance with one constituency in particular. “I did very, very well with evangelicals in the polls,” Trump interjected in the middle of the conversation — previously unreported comments that were described to me by both pastors. They gently reminded Trump that neither of them was an evangelical. “Well, what are you then?” Trump asked. They explained they were mainline Protestants, the same Christian tradition in which Trump, a… Continue reading
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America Needs to Stop the Fearmongering
America Needs to Stop the Fearmongering “Fear can be useful, important and necessary. It can carry warnings and remind us to use caution. Yet fear should never, ever be used to manipulate. If someone needs fear to sell you their ideas, if their whole message is built on making you fearful, if their only call to action requires scaring you into following, how big is their faith? How big is their god? “Jesus lived and taught during a stressful political environment. There was plenty for the Jews to fear under Roman rule. Living in an unstable political climate is naturally… Continue reading
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Running Without Legs
This is based on a sermon I delivered at the South Boone Church of Christ a few years ago. Image of Hunter Woodhall of Team USA 2016. On January 2, 2008, one of my favorite tech bloggers posted this short anecdote: On the final day of a trip to Disney World with my family last month, I saw something remarkable: a boy, 4 or 5 years old, with two artificial legs, running around Mickey’s Toontown Fair in the Magic Kingdom. Running. If he had been wearing pants instead of shorts, you’d have simply thought he had a bit of a… Continue reading
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Day One
This is a sermon I recently delivered at the Westfield Church of Christ. Paul’s Moment In Acts 9, Paul wasn’t planning on his life changing. In fact, it was quite the opposite, for Paul had been traveling to Damascus with one thing in mind – to capture and imprison as many Christians as he could. Acts 9:1 – 9: But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women,… Continue reading
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Speaking Truth While Teaching the Truth
I recently linked to an article from Sojourners regarding the recent political climate having an adverse affect on honesty in Christian conversation. The truth is, however, that this is not a new problem. Recent events have perhaps exacerbated the problem, but we’ve historically demonstrated a rather tenuous relationship with the truth when it comes to making sure things fit our personal narratives of how we perceive the world. Getting Things Right One example comes from a congregation we were recently visiting. The preacher was leading a series about other Christian faiths, and that day’s lesson was on Catholicism. At one… Continue reading
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Trying to Make Hate Look Pretty
Trying to Make Hate Look Pretty Love and hate aren’t about emotions. They’re about our attitudes and our actions. Love and hate aren’t about how we feel toward someone, but about how we treat them – what we do or don’t do to them. To love someone means to treat them as we would want to be treated, regardless of how we feel. When we’re told to love our enemies, it doesn’t mean we feel warm-and-fuzzy about them; it means we respect their inherent human dignity. Love recognizes that everyone is an equally beloved child of God and must be… Continue reading
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