Tag: Faith
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The Fourth Commandment, Corporate Worship, and the Strength of Culture
Corporate worship services at our church begin with a call to worship. A passage of Scripture, usually taken from the Psalms, is read aloud reminding the congregation of God’s invitation to worship and give thanks. We come before the Lord responsively, not presumptively. What’s interesting about those invitations to worship is they sound more like…
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Mild Religion and the Threat to Civilization
The man with “mild religion” has no interest in obedience to Christ. He’ll occasionally show up to church, shirt collar in the clutches of his momma, wife, or girlfriend, but he has no passion for honoring Christ by the way he thinks, talks, or behaves.
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Developing the Christian Virtue of Intolerance
It honors Christ when you cultivate a godly hatred for false worship, evil thinking, and godless living. Speaking as Earth’s King, Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). Either you actively promote Christ in worship and life, or you are his enemy.
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Only the First Commandment Makes Men Equal
Apart from God, there will never be any sort of true human equality. It is only “under God” that men become equal. “The law is no respecter of persons, because God is no respecter of persons. He is the Father of both the humble and the proud.”
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The First Commandment Requires Courageous Loyalty
The greatest commandment summarizes the first four of the Ten Commandments. And the first of these ten is, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Elton Trueblood calls this command “the allocation of priority.”[1] The one, true God demands nothing less than absolute loyalty. The first priority of every man on earth…
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How To Rebuild the West After Its Collapse
Then and now, it is imperative we teach our children how to honor Christ by keeping his Law. Isn’t a significant part of discipling the nations that we teach “them to observe all [Christ] commanded” (Matthew 28:20)? Many have supposedly accepted Christ as Savior. How many have yielded to him as king?
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Identifying Sinful Fears, Pt. 2: The Fear of Creation
Matthew’s Gospel challenges our assumptions about fearfulness. After a long day of ministry, Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee. Weary from the day, our Lord fell asleep in the boat’s bow. Then, a violent storm battered and threatened to destroy the vessel and its occupants. The disciples panicked, but Jesus remained asleep.…
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Identifying Sinful Fears, Pt. 1: The Fear of Man
On April 27, 2011, we had our children huddled in the bathtub of our Alabama home, wearing bicycle helmets. Weather sirens were blaring in the background as 62 tornadoes touched down throughout the day. My children were terrified by the ordeal, and it took one of them nearly five years to overcome the memories of…
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The Sanger Gospel, Part 2
One of the most troubling economic indicators for our country is the declining birth rate. A nation built on two-worker households cannot survive if those workers do not replace themselves. And, we are not. I shared this with my physical therapist in South Carolina many years ago. His response was, “The more troubling thing is…
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The Sanger Gospel, Part 1
To measure the level of sadness and despair in individual families, count their children. The more they have, the greater their misery. To achieve happiness, both for your family and society at large, keep your family small. Such was the perspective Margaret Higgins Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, adopted early in her childhood. Sanger grew…
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Compassionate Orthodoxy
Not long ago, I rolled up to the church and found an unfamiliar vehicle parked in the lot. I strolled over to assess the situation and struck up a conversation with the driver. After a moment, I could tell he was in some distress. Against my better judgment, I invited him into my office to…
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Man, Woman, Garden
Well, it’s June, and that means it is Pride Month. For the next 30 days, your social media stream may be much more colorful than usual. I suggest you take this as an opportunity to reconsider the Bible’s teaching on gender, marriage, and sexuality. As Christians, our response to the dogmatic assertions made by the…
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