Posts by Pastor Eric (Page 21)

• Doing a lot of thinking but haven’t had time to write. So here’s a bonus note for this week. • This takes time, and the gradual erosion of pride, but once you accept the truth that there is no such thing as a morally good human being, the love and grace of God begin to astound you. Listen again to Paul and try to take this into your own heart: “None is righteous, no,…

• Permit me to ask: What if the forces that sustain you, day-in-day-out, are not the direct result of faith in Jesus Christ? In other words, what if we are similar to the people (2 Tim 2:5) Paul tells Timothy to avoid, “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power”? Is it the power and grace of God that sustain you? Or are you sustained by other forces: anger…

• At a Washington prayer breakfast last May, conservative Roman Catholic, Princeton law professor, and public intellectual Robert P. George captured the cultural shift of the last ten years: “…For us… it is now Good Friday. The memory of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem has faded. Yes, he had been greeted — and not long ago — by throngs of people waving palm…

• We’re receiving many requests to pray for Christians in the Middle East, especially those threatened by ISIS (or Islamic State). The requests are constant, but the two below, unfortunately, can be taken as representative. A friend just got a text message from her brother asking her to shower him and his parish in prayer. He is part of a mission and ISIS has taken over…

• Thankful to wake up this morning (9/11) and see nothing in the news of a tragic nature. I sometimes wonder how many people didn’t sleep last night, or maybe most of last month, because they were watching over the rest of us. • As background for the discussion with Dr. Derek Halvorson, president of Covenant College, next Monday at 6:00 p.m., here are a few thoughts on…

[like] • In the beginning of Ephesians 5 Paul is giving the sort of straight-up ethical counsel we are familiar with: “ sexual immorality must not even be named among you” and “ let there be no… foolish talk or crude joking.” He outlines parallel but opposing characters, distinguishing between those who have an inheritance in Christ and “the sons of…

• A decisive ethic of the Christian faith is the refusal to defend or protect the self, learning instead to think of your life as something to be spent rather than sheltered. This is Jesus “oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth” (Isa 53:7), refusing to stand on his rights and instead “taking the form of a servant” (Php 2:7). This is Paul “poured out like…

• It was good to be with you and back in worship this week. Included are some comments on the Mark Driscoll/Mars Hill debacle. • A good insight into the deterioration at Mars Hill can be found here by Ron Wheeler. It’s powerful. And there’s more than you’ll ever want to read at the Patheos website by Dr. Warren Throckmorton. As I began to read Wheeler’s post I was…

• Sunday July 6 will be our opportunity to show appreciation for Luke and Karen’s ministry and service among us. Please join us after worship for fellowship, finger-food and cake. • A key issue at this General Assembly was the so-called Insider Movements (IM), a term usually used to speak of Muslim converts to Christianity who, if they were to make their conversions…

• The first prominent congregation in the Southern Baptist denomination has decided, following the pastor’s lead, to affirm same-sex relationships. What is important and interesting about this particular trend in conservative Evangelical churches is that it requires a thorough reinterpretation of several clear biblical passages, and overturns two millennia of virtually…