Posts by Pastor Eric (Page 26)

• Sick this week and on the couch, watched the presidential Debate and debates about the Debate, reading political pundits, watching interviews and noting, everywhere, the condition of my culture and country. This is probably impossible, but let me try to pull together, in several paragraphs, some broad, complex ideas that bear on the moment. This is longer and not…

• In 2008 when my son was at Covenant College, one of the chapel speakers was Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda and a leader among biblically faithful Anglicans. I recently found a photo-copy of his address while cleaning my office. Near the beginning of his message he says of his boyhood village, “ my father was a medium, meaning he had demonic forces— twelve of…

• Years ago I became convinced of the usefulness of Prov. 18:17: “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” Implied in this is the universal and, unfortunately, profoundly deep problem of human self-deception. You can hear it in the ideas that follow the verse above, especially verse 19, “ a brother offended is more unyielding…

• I should take a moment and clear up misconceptions I’ve created about my politics, with apologies for glib and vague comments in sermons. First of all, I am political and have favorite blogs and commentators, political heroes from the distant and not-so-distant past, and what you might call emotional investment in the outcomes of elections. Of course my calling in…

• A few days ago I was listening to Christopher Hitchens, the recently deceased advocate for atheism, who wrote God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. As an example of one of Christianity’s failings, Hitchens was implying the superiority of Socratic thought because it does not depend on the actual existence of Socrates. His ideas stand on their own. Jesus’…

• The strange thing about Ps. 119 is David speaks about the “law” and the Lord’s “statutes” in just the way that we speak about His love and grace: “my comfort in affliction” (v.50); “my hope is in your rules” (v.43); “I find my delight in your commandments” (v.47); “I delight in your law” (v.70). Although generally we love David and resonate with his heart, this seems…

• Because of our commitment to keep families together in worship, we recognize there will be more commotion in the sanctuary during the service. We accept this. At the same time, we encourage you to be mindful of when your child may be making it difficult for others to worship, due to either commotion or noise level. The options we offer, depending on age, are the…

• Here’s a list — four things I have found, over the years, to be common among immature Christians. But they serve as good reminders for all of us, regardless of our level of maturity. The fourth one is on grace and forgiveness; read it first if you are the guilty, self-condemning type. Seriously.

• After the cadence of weekly work and the day of rest, the basic increment of the Christian life is the 24-hour day. Each begins with fresh mercy from God (Lam. 3:23) and our renewal in His love and joy (Ps. 90:14). So the Church renews covenant with God every week, but as individuals we do so every day: renewing our intention to follow faithfully (“…let him take…

• Saw CNN praising Joel Osteen, in spite of his being “ light on sin and heavy on feeling good.” Let’s just get this straight: the Gospel is not a matter of balance, a yin-and-yang ratio of hard news to easy news, or equal doses of law and Gospel. Preachers are not charged with finding a magical blend of confrontation and encouragement. Rather. The Gospel is the…