Sermon Video: Self-Righteousness = Contempt for God's Mercy

Released between two horrific mass shootings was the report about how sex abuse was handled by the Southern Baptist Convention.  This horrific reports detailed failures spanning decades to report and combat sexual abuse within SBC churches and institutions.  At the same time, the SBC has been on the forefront condemning the sexual ethics of the culture at large, primarily targeting those outside the Church.  This blatant hypocrisy has become far too common, we have cynically come to expect it of our politicians and even pastors, and it is toxic to both the Culture and the Church.

The Apostle Paul takes aim at hypocritical judgementalism, when the people of God condemn others for doing the very things they themselves still do (often in secret).  That this is entirely unacceptable goes without saying, but the deeper danger is that is damages our relationship with God, leading to entirely justified anger because it makes a mockery of God's grace and forgiveness to us.

There have been too many days like today...

On days like today, there have been too many, far too many, days like today...

I kissed my daughter as the school bus pulled up, we hugged each other, and I told her, "I love you", she's young enough still that she says it back, "love you."  That's our daily routine at the bus stop.

Today nearly two dozen families in Texas will never again have the chance to hear their child say, "I love you."

One of the reasons I am steadfastly non-partisan in my public commentary (I know some will disagree with that self-assessment, so be it) is that I don't hear any voice in American politics today that is holistically pro-life.  I have two thousand years of Church history and an entire Bible of commands and obligations that have convinced me that nothing less will satisfy what God requires of me, so to whom should I turn?

Congress has 535 members, but not one speaks from the position that all life is made in God's image, is thus sacred, and as such their task is to protect and support to the best of their ability every permutation and segment of humanity, not just in our nation but around the world.  There are always caveats, groups left behind, forgotten or deliberately excluded (sometimes with venom and glee no less).  There are always reasons of expediency and tribalism that supersede the needs of real people, excuses why party loyalty rates higher than principled morality.  It isn't even really close, politics misses the mark of what God has called his people to embrace on so many levels.  To think that any party, past or present, could be a 'Christian' party would be laughable if it weren't such a dangerously blasphemous idea.

I honestly don't expect change, not on a national level.  On many of the holistically pro-life issues that matter to me, as a Christian and as a minister, we're not even able to have the conversation about HOW to best solve the needs we can all see in healthcare, education, poverty, criminal justice, racism, the environment, foreign policy, violence, and on and on.  We're too entrenched in our positions to even be willing to talk about anything beyond how 'we' can stop 'them'.  The task confronting the politician isn't easy, there isn't any one solution to any of these endemic issues, and I wouldn't expect everyone to agree on the best way to confront complicated problems with multi-faceted roots, but hope doesn't come from partisanship.  

So I'll continue working with local elected officials, local non-profits (like the one that I'm the President of), local churches (like the one whose leadership I've been entrusted with), and people who care about the needs of people here in our community.  At least here we can make a difference, at least here people are willing to put the us vs. them partisan hatred aside and focus on how to actually help people.

Don't expect me to believe in anyone running for Congress or the Presidency, don't expect me to mold and shape what God's Word has taught me to fit their far more narrow and targeted belief systems.  I've lived through too many days like today.

Sermon Video: A Depraved Mind, the Cost of Ignoring God - Romans 1:24-32

Having demonstrated that humanity is without excuse for failing to acknowledge God, Paul then explains the consequence of this rebellion: God lets humanity experience the consequences of their own lustful and depraved hears and minds.  This takes a variety of forms, one that stood out because of its connection to Ancient Near East pagan worship is Lust.  The mixing of worship of the gods with fertility rites of human sex is an example of this process in action as that which is intended for our benefit is traded for a self-destructive version.  Paul goes on to connect this to the larger issue of sex/sexuality apart from God's design, the variety of forms of which are also by definition perverse (that is, contrary to the intended purpose).  In the end, the picture is a difficult one, humanity in rebellion against God embracing all manner of 'things that ought not to be done', but the solution will always be the same: repent, receive grace, and believe.

Afraid of being called 'woke' or 'conservative'? Preach the Whole Counsel of God - Wisdom on this issue from John Piper

 

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (NIV) In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Acts 20:25-31 (NIV)“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

At times it seems I'm writing a lot more, 'watch out for this craziness', and a lot less, 'amen to that brother/sister'.  The pessimist would say that there's more crazy floating around right now than wisdom, what choice have I?  The optimist would be sad that the crazy floats to the top and gets more visibility.  So when a story or article comes up that deserves our attention for speaking the truth, I'm happy to both read it for myself and comment upon it for others.

In recent years I have taken John Piper to task when he whitewashed the slave owning of Jonathan Edwards {The troubling whitewashing of Jonathan Edwards' ownership of slaves by John Piper} or when the President of his seminary went after Empathy as a Sin with Piper's support {The folly of the "Sin of Empathy" - A self-inflicted wound to Christian Fundamentalism}, and I cannot walk with him on his road of strict Complementarianism, although I was raised with this view and understand its argumentation.  However, the conviction offered up on this short interview is both timely, powerful, and biblical.

I've been preaching and leading Bible studies this way my whole life for good reason.  The pastor who mentored me as I grew up in his church, Pastor James Frank of Galilee Baptist Church in Saranac, Michigan, was a verse-by-verse exegetical preacher.  Uncomfortable verses?  Can't skip them when you're working your way through the text one phrase and sentence at a time.  Selective topic choices?  That's not in your hands, when you preach this way you speak on each topic as often as the Word of God chooses to do so.

John Piper Chides Pastors Who Ignore Biblical Topics So They Won't Be Called 'Woke' or 'Conservative' - by Michael Foust, Christian Headlines

Pastor and author John Piper says too many of today's pastors are ignoring certain texts and topics within Scripture out of fear of being given a political label they reject.

Piper, the former pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis and the founder of DesiringGod.org, urged pastors at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, Ky., this month to be "radically committed" to preaching all of Scripture, no matter the subject.

There are plenty of uncomfortable passages depending upon the church that you as a pastor have been called to serve.  And in case you're wondering, there are uncomfortable passages depending upon the failures and temptations that have, or still do, cause you particular grief as a sinner saved by grace called to shepherd God's people.  Avoid the hard ones?  Skip the ones that might make things difficult?  If you're the one choosing a topic each week and choosing the scripture you want to use to support it, the opportunity to pick/choose looms large.  I know that some people preach powerfully and biblically using a topical model, I myself believe that working your way verse-by-verse through the Scriptures offers a discipline and a guardrail that benefits both preacher and hearer alike.

I sympathize entirely with men and women in vocational ministry who fear for their job and worry about their family should things go sour.  As an American Baptist minister my employment is at-will.  The church's members of churches like mine could (by-laws vary on the fraction needed: 2/3, 3/4) vote at any point to end our season at the church and send us packing.  For many of my brothers and sisters serving in this employment model, that can become a heavy weight to carry.

My wife and I spent the first half of our marriage (to this point) living paycheck to paycheck, putting things on a credit card so we could pay the electricity and the mortgage.  Now that I'm a father, with a daughter who loves her hometown, her school, and her friends, I can't imagine how I'd explain that we have to leave Franklin because dad told the congregation something they didn't want to hear and they voted him out.  It is because my congregation has given me no reason to believe in my 10+ years here that they want honey dripped in their ears that I can write freely about my brothers and sisters in ministry who tread upon thin ice.  If a congregation won't listen to the Word of God, they need to be challenged by it, if they reject it from the one called to shepherd them, they need to be broken by a spirit of repentance.  To skirt the issues and hope for the best is not a solution.  Healthy churches don't function this way.  For the sake of long-term ministry viability, some pastors are better off preaching the Truth, getting fired, and moving on to a church that is more concerned with what God has to say that hearing what they already believe reinforced.

Before continuing to interact with Piper's words, a reminder: There's a right way and a wrong way to approach any topic in preaching and teaching.  Discernment, humility, patience, and the like can go a long way toward bridging a gap between a preacher and his/her congregation on a topic, and tactlessness, arrogance, and a hot temper can turn even a minor difficulty into a full-blown crisis.  In other words, if you're being a jerk it may not be God's Word they've got a problem with. 

"Some pastors are so fearful of being labeled conservative, or fundamentalist, or progressive, or woke – or whatever the circles you care about [and] would look down upon – that they're going to avoid any kind of biblical command that would put them in some camp that they don't want to be part of," Piper said.

He then provided examples.

Given the climate you can see why numerous pastors are afraid.  The faculty of Grove City College just learned how dangerous even an anonymous charge (that turned out to have no real evidence) of being 'woke' can do, and how people they trusted can turn on them when such a politically charged bomb is being thrown.

I know that some pastors embrace being on the Red Team or the Blue Team, they proudly wave that flag.  Yet, as Pastor Piper is reminding us here, those who thump their chest the most about which team they are on would be the most fearful of having people think that they, gasp, have switched sides.  That pastors shouldn't be on political teams in the first place is a topic I've hammered at (going against the tide) for years, this is another danger that reminds us why: it corrupts your ability to offer Truth when your team embraces a lie. {The Myth of a Christian Nation - by Gregory Boyd: a summary and response or for a whole lot of depth, my six hour seminar: The Church and Politics}

"[They're] just not going to deal with racial discrimination, because they're going to get called 'woke,'" he said. "They're not going to deal with modesty or nudity in movies because they're going to get called 'fundamentalist.' They're not going to deal with the fact that we are citizens of heaven before we're citizens of America because they're going to get called 'unpatriotic.'"

Pastors should never be held "bondage to the opinions of others," Piper said. Instead, they should follow the model of Jesus, who did not care about anybody's opinion, Piper added.

In 2020 I was told (from outside my own congregation) that writing about racial reconciliation and the need for COVID-19 precautions was damaging my reputation/witness.  Except both of these truths were based upon the combination of factual evidence and biblical principles.  I love the people who offered to me that advice, because they thought they were saving me from myself, but I cannot agree with the assessment.  I may have on occasion not articulated myself in the best manner, but how could I pretend that God's Word offered nothing on either topic when our whole nation was talking of little else?  To offer truth without being political about it was no small task {since pundits have a $ interest in making everything political}, and I did my best with that self-imposed limitation, but my congregation and community needed leadership in both areas, if not for things such as this, why am I here?

I would add that in addition to not avoiding political hot button topics, a pastor must also be aware of his/her own biases and work to ensure that the way in which difficult topics are addressed reflects the text of scripture not our own personal beliefs on the subjects.  If you preach the 'whole counsel of God' but only from a Libertarian, Socialist, Fundamentalist, or Progressive viewpoint, thus explaining away or twisting the portions of Scripture that contradict and refute those viewpoints {And believe me, every human created political or philosophical viewpoint is in conflict with Scripture at some point, often many points}, you haven't given your congregation the Word of God, you've given them what you think the Word of God should say, a BIG difference.

James 3:1 (NIV) Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

"Don't you want to be free like that?" Piper asked.

This is the part of what Piper has to say that warms my heart.  There is tremendous freedom when you open God's Word and ask it to mold and shape you rather than trying to wrangle it to fit your desires.  For one thing, wrestling against God is a fools errand, you're not going to win.  For another, it elevates us above the petty, personal, transitory, and self-interested positions and policies that infect contemporary discussions of the issues.  Having a historical perspective is another big help, but nothing can compare with being able to say to yourself, "God wrote this, it has served the Church for two thousand years, my task is to simply walk the path laid before me."  

Additionally, pastors should be "so radically committed" to "all that the Bible teaches" that "just when people think they have you pegged, and in some camp, you bring something out of your Bible treasure that just throws them totally off balance."

I've surprised people over the years.  A number of those who knew the teenage version of me shake their heads when they hear or read what the version of me that God has been working on since has to say.  That hurts, I'm not going to pretend it doesn't, but my oath is to follow where God is leading, even if it puts distance between myself and friends, colleagues, even family.  Several years ago I wrote on a difficult topic, one that upset someone here in Franklin that up until that point thought, "I really like what this guy has to say", and while I always reserve the right to have been in error about something, I was writing according to my best understanding of what God's Word has to say on the subject.  Thankfully, after some productive back and forth, and even a few edits for clarity after talking to people about how my initial wording was received, we came to an understanding and were able to move forward knowing that we're both serving the Kingdom of God as best we are able.  Not every 'confrontation' with a congregant, community member, or especially social media commentor, on a difficult topic will end well, in fact most probably won't.  The call to speak the Truth in Love remains. 

"You've got to displease everybody sometimes, or you're probably not getting it right," Piper said. "... Bible people will love you for that. Partisan people who are more Republican or more Democrat than Christian, they won't love you for that. [But] you don't want them to love you. You want them to be converted."

Amen to that.

Another Mass Murder inspired by the Evil of the "Great Replacement" theory

Nine people murdered at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015.  In August 2017, White Supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia marched with torches shouting, "The Jews will not replace us!"  Eleven people murdered at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2018.  Twenty-three people murdered at an El Paso, Texas Walmart in 2019.  Fifty people murdered at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019.  And now, ten people murdered at a grocery story in Buffalo, New York on May 14th, 2022.  All of the killers were white men, and all of their targets were chosen because of race.  It is racism at its most vile, empowered by the ability of one person to murder dozens in a few moments, but otherwise little different in terms of the hatred involved and the goal desired from the lynching's of the Klan.  The history of this attitude in America also includes the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the Know Nothing party's anti-immigrant rhetoric, and similar such efforts to preserve America for people 'like us' in skin tone and culture.

What is the 'Great Replacement' and how is it tied to the Buffalo shooting suspect? - By Dustin Jones, NPR

It would seem like an obvious response to condemn the ideology of those who perpetuate mass murder, it was certainly what happened in America after 9/11 to Islamic Fundamentalism, but in fact the "Great Replacement" has been gaining acceptance and supports from well known pundits and politicians in recent years (in the midst of the ongoing slaughter of innocents), most notably from Tucker Carlson.

Fox News star Tucker Carlson's 'great replacement' segment used a new frame for an old fear There are still plenty of Americans seeking confirmation that their rank nativism is right. - by Casey Michel, NBC

How does one avoid politics, my goal, when pundits (and politicians) are advocating an ideology that continues to inspire mass murderers?  In this case, I cannot.  What America's immigration policy should be is another conversation, but what cannot be mainstreamed is the notion that White lives are of more value than non-White lives.  There is not way around the conclusion that the "Great Replacement" theory embraced by Tucker Carlson (and others) is making this 'us' vs 'them' mathematical calculus.  

Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Galatians 3:28 (NIV) There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Revelation 7:9 (NIV) After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

I have heard Galatians 3:28 quoted against those fighting racial injustice, along with MLK Jr's famous, "I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."  Both of course out-of-context uses that twist the meaning in the opposite direction to protect racial injustice.  In fact, it is the White Supremacists, and those adjacent to them advocating the "Great Replacement" who ignore the call of Scripture to ignore race for the sake of the Gospel.  To God, our Creator, it is anathema to proclaim that 'we' cannot let 'them' replace 'us'.  Who do 'we' think we are?  By what right do we deserve this land, this nation, any more than they?  Nationalism gives us reasons to thump our chests and call it 'our land', but a Christian Worldview that affirms that we are but stewards of God's Creation must reject such claims of preferential treatment, we live here by the Grace of God, not our own merits. 

The Church is growing rapidly in the non-White parts of the world, it has been for the past several generations at the same time that is has been shrinking in Europe and America.  The Church is less White today than it was thirty years ago, and that trend continues.  That the Church in the West is struggling is cause for grief, repentance, and renewed faithfulness, that it is growing rapidly in much of the rest of the world is cause for celebration, joy, and hope.

The Gospel rejects, utterly, racial superiority.  The Gospel rejects, utterly, tribalism and nationalism.  The Church in America must have none of this, millions of self-proclaimed Christian Americans may look to Tucker Carlson and others pushing the "Great Replacement" as some sort of 'savior' of Christianity, but like Vladimir Putin has monstrously proven himself to be, this is a false hope, an anti-Christ (in the New Testament sense, something against-Christ).  One cannot 'save' the Church through racism, one can only stain the Bride of Christ.

The irrefutable rejection of Christian Nationalism by the New Testament

White Nationalism and White Supremacy are an abomination to the Church

How should Christians feel about refugees?

Josh McDowell's folly in addition to racism: Claiming that the Bible only talks about individuals

It doesn't have to be this way, hope exists: That time UAW members worked with Quakers to build integrated housing

When the shameful past of Racism hits close to home

Taking the name of the LORD in vain: PragerU's "Social Justice Isn't Justice"

Addendum: Following the revelation that the Buffalo shooter was influenced by the "Great Replacement" Theory, Tucker Carlson responded by defending his ongoing use of it because, in his mind, it isn't a conspiracy theory but a reality.  That this 'theory' is based upon an us vs. them mentality, viewing the lives of American citizens as inherently superior to those of the rest of the world, reminds us that its roots are in Nationalism and Racism, concepts that are anathema to the Universal Church.

Sermon Video: Humanity is Without Excuse - Romans 1:18-23

Step one in his effort to demonstrate the universal need for a Savior by the Apostle Paul is the elimination of the excuse of ignorance.  To that end, Paul declares that all of humanity has access to the truth that God exists and requires our gratitude.  This knowledge, while readily available when contemplating the created universe, is suppressed by human wickedness.  And yet, the need remains.  We by nature wonder why we are here, we long for fellowship with God.  Thus the Christian evangelist, those sharing the light of the Gospel, have the advantage of human nature to assist.  The truth that God exists is all around us.

On the Anti-Woke hit list: Reading While Black by Esau McCaulley (a review & response, part 1)

Having been singled out in the original petition that started off the "Grove City College is going 'woke'" scare, I thought it worthwhile to read for myself what is contained in Reading While Black by Anglican Priest and Wheaton College professor, Esau McCaulley (I've heard him interviewed previously on the HolyPost podcast and been impressed).  What dangerous ideas are contained herein, or is it all just Culture War smoke?  Is there not value in having students at a college that is 94% white with only one Black professor (himself singled out by the resultant committee as part of the problem)??

That being said, let me share the first passage that made me set the book down and think (from page 11, it didn't take long):

In my evangelical seminary almost all the authors we read were white men...It seemed that whatever was going on among Black Christians had little to do with real biblical interpretation.  I swam in this disdain, and even when I rejected it vocally, the doubt seeped into my subconscious.  Eventually I started to notice a few things.  While I was at home with much of the theology in evangelicalism, there were real disconnects.  First, there was the portrayal of the Black church in these circles.  I was told that the social gospel had corrupted Black Christianity.  Rather than placing my hope there, I should look to the golden age of theology, either in the early years of this country, or during the postwar boom of American Protestantism.  But the historian in me couldn't help but realize that these apexes of theological faithfulness coincided with nadirs of Black freedom. (p. 11)

As someone who grew up in a county that was 95% white, going to a school that was 99% white and a church that was 100% white, I had no direct knowledge of the state of the Black Church in America, but Esau's observation that much of Evangelicalism has written off the Black Church as hopelessly tainted by the Social Gospel is an accurate reflection of the vibe that I felt as a young person.  I can't point to a specific moment or person who advanced that notion, but it was there.

While it is true that the theology of any era of the Church could be tainted by the failures of that era in specific areas of sin, and the failures of a culture do not necessarily infect individuals within it {For example: Bonhoeffer rising above the Nazi-tainted theology of the Germany he grew up in}, that being said, the connection between leading American theologians and the dehumanizing treatment of Blacks should not be papered over.  How could it be a Golden Age when so much of the American Church was acquiescent to, or even championing, such injustice?  How can Evangelicalism be healthy if we don't reckon with this history, or worse yet, try to dismiss it?  {For example: The troubling whitewashing of Jonathan Edwards' ownership of slaves by John Piper}

I learned that too often alongside the four pillars of evangelicalism...were unspoken fifth and sixth pillars.  These are a general agreement on a certain reading of American history that downplayed injustice and a gentlemen's agreement to remain largely silent on current issues of racism and systematic injustice.  How could I exist comfortably in a tradition that too often valorizes a period of time when my people couldn't buy homes in the neighborhood that they wanted or attend the schools that their skills gave them access to?  How could I accept a place in a community if the cost for a seat at the table was silence? (p. 11-12)

And here is where the strong push-back against the idea of racial reconciliation following the murder of George Floyd comes into play.  McCaulley's book was published in 2020, since then the amount of conversation and effort poured into being 'anti-woke' and anti-CRT, including official statements from the seminary presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, speaks to the truth of the 'unspoken pillars' that he refers to.  Efforts to speak to some of the true horrors of American history or efforts to understand and combat the racism that still infects our society today, have been condemned as threats against Christianity {thanks, in part, to the merging of Church and State in Christian Nationalism, to be a 'good Christian' one must be a patriotic American}.  In his analysis, Esau McCaulley is speaking the truth, but it isn't one that many within Evangelical circles want to hear, hence the drive to purge Christian Colleges of such viewpoints.

{Further reading: When the shameful past of Racism hits close to home, a response to Richard Rothstein's The Color of Law which details the history of Redlining (the practice of keeping minorities out of white neighborhoods)}

I had difficulty with how the Bible functioned in parts of evangelicalism.  For many, the Bible had been reduced to the arena on which we fought an endless war about the finer points of Paul's doctrine of justification...But I wondered what the Bible had to say about how we might live as Christians and citizens of God's kingdom...what about the exploitation of my people?  What about our suffering, our struggle? (p. 12)

Here too I can relate to his observations about much of Evangelicalism.  There is great emphasis on getting theology exactly right, but much less emphasis on the practical implications of that theology in the lives of disciples of Jesus.  The social ethic of millions of American Christians {American is put first for a reason, it reflects part of the sickness} has been reduced to Pro-life (narrowly defined), anti-LGBTQ, and whatever Culture War topic is dominating the punditry at the moment.  Does not the Bible have things to say to us about far more topics than these?  Our call as followers of Jesus is supposed to be all-encompassing, yet only a handful of issues dominate all discussion and passions, and racial injustice is decidedly not one of them.

Rather than being a voice that Christian college students should be sheltered from, Esau McCaulley is sharing hard truth that the Church needs to hear, another indicator that the controversy at Grove City College is far more about politics than theology.

Biblical and wise thoughts of Esau McCaulley that I interacted with in October 2021: We ignore "repay evil with blessing" at our peril: the Culture War, politics, and 9/11

The History of the Bible: Part 1 (of 3)

Is the Bible the Word of God?  That is a question that only faith can answer.  Is the Bible we have today an accurate representation of what its authors originally wrote?  That is a question that evidence can prove.  The Bible is by far the most well attested ancient document with a rich manuscript history and a fascinating story of ordinary people who rose to the occasion to protect it, or sank to the depths to try to keep it from the people.  It is a story of hand-written copies, and a story of translation efforts from the original Greek and Hebrew.  This three part series will open the door to the much larger subject of the history of the text of the Bible, its preservation and transmission from the ancient world to the plethora of English Bibles that we have available to us today.  Along the way, it will help answer questions about the reliability of our text, the affect that variants have upon our confidence in the text, as well the reasons why we have so many translations in English today.

            There are skeptics who don’t believe that we can have any confidence that our text is the same as what was originally written. Amazingly, they agree with the essential facts of history that the Bible’s manuscript tradition is rich and ancient, sadly, they draw opposite conclusion from this evidence and end up with nothing but doubt. There are “perfect” Bible zealots who have complete confidence in one particular translation of our text, made 400 years ago, who are immune to evidence because their belief in the text of the Bible is a matter of faith not facts.  Both of these groups think that ordinary Christians will have their faith destroyed if they learn the truth about the history of the Bible, they’re both wrong.  The Word of God has been handed down to each new generation throughout the history of the Church, and that story is something that every Christian should want to know.

Parts 2 & 3 to follow (previous versions already available via the History of the Bible tab at the top of the web page) next week and the week after.

Sermon Video: Righteousness by Faith - Romans 1:16-17

It was the study of Romans, in order to lecture upon the letter, that led Martin Luther to question the accepted understanding of the relationship between faith and righteousness, and it was these two verses, in particular, that brought Luther into conflict with his contemporaries.

Romans 1:16-17 is Paul's thesis statement, the idea that he will prove in his letter moving forward.  Paul proclaims that the Gospel (the Good News about Jesus Christ) is the power of God on display for EVERYONE who believes.  How?  The Gospel combines both God's justice, for payment for sin is indeed necessary, and God's love/mercy/grace because that payment comes not form ourselves but through Jesus by faith in him.

It is not our righteousness that is revealed by the power of the Gospel, for we have none and that's the heart of the problem, but God's, which he has in abundance in the sinless life of Jesus Christ.  Thus it is not the wonders of Creation that most reveals the power of God, but the willingness to die upon a Cross.

Sermon Video: "that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith" - Romans 1:8-15

Before beginning to unfold the theology of his letter, the Apostle Paul takes a moment to express his desire, both past and future, to visit the Church at Rome and fellowship with its people.  Why?  Because he knows that when they experience each other's faith they will be mutually encouraged.

Why be a part of the Church?  One reason among many: mutual encouragement.  You can lift others up and they can lift you up.

The Church is far from perfect, but is the only vehicle that God has ordained to fulfill his purpose in this Age, it is where disciples of Jesus grow to maturity together through the work of the Holy Spirit.