Sex

Yesterday, I read a small booklet entitled: reforming male sexuality: a frank discussion on pornography & masturbation for God's men by Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA.

It is extremely relevant, frank, and Biblical. I wish that he would make it available for broad publication because I believe it says some things which too often we Christians are afraid to say. He addresses so many issues in a non-hokey way. I just appreciate this booklet immensely.

I wish that more churches and pastors would be this frank and open to their people about this. There are so many statistics about Christians who view pornography, divorce, engage in sexual activity before marriage, and yet, the answers I see all seem to be canned and afraid to be as frank and graphic as Scripture itself.

I am grateful that my dad was open in discussing sexuality with me and taught me that sexuality is a good gift that must be used in the right way. I have talked to so many Christian men whose dads never talked about sex other than the "birds and bees" talk, or they were raised with such a negative view of human sexuality that it was viewed as "dirty" even in the context of marriage. We need to understand that way is unacceptable. We need to inform our people what is healthy and what is not. We need to teach the beauty of human sexuality in its God honoring context. We also need to stop pretending Christians don't view porn and aren't immune to the same temptations as everyone else.

Scotty, I just...need...poWER

Sorry for the lame Captain Kirk impression.
We are one of the nearly half-million without power in StL.
We're staying with friends who have power...and air conditioning.

Oh well, I guess I could be in Oklahoma City after a tornado...oh wait...I would still have power.
Props to OG&E, Ameren UE could take a lesson or two from you.

Redemption Has A Story, Acts 3:11-26

This sermon was a total blast to preach.

Redemption Has a Story
Acts 3:11-26

Intro: Next week our country will celebrate Independence Day. Suppose a child or someone unfamiliar with US History came and asked you to tell the story of our county and all you said was “ well in 1776 we declared independence, in 1783 we won the war, and in 1787 we adopted Constitution” and you just left it at that. Without talking about the Mayflower, Great Awakening, Independence, Constitution, 2nd Great Awakening, War of 1812, Civil War, Steam Engine, Industrial Revolution, Spanish American War, Light bulb, Telephone, Automobile, Ice cream, Hot Dogs, Airplanes, World War I, Radios, Great Depression, Television, World War 2, the Baby Boom, Cold War, Elvis, JFK, Landing on the Moon, Vietnam War, Computers, and so on and so on. You need a big picture to understand the history of any country, understand your family because it helps you appreciate it and embrace it. So it is with redemption. Sometimes we want to describe the Christian faith as Jesus died on a cross and rose from the dead, but there’s more to the story and in Peter’s sermon, this Kingdom proclamation, we get a glimpse of the story of redemption and how it encompasses human history from beginning to end. From Creation, Fall, Redemption and the Restoration of all things. And in our text this morning we will see that Redemption has a story, and this story is old and it must be told.

I. The story of redemption is old
A. The Old Testament
1. Covenant – v 13, 20, 25-26 (the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob)
2. Proclamation of prophesy – 18 on..

B. The New Testament
1. Continuation – the story goes on!
2. Proclamation of fulfillment – Jesus fulfills OT prophesy

II. The story of redemption must be told
A. To others
1. Resurrection – this is the central theme in Peter’s sermon & other’s
2. Redemption – this was accomplished by the resurrection
3. Repentance – Peter’s call to repentance mirrors OT pattern of the Prophets
calling the people to repent and embrace the Lord with their hearts!
4. Renewal – God has promised to “restore everything” this is all encompassing

B. To ourselves
1. Continuity –the OT, NT and ourselves. We are part of the story!
2. Clarity – So we can understand the message of all Scripture!
3. Comfort – We have hope in the power of the Gospel to change lives!
4. Concern – Our understanding of the Gospel leads us to proclaim it!

The Powerful Name of Jesus Acts 3:1-10

Here is a sermon outline from last month. I had a blast preaching this one. I'll post audio when I buy a new UBS cord for my mp3 recorder.

The Powerful name of Jesus

1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 6Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.


I. The Kingdom is empowered by his name (the Kingdom is the reign of God)
A. By authority
We are commissioned – spread the kingdom, Jesus wants disciples, not converts
B. By action
Christ is subduing his creation through the actions of his people
II. The Kingdom moves in his name
A. Redeeming creatures
B. Redeeming culture
Peter and John could have withdrawn from their surroundings, but they were at the Temple among the Jewish people

III. The Kingdom draws people into his name
A. Causing people to enter
It doesn’t matter who you are
The lame did not have the right to enter the temple
Luke is using this man to show Kingdom inclusiveness
c.f. Is 35:6 – the lame leaping is a sign of the Messianic age
Any sinner has the right to enter the Temple – Jesus
B. Causing people to awe
When the Kingdom moves, people take notice…
(illustration) Seattle Times taking notice of Mark Driscoll & Mars Hill Bible Church

Conclusion: when Jesus has commissioned his disciples to build and equip the kingdom he sent them by the authority of his name. Kingdom work involves being active with your family, friends and surroundings to bring the kingdom to bear on creation and culture.

The end is near! blah...blah....blah...

To my friend Brandon, you have inspired me because of this post!

Anyway, with all the problems going on in the Middle East, which are a continuation of centuries of war, there are crops of people hedging their bets that this is it - the time of the Rapture. This great line of thinking hearkens back long before the days of 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could Be in 1988, The Late Great Planet Earth and so on.
In fact, one would be amazed to see all the times the Rapture was predicted in the 1930s. People were unsettled because of impending war with Japan, Germany and Italy. This was not in 1940, but even earlier. The Sword of the Lord and John R. Rice was notorious for this. He predicted it in the first issue for 1938 and even published a gem in 1940 (which I own) called The Impending World War and the Second Coming of Christ. J. Frank Norris, another fundamentalist leader, was involved in this sort of thing as well. While, he did not get into the great debates of whether Hitler was really the Beast or not, he did publish articles which suggested the end was near and used his theory that Stalin was secretly involved in a shadow government with FDR to enter war with Europe and make the U.S. a "red" country, thus bringing in the one world government that would lead to the end times. Carl McIntire was guilty of this as well in the pages of The Christian Beacon saying in 1936 that students of the Bible should be pleased because they are witnessing the unfolding events of the end times right before their eyes. The most notorious offender during the late 1930s, in my opinion, was The Voice of the Independent Fundamentalist Churches of America because they actually published sermons calling Hitler the Beast, calling Mussolini the Antichrist and predicting the rapture quite frequently.

Now, what is the common theme between all of the publications I have referenced? They were wrong. If you read the Bible in one hand and have a newspaper in the other and you're looking for the key to Armageddon, you're going to be wrong everytime.
But if you must, I suggest reading the Bible in one hand, have a newspaper in the other, circle stories that point out Biblical truth playing out in real space and time (common grace, etc), nod at them in amazement because you see how Truth works itself out in the ordinary world that God created and you don't have to disappoint yourself time and time again because you're waiting for the eschaton to say, "SEE THE BIBLE WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG!"

Covenant Worldwide - free seminary lectures

Covenant Seminary has uploaded free mp3 files of class lectures here. Many of them have the classnotes in pdf format as well.
It's a great resource!

Here are the classes that are available for download. Have fun...

Free Courses
Ancient & Medieval Church History
Apologetics & Outreach
Biblical Theology
Calvin's Institutes
Christian Ethics
Christian Worship
Francis A. Schaeffer: The Early Years
Francis A. Schaeffer: The Later Years
God & His Word
God's World Mission
Hebrews to Revelation
Humanity, Christ & Redemption
Life & Letters of Paul
Life & Teachings of Jesus
New Testament History
Old Testament History
Psalms & Wisdom Books
Reformation & Modern Church History
Spirit, Church, & Last Things
Youth Ministry

Gimme that "old time religion!"

I find it ironic when people refer to "old time" music, "old time" religion, etc they are talking about that "old time" from the 19th century.

Back from Cali

We had a great vacation.
Pictures will pop up a little and maybe I will make some more posts soon.

I need to catch up!