“The old woman is of no consequence,” he thought, hotly and incoherently. “The old woman was a mistake perhaps, but she is not what matters! The old woman was only an illness. . . . I was in a hurry to overstep. . . . I didn’t kill a human being, but a principle! I killed the principle, but I didn’t overstep, I stopped on this side. . . . I was only capable of killing. And it seems I wasn’t even capable of that . . . Principle? ... And what shows that I am utterly a louse,” he added, grinding his teeth, “is that I am perhaps viler and more loathsome than the louse I killed, and I felt beforehand that I should tell myself so after killing her. Can anything be compared with the horror of that? The vulgarity! The abjectness!”

A gift from God to restrict our sin. Regardless of how comfortable we are with our sin, how well we’ve hidden it, when we are in the spotlight, when it is revealed to the eyes of others, there’s something within us that will psychologically and physically condemn us. It is a sensation that we cannot escape. 

For someone to post an image of themselves in a representative way as being a member of the Trinity, is to follow in the folly of Nebuchadnezzar who considered all the greatness of his empire and attributed his success to his own glory, power, and majesty (Daniel 4:30). The Lord humbled Nebuchadnezzar in a very effective, but awful manner (Daniel 4:31-34). To claim divine status is a practice that the ancient Pharaohs of Egypt engaged in, and were ultimately judged for by God in the 10 plagues (Exodus 7-11). Ancient Roman Caesars claimed divinity, yet their empire shrank and went by the wayside even as the gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout their lands and beyond.

For the follower of Jesus hardship comes just as it does for the nonbeliever. Yet the believer is equipped to handle hardship in a way that is distinct from the nonbeliever. The believer has a hope and a plan even in the midst of hardship. The plan in hardship for the believer is the same as the plan in peace: follow Jesus.

One of those uncomfortable topics is the anger and wrath of God towards sin. We get uncomfortable when we discuss the plagues that God sent to Pharaoh during the time of the Exodus, or the Exile of Israel from the promised land to Babylonian captivity. When a doubting world asks about the Canaanite conquest, we become silent. We might get uncomfortable when we read about a man who knew no sin and yet he was suffering and ultimately was punished for crimes which he did not himself commit.

We enter into the divine discussion and interrupt the flow of the cosmic conversation only by the intercession of another. The work Jesus Christ engages in on a daily basis since his ascension is to intercede for his people in the courts of heaven.

When we think of the gospel going out into the world there are a great many things that come to mind. Missions efforts, evangelistic crusades, interpersonal conversations about Jesus, baptisms, testimonies, transformed lives, church plants, sermons, bible translation, and more. Often when we think of the gospel spreading, we think in the present sense. We consider the present global spiritual landscape and then carry on with that in mind. This is a good thing and is in no way worthy of critique. The apostles were dedicated in their lives (during what was their time in the “present”) to the spread of the gospel widely. They traveled afar, and had gospel conversations with people from dozens of cultures, lands, and languages. 

By Paul’s exercise of appealing to another approach, besides the direct application of apostolic authority, we learn much more of the opportunity Paul was presenting to Philemon. It is much better when, as Christian people, we do what we ought to do with an attitude and sense of voluntary graciousness. Our God loves a giver who cheerfully gives. Paul’s mentioning of his apostolic authority is an extension of a chance for Philemon to do what is good without being under compulsion. Rather than any sense of obligation, Paul gives Philemon the chance to do good out of an abounding persuasion and love. 

25 I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! Job 19:25-27 NIV

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. 1 John 3:16-24

Can I faithfully, truthfully say to my congregants (of whom I've had several just over the last year) who ask, "can't you just use AI to write your sermon?" "No, I need to spend time in the world, in thought, and in prayer. AI is helpful as a tool, like word studies, logos, translation tools, commentaries, and outlines, but AI is only a part of the toolbelt for sermon prep. It can't write the sermon for me. The sermon has to first become a living, breathing message in my own life that overflows into and out of the pulpit and streets where I preach.

You know that leftover ham and turkey from the family get-togethers? It can make for excellent “leftovers”. I remember at my grandmother’s house, some of the best sandwiches I ever ate were made up with the “leftovers” from the previous day’s celebrations. Sermons often are similar to festive celebratory meals during family gatherings. There is much prepared, much served, but there are also leftovers to enjoy and keep feeding on even in the days following the party. A faithful minister of the gospel taught me to share the leftovers from sermons - those aspects of study and preparation that didn’t quite make the cut for various reasons. In preparing to preach on John 2, I have a few leftovers to share. Today’s leftovers have some questions to get us into the “meat” of the topic:

The irony in this article and complaint is straight from Grand Rapids' city attorney and Police force. They state that there are no other "health care" facilities that experience noise complaints. That would be directly tied to the practice of the killing of the unborn that takes place at this location.

In these written messages of the Old Testament, God also set forth His will for His people and what He requires of them. Then, for obeying His commands, there is a rich blessing and communion with Him in the promised land.  However, for transgression of His commands, there are devastating curses not unlike the curses that Adam and Eve suffered for their disobedience. These covenant documents were written by Moses, well after the creation of the world. God most often orally communicated to a specific messenger.

Guest post by Ryan Broadhouse Ryan serves as the Senior Pastor at Westminster PCA in Fort Myers, FL, where his heart is first and foremost for the local church."

I'm thankful for Ryan and his preaching and teaching ministry, which I have benefited from as a pastor in serving others. This week, I was thankful and blessed to read the following from Ryan's ministry blog. I encourage you to read the following if you have kids, teens, or grandkids who are pre-teens or teens. I hope this is a blessing to you, your family, and future generations of children! 

A wonderful brother in the Lord and long-time international missionary recently shared some encouraging perspectives on current trends in the United States. I asked James if I could share his comments, and I am reposting his comments here without comment as an encouragement to Christians in the West.

A kingdom value is a summary statement of ambition for believers to grow into as Christ is exalted in all of life. These short statements are statements of ambition that you can deploy and remember so that we don't forget what our kingdom ambitions are. What is it that Christ has called us to as we glorify and exalt Christ in all of life? These little statements hopefully give us a helpful summary of what God is doing in us and what God has called us to as he is remaking us more and more like Christ in all of our lives.

The martyrs bear witness to Christ AND they also bear witness to humanity of their killers. With the prayer for forgiveness they say to their enemies "you are not monsters, but sinners in need of forgiveness." This is where the Christian martyr is different than the Islamist one... the Christian martyr desires the salvation of his enemies, the Islamist desires their destruction. The Christian at prayer is the Christian who prays "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." 

What follows below is some reading material regarding divorce and Jesus' responses to the Pharisees in Mark 10 and Matthew 19. I'm happy to have further conversations about these topics as you'd like, just send me an email at redeemingfamily@gmail.com

These are some of the biggest lessons I have learned as one who has been a member of 2 different church plants (both outside the CRC) and am part of a planting church in the CRC (currently planting a Chinese-speaking church in Ada).