Retired & Thinking

T here are some passages in God’s Word that lends themselves to preaching. John 3:16, Psalm 23 or Matthew 5-7. The way we, that is westerners think, it has clear limits, can be set into bite-size pieces. Then, there are passages like this one. These verses are pushing a doctrine of justification or sanctification. Paul’s not teaching us about the role of spiritual gifts or plant a church. Instead, this is one of those passages in which we see the heart of Paul toward those with whom he worked and besides whom he labored for Jesus. This is why I paired this passage with Acts 20. There you see Paul speaking with the leaders of Ephesus, the church with whom he had the longest pastorate. It is a change of tone for Paul. He doesn’t lower his standard for Christ, but he now addresses these brothers and sisters as one who loves them and aches to see them restored. It has been described as a “tender, urgent and intensely personal appeal” (Hendriksen), “a fatherly, ap...

A s a child my mom told me my heritage from her family was English, Irish, Scotch, Danish and possibly Jewish. My heritage on my mom’s family turns out to be Danish and British. Not only do I enjoy doing genealogy, but I’m a fan of “Finding Your Roots” on OPB hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and “Who Do You Think You Are” on TLC.  I know they’re edited for newsworthy and cool discoveries but it’s hard to get excited when you see Angie Harmon meeting her 5 th cousin, once removed, on the family farm, dating from the 1700’s. When it comes to our spiritual lives the question of whether our identity is linked to the Law or Grace is of eternal importance. 23  Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.  24  So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. Paul tells us that the law was our jailer and taskmaste...

So this the sermon preached August 9 at Kenton Church as part of the summer sermon series on Galatians This past week a pastor, Rev. Gretta Vosper, of the United Church of Canada may face questions about her effectiveness to pastor. Her denomination is the most liberal in the world but they have to determine if “she has gone too far” (Perkel) . At issue is that, she is an atheist. “I don’t believe in... the god called God...Using the word gets in the way of sharing what I want to share.” This isn’t new as she went public with her belief in 2001. She’s not alone. Portland has an atheist Presbyterian minister and in Austin Texas a Presbyterian church allowed an atheist to become a member. These sort of issues are not new to Christ’s people. In fact, it was similar issues that Paul faced among the Galatians which is why this letter is so important for 21 st American Christians. At the heart of chapter 3 is the question of how one obtains God’s grace. Are the ...

A  sole survivor washed ashore on a small island and wasn’t found for years. When rescues discovered him they found he had built three huts. When asked, he pointed to the one and said, “That’s my house.” Then he pointed to a second, and said, “That’s my church”. After a bit of silence, the rescuers asked about the third hut. Nonchalantly, he said, “Oh that was the church I used to belong to.” In some towns, the preachers know the families who ‘church hop’. They’re at this place one week and a month later they’re down the street with another group. Someone says something to them or doesn’t say something to them and they’re off looking for the next place where God is calling them. These are examples of what it means when Jesus tells us “Judge not” as in Matthew 7:1. John Stott describes much of the judgment is along lines of the form of baptism, if the person ordained is properly in line with the apostles, the color of their skin or the from the right so...

H aving come to faith just as the “Jesus movement” of the early 70’s took off I have a special place in my soul for the music, teachers and some of the theological teaching that came out of that period of church history. When a group of ‘kids’ like us got around someone usually brought up how the First Century Church was so much better than the church of the 70’s. It was simpler, purer, and less driven by money. It cared for people more and took God’s Word serious. Now, 40 years later, I see how stupid we were. To quote one blogger, “The church in Acts was immature” (Unger). The church in the first century had people bragging about sleeping with their step-moms and during communion, some got drunk and ate most of the food before others could get off work (1 Cor.). They fell for teachers who claimed Jesus had already come back (1 Thess.).  In fact what should have been common was held up as a great mark of maturity for the followers of Christ in Berea who “R...

P ost 9/11 has demonstrated a need to monitor things we have taken for granted such as electrical grids and water systems. In a couple of major cities, the U.S. Army has come up with an unusual way to test thee  water. They use bluegills. They are able to respond quickly to materials like cyanide, solvents and pesticides (Mott). If and when such things are found the trick becomes how to limit their spread and stop those who are responsible. Someone had told Paul what was happening among those churches he and Barnabas had planted. They were aware of the problem and Paul was not about to shy away from exposing it so that these churches might be repaired and others warned. The issue in Galatia was pretty specific. A group of Jewish Christians were not happy with the Jewish Law being put aside by the Jerusalem Council (cf. Acts 15). They thought all followers of Jesus should still obey dietary laws and other such things including circumcision. It seemed, in their...

G alatians is a letter written to a group of churches located in what we know as Turkey. Most likely the letter is written about 48 A.D. which puts it about 15 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Unlike most of Paul’s letters, he does not begin with this with a praise or prayer. Instead, we get a hint in verse 1 of the trouble that was going on in this area, “ an apostle— not from men nor through men but through Jesus Christ…” Those in Galatia were doubting and even rebelling against the authority of Paul, as an apostle. Why is this significant? It’s because today the world, and especially our culture is in rebellion against authority. David Slagel, a teaching pastor at Veritas Church in Atlanta, told the story of his eight-year-old. My eight-year-old embraces some interesting sources of truth. We were coming home from the grocery store recently when he asked, "Dad, do you believe in the Bermuda Triangle?" "Jack," I replied, "if...