Retired & Thinking

I n the back of our lot was an old tree. It held the remnants of past platforms among the branches. I discovered it was a plum tree only after building a treehouse in it. To build this playhouse a lot of dead wood had to be cleared out of the tree.   Most of the dead wood was twigs and small branches and the task was more tedious than difficult. The dead wood impacted the tree by keeping it from doing what it was meant to do, namely bear plums.   Building this treehouse forced me to remove dead wood but we undergo experiences that cause us to take stock of our lives. And these events may well offer us the chance to ax the excess—rid our lives of the dead wood. I know some of you have had a doctor mention 'cancer' and you were forced to make changes and even move your life in new directions.   Your company goes belly-up, there are layoffs, a child, friend or other person makes horrible choices. Perhaps the issue is a pandemic that threatens our health, jobs, soci...

In the early 1940s, a Baptist church in a Chicago suburb had a new pastor by the name of Billy Graham. He believed he was meant to be an evangelist but decided to give the pastorate a fair try. Within several months, the church was growing, and so was his popularity. A popular Christian radio broadcast heard in several states called “Songs in the Night” approached the rookie pastor about becoming their weekly speaker. Sensing the hand of God in this invitation, he agreed. The program increased its listeners and being a secular station, Billy knew there were unbelievers listening. He engaged the wide spectrum of listeners by making sure that they referenced the culture. Let me quote from his autobiography, Just as I Am: “I built my radio talks around the events of the day. Keeping up with current events through newspapers and radio news programs, I began each message with a reference to something people would have been hearing and talking about that very day. Then I moved into a b...

The next few weeks I want to touch on a series of characteristics which might be considered the trademark that we are followers of Jesus. There are countless posters, wall hangings and do-dads with the “Fruit of the Spirit” printed on them. We are going to look at each of these characteristics and look for practical ways we will see them work in our lives as we follow Jesus. Our passage in Galatians 5:16 starts off with a seemingly simple truth “ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh ”. The command to ‘walk’ doesn’t suddenly appear. We are created for the purpose of doing good works which God has prepared so we should “ walk in them ” (2:10) and he urges us in 4:1 “ walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called ”. Instead of walking as those who don’t know God, Gentiles--who “ walk… in the futility of their minds ”. “ We are to walk as children of light ” (5:8). When the Bible, in particular, the New Testament...

My apologies to Robert Burns for the use of his line but it seemed fitting concerning my desire to post weekly and the lack  thereof. Computers are heinous creatures with a mind of their own. Mine decided to die a couple of weeks ago. I finally got a newer desktop and have most  of my programs up and running. Logos takes a fair amount of time to index the library and is doing so as I type. I also am not preaching this coming Sunday. Instead, we are having a Gideon bring a 'message' from God's Word.  I look forward to hearing how God's Word is changing lives, around the world, as it distributed through these faithful men.  I will post again especially as we come to World Communion Sunday on October 2. So begin to prepare yourself to come to our Lord's table even today. Until then... Shalom Alan

Disabling spirit Among the discussion in various commentaries is whether the " disabling spirit " of the woman was a spiritual (demonic) cause of a natural illness/disease. the word 'disabling' άσθεινί́́́́̓́̀ς is used of illness or sickness. In the LXX (Greek Old Testament) it is used as 'stumbling block' in Jeremiah 6:21   Therefore thus says the  Lord : ‘Behold, I will lay before this people       stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble; fathers and sons together,      neighbor and friend shall perish.’” Arguing in favor of a natural occurring illness includes Dr. James Edwards who makes the case for a generic illness based on how various skin rashes and problems would have been lumped into the category of Hansen's Disease (Leprosy). However, in Luke 6:18, this physician clearly distinguishes between who were healed of diseases and those troubled with unclean spirits (6:18; 7:21; Acts 5:16; 8:6-8; 19:12). Likew...

It's been almost a year since I posted anything to this blog. It isn't because there was nothing to report nor because I was too busy. It was simply an oversight and laziness on my part. So, I'm going to try it again. I do not promise a post every day or even every week but I will post at least a couple of times a month about theological news and items that capture my interest. One thing I hope to do is to use another blog of mine to share material that I was unable to use in the sermon but which is worth reading. I hope to index those links by passages for those who wish to use the sources. Peace, Alan DISCLAIMER Although I am pastor at Kenton Church the blog posts are my own and do not represent the will or mind of Kenton's membership or Session and certainly they are not the opinions of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church or the Presbytery on which Kenton is a part...

So here's the last in this summer's series on Galatians. If you have questions please email them to me and I'll address what I can. My prayer is that as we move through a period of secularization we may remain God's People and faithful to the freedom that we have been called too.  Peace, Alan If you needed help to whom would you go? My Facebook profile lies when it says I have 438 friends. Some are duplicates, some are immediate and more distant family, about 35. Preachers and others like them make up another 65.  But two of them are unabashed Dodger fans so they’re suspect. More than one I’ve friended because it is safer knowing what they are up to than not knowing. Then are those from the previous churches and friends I grew up with. But, if I needed help, restoration, renewal there are probably less than 15 on whom I’d call. We are at the end of Galatians. Paul reaffirms his teaching on the flesh and Spirit, conceit and selfishness into these fin...