Retired & Thinking

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...

I rann Texas is named after Ira and Ann Yates who settled along the Pecos River in far west Texas. In 1915, he traded his grocery store for the land, which came with a mortgage of $16, 559 to be paid off over the next three years. It was a hard, unwanted piece of property but Ira and Ann continued too struggled raising sheep, goats and cattle. In a deal with Transcontinental Oil four wells were drilled on his property and October 28, 1926, at 992 feet, well 1-A came as a gusher (Kepner, 2015) . There is a historical marker on the western edge of Irann that reads “You won’t find any oil west of the Pecos River”. That was the guiding principle for the 1920’s among oil explorers (Modisett, 2015) . Be glad people don’t always pay attention to those ‘guiding principles’. The guiding principles of Paul’s day is that there were many gods and that you had to placate with offerings and keeping various rules. There were norms in society that each gender and people were exp...

This sermon follows on the theme of "freedom in Christ" which Paul has been writing about throughout this letter.  Hope it meets your needs. I f you think following Jesus will mean first place in life, think again. In 1993, Mike Deleavo, a cross-country runner was one of only five who did not miss a turn at the NCAA championship in Riverside, California. None of the five who took the longer, correct course, challenged the final out of respect for the in-state opponent Adams State College who won its second consecutive title.  Delcavo told the Riverside Press-Enterprise. "If I had stayed on the wrong course, I would have finished respectably. But when you read the official results, I'm 123 out of 128 runners" (Articles. latimes.com). Yet, our goal as a follower of Jesus is to follow him, go the right way, no matter where the world ranks us. The Galatian’s were falling prey to a group who demanded Jewish ritual rules including circumcision...

Ok, so this is a full week late in getting it posted. I have good excuses but the fact is, I just didn't get it done before I headed to Oakland for my step-father-in-law's memorial service. D anny Villegas was roofer in Texas for five years following 70-months in a Federal prison for bank robbery. He drove to Florida and went to the Kennedy Space Center Federal Credit Union and told the teller he was robbing her and that she “might as well call the police now.” He then sat on a couch in the lobby to wait for the police. Lt. Ron White said, Villegas wanted to “rob a federal bank because he wanted to go back to a federal penitentiary” (Asso. Press, 2007) . Last week, we ended with Paul’s confusion, “I am perplexed about you” (v. 20). Partially because these people would leave behind the grace and freedom they’d found in Christ and because he had thought they had a bond between themselves which showed him to be truthful and honest. Now the confusion...