This Radical Cultural Activism Thing Called Marriage
September 6, 2017 § Leave a comment
On Saturday, September 2, I had the privilege of presiding over the marriage ceremony of Julia Thorpe and Andy Terwilliger. Here is the homily from that ceremony on the passage that Julia and Andy chose, Colossians 3:12-17.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.—Colossians 3:12-17
We live in troubled times. Some might even say that these are times that try men’s souls. « Read the rest of this entry »
Glory to God!
December 21, 2016 § 2 Comments
This past Sunday the Sanctuary Choir of McIlwain Presbyterian Church presented its annual Christmas program. This year’s offering was entitled Glory to God! In addition to both classic carols and music by Keith and Kristyn Getty arranged by McIlwain Music Ministry Coordinator Donny Monk, I supplied a series of narrations designed to explore the glory of God in four progressive themes: the glory of God in creation, the glory of God in the promise of redemption, the glory of God in the Gospel, and the glory of God in the return and reign of Christ. Although these were summarized in the program, we explored the themes respectively each Sunday of Advent this year. « Read the rest of this entry »
A graduation prayer for the TCS Class of 2015
June 3, 2015 § 2 Comments
This past Friday night I had the privilege of offering a prayer for my daughter, Hannah, and her classmates, the graduating class of 2015 at Trinitas Christian School in Pensacola. As the ceremony proceeded and all manner of emotions stirred within me (Hannah is our first child to graduate High School), I began to wonder whether the occasion was a wonderful opportunity or a cruel joke! I concluded it was the former, and by God’s grace managed to make it through the prayer. « Read the rest of this entry »
Ah, the refreshment of Spurgeon!
May 21, 2014 § 4 Comments
In studying for this week’s sermon on John 1:15-18 I discovered this sermon by C.H. Spurgeon. Entitled, “The True Tabernacle, and Its Glory of Grace and Peace,” it was preached on the Lord’s Day morning of September 27th, 1885 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England. What refreshment the Prince of Preachers still offers!
…if God has come to dwell among men by the Word made flesh let us pitch our tent around this central tabernacle; do not let us live as if God were a long way off. « Read the rest of this entry »
Silent no more–fool or not
November 7, 2012 § 8 Comments
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. —Proverbs 17:28
There have been all too many times when I ought to have heeded these words. For the better part of the last 16 hours I have tried to abide by them, refraining from posting anything either on Facebook or my blog and resisting the urge to tweet—which is actually not that difficult since I almost never do that. « Read the rest of this entry »
2012 Commencement Homily for Trinitas Christian School
June 11, 2012 § 1 Comment
On May 25, for the second year in a row, I was privileged to share the rostrum with Rev. Uri Brito, each of us delivering a “tag” commencement homily for the graduating class. Our text this year was Hebrews 12; my portion covered the first 17 verses but I primarily focused on the first two. My title was “Run!”
Graduates, tonight we rightly congratulate and honor you for your successful achievement. Twelve-plus years of cultivating hard and diligent work have borne fruit—and because the hardworking farmer has the right to enjoy the fruit of his labor, I earnestly hope that tonight and in the coming days and weeks you will feast with satisfaction and gratitude upon this harvest.
But it’s not over. Not by a long shot. In fact, in some ways it is really just beginning. By “it” I don’t mean college, per se—and you are going to probably think this sounds sentimental and clichéic—but what I mean to say is really just beginning for you is the race of life.
Now, I hate sentimentality more than anyone—but I hate it most in sermons and things like commencement homilies. « Read the rest of this entry »
For the joy: A meditation in anticipation of Good Friday
March 23, 2012 § 1 Comment
Generally, Good Friday services are presented as somewhat somber, if not downright morose, memorials of the crucifixion of Jesus. The Gospel accounts of his lonely vigil of prayer in Gethsemane, Judas’ betrayal, the fleeing of the disciples at his arrest, the sham trials, the beating and mocking and the cruelty of the crucifixion—all of these are recounted, often in a “you are there” fashion, woven together from Scripture and interspersed with melancholy music to picture for us the tragic reality of Christ’s suffering for sinners.
Though we cannot deny the tragic reality of the death of Christ, Scripture we never quite broods over it, either as an event of history or with a view toward its theological implications in quite the way we might think it should. I don’t mean this in any way to diminish the central emphasis of the cross in Scripture: the cross is that which shows the wisdom and power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) and it is to be our “boast” in this world (Galatians 6:14). What we find, though, is that the Bible never sees Christ’s cross-work as the “end game.” In a sense, one could say that Scripture even looks past the events of the crucifixion. Consider this passage in Hebrews 12: « Read the rest of this entry »
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