Remarks at the Rally for the Bayview Cross
June 27, 2017 § 2 Comments
In the early evening of June 27 I had the honor of standing alongside a host of liberty-loving men–pastors, a rabbi, talk radio personalities and politicians–at a Pensacola rally in support of a cross that, in one form or another, has stood in Bayview Park since 1941. U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson ruled June 19 that the cross in the city park violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution and must be removed within 30 days.
The Pensacola community was largely stunned and responded quickly. Supporters of a proposal that the city lease the area around the cross to a private historical association helped to organize the above-mentioned rally and came out in force.
Below is the full text of my prepared remarks, which I gave in an abridged and partially improvised fashion due to the time constraints. My voice was but one of many–and, again, it was a great honor to add mine to theirs. « Read the rest of this entry »
The wrath of God was satisfied!
August 6, 2013 § 9 Comments
Whenever I have the privilege of introducing myself as a Presbyterian pastor, more often than not it is usually with the caveat that I am pastor in “the other Presbyterian church.”
That, of course, is not strictly true, because there are several Presbyterian denominations in America: the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the Bible Presbyterian Church and, my own denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. « Read the rest of this entry »
A crest on a stone
May 22, 2013 § 1 Comment
Yesterday, I had the privilege of presiding over a time of remembrance and prayer with family and friends at the dedication of a memorial marker for Michael Schroeder, who left this world for the face-to-face presence of God on March 12, 2012. Michael’s wife Lisa commissioned a beautiful marker (below) to provide their sons, Kyle, Blake and Derek, a means of teaching, as God wills, their children of their grandfather’s faith in the promise of God. Here is what I shared.
The practice of setting up memorials has strong biblical precedent. At several important junctures in Israel’s history God directed his people to commemorate an event by the setting up of stones—stones that call the people to remember God’s faithfulness.
One such occasion is recorded in Joshua 4, when the Israelites at last cross the Jordan River into the land promised to Abraham. The crossing was by God’s power, because the river, which was at flood stage, was halted in its course so that Israel could cross on dry land. After the crossing one man from each of the 12 tribes was to take a stone from the dry bed of the Jordan for setting up of memorial at Gilgal, east of the Jordan. « 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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