The blessing of worship at McIlwain
March 9, 2021 § Leave a comment
This post may also be found on the McIlwain Presbyterian Church Website.
God has blessed us in so many ways at McIlwain! Lately that blessing has been joyfully clear on Sunday mornings. There’s little doubt that some of that joy is the result of simply being together, face-to-face, as we continue to emerge from a too long covid fog. God made us to fellowship with him together—and as we press hands, embrace, listen, and laugh we vibrantly fulfill his purpose for us. Simply put, we are tasting some of the sweet fruit of glorifying God and enjoying him right here, right now.
« Read the rest of this entry »What do we do?
June 4, 2020 § 3 Comments
Knowing how to begin a post like this is a considerable challenge because the current climate is so charged with tensions that practically any angle is likely to be condemned by someone. There are racial tensions, social tensions, political tensions, and spiritual tensions.
As a pastor I believe I am compelled to address these tensions, both in terms of making a biblical assessment and offering pastoral encouragement and advice to my flock. « Read the rest of this entry »
The Comfort of God in a Hard Time
August 25, 2018 § 3 Comments
On August 19, 2018, Sam Leuellen, my 13 year-old nephew, took his own life. Sam had a deep and kind empathy for people that surpassed that of many of adults I have known. Perhaps he internalized the burdens of others too much; but his heartfelt kindness and sweetness are a benchmark I aspire to reach myself. « Read the rest of this entry »
A Thanksgiving proclamation
November 23, 2017 § Leave a comment
On October 3, 1789, George Washington issued our nation’s first Presidential proclamation of Thanksgiving. Thanks (forgive me) to the internet, it has been posted and reposted over and over again. You’ve probably even seen it today.
But have you read it and not merely liked it? « Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Predestination? What’s up with that?
July 21, 2017 § 3 Comments
If God chooses some for salvation, does that mean he chooses some for damnation?
The debate over this question has been long and heated—and, unfortunately, in many cases often not very enlightening or edifying. « Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Glory to God! Part 4: The Glory of God in the Return and Reign of Christ
December 28, 2016 § Leave a comment
But the sadness would be broken as the song of life arose,
And the firstborn of creation would ascend and take His throne.
He had left it to redeem us, but before His life began
He knew He’d come back, not as a baby, but as the Lord of ev’ry man.
— Bob Kauflin, “In the First Light”
« Read the rest of this entry »
Glory to God! Part 3: The Glory of God in the Gospel
December 26, 2016 § Leave a comment
God had indeed promised deliverance; he had indeed promised his glory would be revealed. But the most important part was the fact that this promise was a Someone.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14) « Read the rest of this entry »
Glory to God! Part 2: The Glory of God in the Promise of Redemption
December 26, 2016 § Leave a comment
God’s glory shines in his Creation; anyone who has beheld in the wilderness a clear night sky has glimpsed that glory. The Psalmist exults: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). But nowhere is the glory of God brighter in our dark world than in Gospel, the fulfillment of God’s promise: « Read the rest of this entry »
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