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 »
Mirrors into Windows
April 30, 2015 § 5 Comments
In one month Hann
ah Banana will graduate from high school. 13 years of a classical Christian education will have built each upon the other to provide the platform from which she will, God willing, launch a college career. Lisa and I are very proud of the hard work and determination she demonstrated to get to this place. God has blessed her with acceptance into the Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing at Samford University. « Read the rest of this entry »
Read the Bible!
January 2, 2015 § 2 Comments
Few things are as satisfying as a good story. From the time we incessantly begged, “Just one more before bedtime, pleeeze!” to “I think I can get this next chapter done before I have to get some sleep”—stories have captivated us. Although different people are drawn to different types of writing, the common attraction among all is, I believe, the development of the story itself. It’s what keeps us reading. Heroes in impossible predicaments, sleuths combing through the scenes of “perfect” crimes, thawing of frozen relationships, tripping through the twists and turns of international intrigue—whatever the situation, we both love the story and want to see how it ends.
Why, then, is it that we don’t approach the Bible this way? « Read the rest of this entry »
A TRUE STORY October 31 – November 1, 1986
November 1, 2014 § 2 Comments
Exactly 28 years ago, sometime between 11:00 pm, October 31 and 2:00 am, November 1, I was converted. Though I understand now that what happened then was the working out of God’s foreordination before creation through his wise and inscrutable hand of providence by multiple means; and though I understand I was likely regenerated some weeks or even months before (or else I would not have begun to seek as I did)–the bottom line is that during that late night and early morning I experienced the reality of conversion. It was nothing less than the conscious engagement of my mind with the reality that I was at one moment one thing and then, in the next moment, I was something else; at one moment I did not trust in the grace of God in Christ and then, in the next moment I did.
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 »
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 »
The best way to mark Independence Day
July 4, 2013 § Leave a comment
Before the burgers, brats, beer and beans; before the ice cream, pie and cobbler; before the fireworks—take some time and do something, for our day and age, that is truly radical: Read the Declaration of Independence.
It requires at least a basic knowledge of the events leading up to July 4, 1776 (which you can find here) and it will test your vocabulary (which only more curiosity and teachability can help). It is also long; you, like me, may have to read it out loud at first to stick with it. And even if you are only slightly aware of what is going on in our country today, as you read the Declaration you will be shocked at the parallels. Anyone who sees these parallels and lets them settle into his or her conscience will be bound to do some profoundly serious soul-searching—and then have to ask, “What am I obligated to do?”
Click here to read the Declaration of Independence.
May God bless America.
I was wrong!
July 1, 2013 § 1 Comment
Last Friday marked the last working day of our church secretary and my Administrative Assistant, Janie Myrick, who has retired.
She didn’t have church experience.
Everything else, though, was stellar. A group of smart, experienced and godly men had served as our screening committee and, after singling our three candidates out of 60 for me to interview, all of them felt she was the best.
But she didn’t have church experience. « Read the rest of this entry »
Faith Forward
June 1, 2013 § 4 Comments
Last night I again had the privilege of addressing the graduating class at Trinitas Christian School. I had been asked to speak about, simply, faith. Here is the text of what I shared.
Tonight I am talking to you about faith. Not faith in general—but the faith that is the foundation of our living, moving and being. It is the faith that Paul speaks about in two passages. The first is Hebrews 11:1-3:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3) « 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 »
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