Sunday Leftovers (12/13/09)

As a child, I was taught what you might call “formula prayers” for bedtime and meals — a prayer that was repeated at each meal and another at each nightfall. The same words were given with the same intonation at the same time each day. It was many years before I felt liberated to pray […]

Sunday Leftovers (11/15/09)

Do we know the strength and power of God in our lives? Do we know the strength and power of God in our praying? Much of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is concerned with the matter of strength for living for the Ephesians (e.g., 1:19-20; 3:16, 20; 6:10ff). Among the truths exposed by Paul are: […]

Sunday Leftovers (11/8/09)

When we do not pray, there are a multiplicity of reasons that we offer for our waywardness: busy-ness weariness apathy and distractions lack of knowledge about what (or how) to pray sin May I suggest also that one primary reason we do not pray is because we either do not know or do not believe […]

A couple more thoughts about worry

As I reflected on Sunday’s sermon a little more, a couple more thoughts came to mind: There were several key statements in the sermon. Among them were: “Worry is the sin of distrusting the promise and providence of God.” [John MacArthur] Worry can come from both affluence and deprivation. Both betray a false priority that […]

Sunday Leftovers (10/11/09)

There’s a problem with worry and anxiety. Worry tends to destroy the body. It can put ulcers on the stomach, sap vitality out of living and drive us to an early death. Worry makes us incapable of handling life’s problems. Worry keeps us from assuming responsibilities and engaging in activities in the service of Jesus […]

Sunday Leftovers (10/4/09)

One of the reasons that we are prone to discouragement in ministry (and in life) is because we quietly believe that success is dependent on ourselves. There is a subtle temptation to voice in the inner recesses of our hearts, “I am everything and Christ is neither adequate nor necessary.” Now, few would give voice […]

Sunday Leftovers (9/27/09)

We tend towards discouragement because we do not think rightly about our position in relation to God’s wisdom and sovereignty. We see big circumstances and an inadequate God. We feel the weight of responsibility from God rather than viewing that responsibility as a gift and a privilege. We want the end of God’s reward and […]

Sunday Leftovers (9/20/09)

As we think about the early church, even though reading the epistles, it is still sometimes tempting to be idealistic about the world in which those believers lived and the manner in which those churches functioned. “If only our church could be like those early New Testament churches…,” we suggest. Yet in such longings we […]

Sunday Leftovers (9/13/09)

I fell in love while I was in seminary. Twice. It was while I was matriculating in preparation for ministry that I met Raye Jeanne, fell in love and we married. And during those same years of study, I fell in love with another woman — the bride of Christ — the church. I hadn’t […]

Sunday Leftovers (9/6/09)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a 19th century poet whose works not only were influential in her day, but still continue to be widely read today. She grew up with 10 siblings and had an apparently happy relationship with her father. Yet that relationship soured when she defied a life-long admonition from her father that she […]

Sunday Leftovers, 8/30/09

The easiest thing to do when seeing immaturity and weakness and failure in ourselves or in other people is to quit. The hardest thing to do when seeing immaturity and weakness and failure in ourselves or in other people is to continue with Christ. The hardest part about ministry is not the what or the […]

Sunday Leftovers (8/23/09)

“The greatest thing in the world is to be saved.” Many, obviously, have believed this. But one man spoke that to his pastor even while he was lying on his death bed. And one of the realities that will stimulate us to believe that salvation is great is understanding just how lost we were prior […]

Sunday Leftovers (8/16/09)

The truth of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone has been a part of the church now for almost 500 years. You would think we would understand it with clarity. It’s been repeated and explained over and over in church after church. Countless sermons have been preached about it. Innumerable books […]

Sunday Leftovers (8/9/09)

“How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (Mt. 18:21; NASB) One South African home owner might have paraphrased that question, “how often shall I rescue a man who sins against me?” It seems that the man come home one evening to find nine men robbing his […]

Sunday Leftovers (8/2/09)

One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 2:7 — so that in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. God’s mercy, love, and grace that result in the salvation of sinners is for the purpose of demonstrating the magnitude of God’s grace […]