Month: June 2023

Morning Musing: 2 Timothy 3:1

2 Comments

“But know this: Hard times will come in the last days.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The latest Marvel offering, Secret Invasion, is already in its second week and absolutely fantastic so far. My mind is racing with all the Gospel possibilities of the story. I had thought about writing down some early series reflections today, but I’m going wait a few more weeks until the series ends to offer up my thoughts on it. Instead for today, I recently had a conversation with a good friend who was expressing some spiritual and moral concern with the state of our culture. As he looks around at the world, he sees a nation awash in sin and getting worse. You may see that too. Here are some of the thoughts I shared with him. Perhaps they’ll be helpful for you as well.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 7:1-5

Leave a comment

“The Lord answered Moses, ‘See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. You must say whatever I command you; then Aaron your brother must declare it to Pharaoh so that he will let the Israelites go from his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I Will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are some folks who just like to fly by the seat of their pants. Most, though, are much more comfortable having some sort of a plan. And, the bigger the task, the more detailed the plan should be. In the case of Moses and the Israelites, they were getting ready to undertake the biggest task they could imagine. They were going to take on the most powerful man in the world and eliminate his source of slave labor. And, their initial attempt to get started had not gone well. Fortunately, God had a plan. He lays that plan out here one more time in step-by-step detail. Let’s talk through what we see here.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 6:28-30

Leave a comment

“On the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, he said to him, ‘I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I am telling you.’ But Moses replied in the Lord’s presence, ‘Since I am such a poor speaker, how will Pharaoh listen to me?'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We tend to revere certain people who have achieved what we determine to be great things. Part of this is totally understandable. When someone has done something we can’t do, we are impressed by that. Part of this is a leftover from the Fall and our sinful nature. It’s easier to look to people we can see than to a God we can’t. Most religions do this regularly and lean into it. Christianity has certainly been guilty of this over its history. Yet it is the one religion that doesn’t find any support for this in its founding documents. The Scriptures are clear over and over again that people are not great; God is. Let’s talk about why this matters so much.

Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Exodus 6:20, 26-27

Leave a comment

“Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. . .It was this Aaron and Moses whom the Lord told, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their military divisions.” Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Every culture has ways of identifying who its elite members are. Today we give preference to graduates of certain universities. People who are publicly known for embracing certain social positions and who are also graduates of those same schools (although it’s hard to imagine many of their graduates come out not embracing those positions given how hard they work to indoctrinate their students into their worldview) can establish themselves even more firmly. But the most consistent way we have historically identified the best and brightest is by their family name. Names like Clinton, Bush, and Kennedy carry a lot of cultural clout. Just before we get into the real action of our story, the author stops to give us Moses’ credentials. Let’s talk about what’s going on here and why it matters.

Read the rest…

Taking Things Seriously

2 Comments

Today, as we continue our journey through the story of the early church in Acts, we come to one of those stories that threatens to derail the whole thing. This is a hard story. It’s hard to understand. It seems totally inconsistent with what we think we know of God’s character. It seems to paint the church in just the kind of judgmental light that is so often shined on it today. And we are going to dive right into the middle of it. We’re going to tackle it head on because I think there’s something happening here that we absolutely cannot miss if we want to get doing church right. So, buckle up and get ready, because this is going to be a wild ride.

Taking Things Seriously

I often start off our time together with a question. I’m going to do that this morning. This question, though, is a little more personal than what I often ask. I want you to think back to your past a bit this morning—hopefully not the recent past if you haven’t yet been around here very long. I want you to think for a minute about whether or not you’ve ever had a bad church experience. 

Read the rest…